Romania: Energy Savings Afoot

Oxford Business Group Latest Briefing

With new EU member states under pressure to comply with a revised common energy policy, joint-efforts between international and local banks have been made to kick-start energy efficient practices in Romania.

Four mayor players in Romania’s banking sector have recently received a total of 45m euros from the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to fund investment in energy efficiency projects. BRD-Société Générale announced in May 2008 the reception of a 10m euros funding to be allocated as loans to entrepreneurial initiatives to raise energy efficiency levels. The three other benefactors were Banca Commercial Romana (BCR), the Romanian Savings Bank (CEC) and Banca Transilvania. They received sums of 20m, 10m and 5m euros respectively. The initiative has been complemented with an extra 24m euros of EU grants from the Phare programme - the main channel for the EU’s financial and technical cooperation with accession countries.

With these initiatives, the EBRD is aiming to push the country to increase energy efficiency levels in line with EU-directives. As part of Europe’s new energy policy - implemented in January 2007 - member-states are required to make better use of energy resources in order to lower both the level of pollution and the economic impact of high energy prices. The EU is expecting all members, including Romania, to achieve a 20% reduction in energy consumption compared to 1990 levels by the year 2020.

Ilie Stefan, the Romanian minister for administration, told local media in May that the government had set itself the ambitious target of reducing energy consumption by 4.5% and of improving output by at least 80%.

By EU standards, Romania has a long way to go. Current statistics show that Romania’s energy intensity is 1.44 times higher than the average of the 25 EU member states and among the highest in the region. Improvements have been slow, particularly in the industrial sector, which is the biggest energy consumer.

Modernisation of the national energy infrastructure, according to some industry experts, is key to a more efficient consumption of energy. There is a particular need to invest in the upgrade and rehabilitation of electricity assets, especially power stations. Furthermore, efforts need to be spent on the development of renewable energy sources and education on safety and efficiency.

According to the EBRD, the funds can boost small-scale development and application of efficiency practices and renewable resources. This supports the institution’s decision to join efforts with local banks, which have an extensive network throughout the country and therefore the means to reach small scale entrepreneurs, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). An added advantage for the banks is that this segment is of increasing value in the fight for market share.

On the back of these positive developments, a vast amount of money has flown into the country’s energy sector from both existing private players updating their structures or foreign entrants acquiring Romanian assets. For instance Transelectrica - state-owned transmission and System Operator - announced plans earlier this year to invest 10m euros annually in the following four years to revamp its transformations stations.

Another example is Distrigaz Sud - a major natural gas supplier in the South of the country - which plans to spend around 40m euros this year on upgrading its distribution network and protection systems.

Finally, Italian energy conglomerate Enel - which recently bought a majority stake in Electrica Muntenia Sud, the sole electricity distributor for residential and industrial customers in Bucharest - plans to invest 1bn euros in the next 15 years in overhauling the network in Banat, in the South West of the country, and Dobrogea, along the Black Sea coast.

As energy efficiency is increasingly convincing private companies of its profitability, the country now has a unique opportunity to lower its energy bill costs. With that in mind, the country is becoming aware that turning energy down a notch has the potential to fire up the country’s competitiveness.

Romania Marks Environment Day

BalkanInsight.com

05 June 2008 Bucharest _ Romanian Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu and the Environment Ministry's Karoly Borbely rode their bikes to work to raise green awareness.

"Romanians have to be aware of the necessity to protect the environment. Many people, especially in big cities, are better riding a bike than using a car," Tariceanu said during events marking World Environment Day.

The Prime Minister yesterday asked cabinet members how they would go to work to on Thursday, and three officials decided to walk to their offices.

Furthermore, Culture Minister asked clerks from public institutions to progressively switch off lights from 2130 hours this evening.

Romania, which recently joined the European Union, is trying to introduce higher standards in protecting the environment. But air pollution is heaviest in the main cities, where industry and car traffic produces hazardous levels of sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide.

Damage to the nation's soil from erosion and pollution has hit agricultural production, while forests and plains have been encroached on by farmers.

World Environment Day, conceived in 1972, is the United Nations' principal day to mark global green issues and aims to give a human face to environmental problems and solutions.

Romania on Flood Alert

BalkanInsight.com

21 May 2008 Bucharest _ Romania is set to see flooding in central and western regions in the coming days, weather forecasters warn.

The National Hydrology Institute issued an amber alert for flooding and some twenty major rivers in three quarters of the country are at risk of overflowing.

On Wednesday, the government adopted a strategy for raising awareness of the threat using the media to warn residents of the danger.

”People must know that in emergency cases they should cooperate with authorities and trust them,” the Secretary of State in the Administration Ministry, Victor Paul Dobre, said.

He added that all local officials are on alert preparing for the threat of flooding and have already established contingency plans.

On Tuesday night, hundreds of houses were flooded in the northwest parts of the country in the Cluj, Salaj and Baia-Mare counties.

The people there will get food and water to the value of Lei 30,000 (€ 8,571), the government said.

Meteorologists have already urged Romanians to expect temperatures this summer in excess of 40 degrees Celsius, together with freak storms and heavy rainfall long periods of hot, dry weather will generate.

In 2005 and 2006, Romania was hit by exceptionally heavy rainfall and flooding.

Many dams, which have suffered a lack of funding for years, simply collapsed.

Last year Romania was hit by a particularly severe drought.

Project to Connect the Danube Delta in Romania with Bulgaria’s Black Sea Coast

Balkan Travellers

4 April 2008 | A trans-border project that envisions the operation of passengers ships connecting the Danube Delta in Romania with towns along Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast was initiated by Romania, media reported recently.

Three Romanian municipalities, Constanţa, Mangalia and Tulcea – all of them located along the country’s Black Sea coast, will be included in the project. On the Bulgarian side, the Balchik, Varna and Burgas municipalities will be partners.

Authorities hope that the project, which envisions ships that will transport passengers in both directions, will be financed by the European Commision.

Beside the opportunity for foreign visitors to easily see both countries’ coasts, it will surely benefit Romanian tourists who, since the countries joined the EU in 2007, began to head south en masse for their holidays. As BalkanTravellers.com reported recently, the number of Romanians who visited Bulgaria in the summer season of 2007 grew by more than 100 per cent, compared to the previous year.

Beside the practical benefit of an additional way to go and accommodate the increased traffic between the two states, the ships may also prove to be a tourist attraction.

The Danube Delta is where Europe’s second largest rivers flows into the sea, after it branches out into three separate arms. The area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and, as a part of the Via Pontiki path, its wetlands are crucial for migratory bird flocks, including some rare and endangered species.

Romania considers banning biotech corn from Monsanto

International Herald Tribune

Romania, which has been one of the most receptive markets on a skeptical Continent for genetically modified crops, is moving toward a reversal of its stance, in what would be another setback for the beleaguered biotechnology industry in Europe.

Attila Korodi, Romania's environment minister, said he would ask a committee of experts Thursday to revaluate a gene-altered version of corn, MON810, the only modified crop that has been approved for commercial planting in the European Union.

During an interview, Korodi said not enough studies had been done to gauge the effects of the corn on ecological systems in Romania, including in the Black Sea area.

In addition, he said, banning biotech crops could increase rural prosperity by allowing farmers to take advantage of a growing global demand for organic feed and foodstuffs, which, in addition to being unaltered, are grown without chemical pesticides or fertilizers.

Such products can command higher prices - although experts question whether farming practices in much of Eastern Europe are developed enough for such a specialized market.

"I think becoming an organic country is a good thing," Korodi said. "We have to analyze the true costs of growing GMOs," he added, since the technology was potentially harmful to the environment and had become widely unpopular in Romania.

An actual ban would still be some ways off and could require parliamentary support, he said.

But its consideration, coming a month after France imposed a similar ban on the corn variety, would be another obstacle for the industry in Europe, where there is widespread skepticism about biotech foods. Specifically, it would hurt the U.S. seed company Monsanto, which produces MON810.

Romania, the biggest corn grower in the 27-member EU by hectares under cultivation, represents a vast potential market for Monsanto and other biotechnology companies. MON810 is designed to combat pests and enhance yields.

"We would be very disappointed to see Romania following France even in attempting to ban such a product, which has proved its benefits to farmers in Romania," said Cristina Cionga, the manager for public and government affairs for Monsanto Romania. "Our products are completely safe for planting and consumption."

EU authorities approved MON810 for cultivation a decade ago, but since then four EU countries - Austria, Greece, Hungary and, most recently, France - have imposed bans. Poland operates restrictions on the sale and import of gene-altered seeds, and very little cultivation takes place there.

Most of these countries, including France and Hungary, which are the second- and third-biggest corn growers in Europe, justified the bans on the grounds that the crops potentially could harm soils and reduce biodiversity.

Even in countries that do not operate formal bans, there are impediments.

Italy, which grows roughly the same amount of corn as Hungary, has delegated decisions on biotech crops to its regions, many of which operate de facto bans. In Tuscany, for example, the supply of gene-altered produce is prohibited in catering for schools, hospitals, convalescent homes and in local and regional government offices.

Romania planted only about 325 hectares, or 800 acres, of MON810 in 2007 and this year is expected to plant about 10,000 hectares. That still represents just a fraction of the roughly 2 million to 3 million hectares of corn planted each year in Romania.

Even so, Korodi's strategy would mark a major change for Romania.

Over the past decade, Romania became the largest producer of gene-altered crops in Europe because of large amounts of modified soy, mostly produced by Monsanto and Pioneer, a unit of DuPont. That crop was approved for use by farmers in Romania but not in the EU, and the government had to pledge to stop growing the crop when Romania joined the bloc in 2007.

In the future, Korodi said, farmers - particularly those with small plots in mountainous areas - could prosper from selling smaller quantities of unmodified produce, as it would command higher prices on local and international markets.

"GMOs mean crops are cheaper to produce," Korodi said. "But if we look at the market price that GMO-free crops earn, and we look at the costs to biodiversity of using GMOs, then non-GMO crops are better," he said.

Early this month the Hungarian agriculture minister, Joszef Graf, said his country's seed industry earned 25 percent more by selling seeds that had not been cross-pollinated with altered crops.

But Nathalie Moll, a spokeswoman for Europabio, a group representing the biotechnology industry, said seed companies had disputed the minister's statement.

Klaus Reinsberg, a senior researcher at the Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Central and Eastern Europe, said growing nonbiotech crops was often more expensive, requiring more manual labor to remove weeds and to control pests. But labor costs in Romania remain low compared to other parts of the EU, potentially giving the country a competitive advantage.

Even so, Romania would still have to prove it could grow produce to high standards for specialized markets and finicky consumers, and deliver those goods to markets on time.

"Countries like Romania and Ukraine are dreaming of producing organic products and to export them for the profits they can bring," Reinsberg said. "But organic products can have diseases and fungus." He also said that a big problem for countries like Romania was a "lack of logistics."

Despite such hurdles, environmental groups welcomed signs of a change of heart in Romania.

"It marks a seismic change," said Geert Ritsema, who campaigns against genetic engineering for Greenpeace International in Amsterdam.

Romania mulls national ban on Monsanto maize

BUCHAREST, March 27 (Reuters) - Romania's environment ministry wants to impose a national cultivation ban on Monsanto (MON.N: Quote, Profile, Research) MON 810 genetically modified maize this year, minister Attila Korodi said on Thursday.

"We're in the process of forming a committee on biosecurity that can start (working) on April 15. Taking into account all the European studies which raised too many questions regarding this maize, we will ask it to give a verdict," minister Attila Korodi told Reuters by telephone.

"We will request the committee to consider a ban on the commercial cultivation of MON 810 because we are worried."

Korodi said Romania has put around 330 hectares under MON 810 last year.

Romania to build second nuclear plant

21st March 2008

Romania is planning to build a second nuclear power plant to meet rising demand and secure its energy independence, reports Thomson Financial.

Thomson Financial noted that the Cernovada nuclear plant supplies approximately 17% of Romania's electricity needs. The plant has two nuclear reactors in operation. With another two reactors expected to come on line in 2014-15, Romania is seeking participation in their construction with an international tender for around E2.2 billion, reported the news source.

Thomson Financial said that, in view of the project, Romanian state-owned nuclear power generator Nuclearelectrica, the operator of the Cernovada power station, has initiated a joint venture with Arcelor-Mittal, CEZ, Electrabel, Enel, Iberdrola and RWE. These investors will reportedly each pick up a 10-15% stake in the project.

ROMANIA: Not Ready To Live Green

By Claudia Ciobanu

BUCHAREST, Jan 28 (IPS) - A simple architectural solution could ease housing and environmental problems in Romania and beyond.

Each spring and fall, when the rivers rise, floods bring down hundreds of houses in villages around Romania. Every time, authorities say that weather conditions have taken them by surprise, and grant minimal financial assistance. People again start building their homes from scratch.

Clay houses could be an answer to such emergency situations, and in numerous cases where people cannot afford construction materials, local architects say.

Houses built from clay or cob -- a mixture of clay, water, sand, straw and other natural materials -- are cheap and easy to build. "Most of the construction materials can be found on site," says architect Ileana Mavrodin. "From digging the foundation, we get the earth needed for the walls, and the vegetal soil is used for the roof."

For the past two years, Arhiterra, a Bucharest-based group of architects, engineers and artists, has been proposing building of houses from basic materials easily available around the country.

The group was formed in part to pressure parliament, which intends to prohibit earth houses in areas affected by floods. Arhiterra member Corina Stoianovici says Romanian legislators argue that such houses will be vulnerable to spreading waters, but they are really more keen on protecting the interests of the timber business.

Earth houses can be built with materials that make them resistant to humidity, for instance, adding linseed oil to clay, the architects say. So vulnerability to water should not be used as a pretext against such housing.

"We are seeking answers to difficult questions posed by a developing economy and the transition period, when many people are left poor," Mariana Celac, architect from Arhiterra told IPS.

Beyond organising workshops to familiarise the public with this housing model, the group has also been building model houses around the country. "These experiments were organised, not unintentionally, in relatively isolated and underprivileged areas," Raluca Munteanu, coordinator of the working group told IPS.

"In these areas, one can still find certain traditions and crafts that modernity forgot, and from which we may still have a lot to learn," Munteanu said. Experimenting with traditional building techniques also enabled use of the local labour force, she said.

Clay houses can be more than an answer to poverty. More widespread use can reduce environmental damage because their construction and upkeep demands low energy consumption, the environmental architects say.

"Cob is gentle on the planet," says Ileana Mavrodin. "It reduces the use of wood, steel and toxic building supplies. Buildings are solar oriented and energy efficient, warm in the winter and cool in the summer, no air-conditioning is needed, and minimal heating is required due to the exceptional thermal quality of the cob."

In spite of the advantages of clay houses, there are reasons to doubt that Romanians will embrace this construction model on a large scale.

"In order for such an architectural type to be successful in our country, people must first understand that the energy resources of the land are limited, and then act towards minimum energy consumption in the long run," Klaus Birthler, one of the architects designing earth houses, told IPS.

Environmental awareness remains low in the country. Unlike other Central and Eastern European countries such as Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria, where environmental movements developed during state socialism and played a central role in the 1989 regime changes, in Romania such organisations have been promoting a credible message only in recent years.

Furthermore, cultural obstacles stand in the way of small-scale, traditional building. Putting up an imposing house has become a fashion among the emerging middle class, anxious to confirm its newly acquired status through building in concrete.

On the outskirts of capital Bucharest, property prices have skyrocketed over the last couple of years, driven by demand from businesses and from young professionals looking to raise their children away from the city.

As members of the European Union for a year now, Romanians want to be considered a part of the developed world rather than join ranks with the poorer third of the world that lives in earth houses.

A part of the developed world might already be moving in a direction other than Romanians think. "Politically speaking, we have the paradox of underdeveloped countries giving up tradition in favour of 'miraculous' concrete, compared to developed countries which hope to rediscover traditions and diminish the usage of unfriendly materials," said Munteanu. But it is still early days in that direction.

Romania says CO2 reduction target allocated by EU threatens 20,000 jobs

BUCHAREST (Thomson Financial) - The carbon dioxide emissions reduction target of 20.7 pct by 2020 allocated to Romania by the European Union would threaten 20,000 jobs and increase heating bills and other costs for companies, Mediafax reported, citing an official document.

The document estimates the additional costs, particularly for companies in the domestic energy sector, at 691 mln eur, which could rise to 1.9 bln eur, when taking into account potential fines, the report said.

These costs would lead to a rise in electricity prices, which would have a negative impact on industry and households, it said.

'The price of heating is already beyond the budget of 35 pct of households, that's why it is subsidised by the State', the report said. A further increase would severely affect an additional 15-20 pct of households, it added.

Besides this, some companies would be forced to restrict their activities and to cut, initially, up to 20,000 jobs, the report said.

Romania complained to the EU last December, in an attempt to contest its carbon emissions quota.

The EU commission will unveil on Jan 23 the final version of draft laws sharing between the 27 member states the targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the EU by 20 pct by 2020 from the 1990 levels.

Plastic bags may not be allowed in Romania

BUCHAREST, Romania, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- Environment Minister Attila Korodi said Friday he wants to stop the free distribution of plastic bags in shopping centers in Romania.

Korodi said the ban would encourage shoppers to use more environmentally safe containers -- such as cloth sacks -- to carry their goods, HotNews reported Friday.

He said the change would reduce pollution caused by plastic bags, which slow the biodegradation process by taking up to a century to decompose.

Korodi said the ban could take effect at in 2009 and additional taxes could be charged to businesses that decide to continue distributing plastic bags.

Bird Flu: Romania Avian Influenza Outbreak Eradicated

Highlights: The AI outbreak in Murighiol village, in Tulcea County in the Danube delta, was declared eradicated this week. All backyard flocks located in the village’s protection and surveillance zones tested negative for H5N1. In Tulcea County, the domestic bird population continues to be under surveillance. Wild birds from the region were tested for AI and found negative. The European Commission has removed all AI restrictions implemented during outbreak.

The recent AI outbreak in the Danube delta area was declared closed at the beginning of January 2008, after Romania’s National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority (ANZVSA) confirmed that no further positive results have been found for any domestic or wild birds.

After the confirmation at the end of November of one AI outbreak in Murighiol village in Tulcea county, ANZVSA imposed restrictions to limit and rapidly eradicate the disease. Transport and marketing of poultry and poultry products are now permitted. The sanitary barriers installed at the village borders and at the Murighiol wharf have been removed.

Starting on November 27, 413 households with 5,367 birds located in the 3-km protection zone were inspected, and 235 households with 6,978 birds in the 10-km surveillance zone were examined. In addition to the controlled areas, the entire area of Tulcea County, which contains 960 households with 29,617 birds, were inspected for AI.

Due to the location of the village in the Danube delta, the Veterinary Authority also tested the wild bird population for AI.

A total of 2,700 blood and tracheal samples were found negative.

Following the thorough evaluation and analysis of AI eradication measures imposed by GOR, the European Commission decided on December 31, 2007 to lift all restrictions that had been imposed by EC Decision 2007/770/CE.

Recycling Doesn't Resonate in Romania

Business Week

The country's recycling drive requires, perhaps most of all, a change in people's skepticism and resistance. Next step: coercion?

by Sinziana Demian

The day after the first blue and yellow plastic bags for recyclables were delivered to 55 Fintinele Street at the beginning of November, they disappeared. Stolen, as the superintendent and other residents of the 88 apartments here believe.

A few days later, the building administration tried a new strategy: place the bags not empty but half full, with plastic and paper respectively, so that people would see immediately what they are meant for. The bags disappeared again, hours later, and the experiment was halted before it even had a chance to begin.

"People here don't think this recycling business is very important, and instead they just helped themselves to clean, spacious bags to use for other purposes," said Florica Mezei, the superintendent.

This was but one of several unfulfilled efforts to teach Romanians to sort their garbage and recycle plastic and paper. The campaign meets problems every step of the way: insufficient funds to provide enough containers on a regular basis to all buildings; inadequate collection vehicles; and skepticism and resistance on the part of many people, who seem to find it much easier to just put everything together in the traditional garbage bucket and dump it.

Recycling initiatives in Romania are so new that nationwide statistics are spotty, and sorting refuse is far from being a priority in many cash-strapped towns. Even in larger cities like Cluj-Napoca, a Transylvanian university town of 360,000 residents, and the capital Bucharest, there is limited interest in sorting waste. Cluj has a mere 2 percent recycling rate, according to Eugen Veres, chief executive of Brantner-Veres, the company which provides most waste collection services in the city.

While a university town would seem a natural place for recycling to succeed, the slow pace indicates that Romania is a long way from European Union norms. EU law calls for the country to recycle half of its waste by 2013 – a target that seems improbable today. Across the EU, the amount of recycled waste doubled between 1995 and 2005, and nearly half of discarded paper products, plastic, and glass is recycled, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Veres admits that so far efforts to implement a recycling system in Cluj have been few and far between, but he says this should all change in the coming months. An auction early in 2008 will reassign waste collection companies to different neighborhoods, and separate collection of paper, plastic, and regular waste will become mandatory. However, Veres believes that this will only really work here when people will be forced into accepting change.

"The solution is self-evident," he says. "We will impose different collection fees on buildings that effectively recycle and buildings that don't. The moment people have to pay, they'll start being more careful."

The view that coercion will be the most effective approach for now is shared by many here, including Sandor Korosfoy, the founder and director of the environmental association Floarea de Colt (Edelweiss). He thinks civic spirit is just now growing in the country, and people still have the mentality that "things like these will never work here."

"It is not even a matter of being educated about separating garbage," Korosfoy says, "because everyone will tell you that in theory it's a good thing. But then they don't do it, because they lack civic attitude and consciousness."

STARTING AT THE BOTTOM

Edelweiss is currently running an eight-month long project called Eco-Impact, trying to raise awareness of the importance of recycling. A major part of the campaign is to engage more than a dozen schools in competitions with a recycling component. Prizes will go to students who, for example, gather the most paper and plastic.

"You either have to punish or reward people here," says Korosfoy. "We are still a long way away from doing something just because it's the right thing to do."

The compensation system has also been at the center of a recycling campaign run last year by Vodafone, the second biggest mobile phone operator in Romania. In March, Vodafone opened collection points in 83 of its stores for people to bring in their old phones, in exchange for caps, T-shirts and various small gadgets. According to information released four months later, the company had collected 3,250 old phones and 163 kilograms of accessories.

Recycling electronic equipment and household appliances seems to be an even bigger challenge in Romania, as people have a tendency to keep old television sets, radios, refrigerators or washing machines. A nationwide campaign in November tried to convince people to dispose of such items at their doorsteps, where they would be collected by special vehicles. The campaign, which had very modest results, was indirectly prompted by another EU directive on recycling electronic equipment and household appliances.

GREEN WITH ENVY

For now, those who want to get rid of such items can make an appointment for special collection outside their homes or take them to one of several collecting points in the city. Most people say they are either not aware of these options or that the effort is too involved, so those who don't horde their old items just throw them in or around garbage containers. Looking around bins, there are rusty sinks, threadbare sofas, shattered glass, and bits of concrete.

The situation is not much better in the few "green spots" Cluj has. One such recycling center in the Grigorescu neighborhood serves around 250 apartments, and has seen mixed results. While 66-year-old Rozalia Avram keeps three categories of garbage bags in her hallway and is happy that she can discard plastic bottles in a special container, 21-year-old Adrian Popescu says he didn't even notice the new facility, which he passes by twice a day, and that his mother is in charge of garbage disposal.

"It is all a bit chaotic at the moment, because you cannot check on every single person to see what they throw out here," says Traian Margineanu, the superintendent of one of the buildings around the green spot. "I think it'll take not one, but two generations at least, until Romanians will learn to really value clean surroundings and be fully committed to recycling."

Romania to contest EU carbon emission cuts: report

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania has asked for an annulment of a 2007 European Commission decision to cut its carbon emission quota, a government official said.

The European Commission decided in October to cut the new EU member's emission quota for 2008-2018 by 20.7 percent and lower its 2007 ceiling by 10 percent.

The centrist minority government filed the annulment request with the European Court of Justice on December 21, said Adrian Ciocanea, head of the cabinet's European Affairs Department.

Several other member states have criticized the emission cuts, saying they were too restrictive.

"The government is now waiting for the court's stance ... during this time, the Commission's decision remains valid," Ciocanea was quoted as saying in the online edition of daily Cotidianul on Saturday.

The Commission is under pressure to take a hard line in the second phase of its emissions trading scheme after lax targets in the first phase, from 2005-07, saw heavy industry receive too many permits, causing a market surplus and subsequent price collapse.

The trading scheme is the EU's key instrument to fight global warming. It sets limits on the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) that industry may emit.

Gabriel says Romanian court annuls mine certificate

Gabriel Resources Ltd, owner of the Rosia Montana gold project in Romania, said a court annulled a permit related to the operation. The shares plunged.
The decision can be appealed to the nation`s Supreme Court, Toronto-based Gabriel Resources said on November 27 in a statement.

Kathy Sipos, a Gabriel spokeswoman, didn`t immediately return a voicemail message seeking comment.

Romania`s government suspended an environmental review of the project in September after non-governmental organizations challenged the company`s plans. The review must be completed before Gabriel will be permitted to tap the 10 Moz deposit that would be Romania`s largest mining operation.

"We are very disappointed in the decision based on the merits of this case," Gabriel`s chief executive officer Alan Hill said in the statement. "We must wait to receive the rationale behind this decision before we determine our next steps."

Gabriel dropped 15 cents, or 9.3% to C$1.46 at 10:53 am in Toronto Stock Exchange trading, paring its market value to C$372.2 million (US$373.7 million). A close at that price would be the biggest decline since November 15.

(Bloomberg, November 21)

Romania to help rescue ships sunk in Kerch Strait

BUCHAREST, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Romanian Naval Authority responded on Tuesday to requests by Moscow to help rescue the ships sunk in Kerch Strait during a storm over the weekend.

The Russian naval authorities had asked for a 100-ton capacity floating crane in Kerch Strait to rescue the commercial ships sunk in the storm, said Adrian Alexe, director of Constanta Maritime Rescue Center.

"We responded promptly, as usual in such a situation, and offered the Gigant crane of the Administration of Maritime Port Constanta," he said.

Several ships from Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, Georgia and Greece sank or ran aground in the severe storm that hit the Azov Sea basin on Sunday. At least three seamen were killed and five remained missing.

It was reported that a Russian tanker spilled about 2,000 tons of oil. Experts say that the pollution caused by the spills could linger for years.

Romania's gold stays in the hills

By Nick Thorpe BBC News, Romania

A 10 year battle over a Romanian gold mine, which has divided the local community, has resulted in a Canadian company suing the Romanian state for blocking planning permission.

We were expecting gold, at least in the autumn leaves.

But when we arrived in the Apuseni Mountains the first snow of winter dusted the hilltops, and the beech woods on the steep slopes gave only a dull, red, distant glow.

Catalin Hosu and his team from the Rosia Montana Gold Corporation sweep us up a muddy track in their four-wheel drive.

They are young and enthusiastic about the mine development, and they describe it as the best chance to tidy up the mess left by the past 2,000 years of mining here, and to bring prosperity to these valleys.

"This project is definitely the only hope for this region," says Catalin's colleague, Horea Avram.

In the failing grey afternoon light, we stand over a great brown-black pit. A few fir trees and an abandoned bulldozer perch forlornly around the fringes.

On the other side of the mountain, beneath an outcrop called the Raven's Beak, a dog barks somewhere near the church in the valley below.

All 380 homes and two churches in Corna village have to go, to make way for a tailings (residue) pond where waste from the mine, in a cyanide solution, will be stored.

Heavy metal rivers

The first shock for any visitor here is the extent of the existing damage.

The rivers run red with heavy metals: cadmium, zinc and iron already unlocked from these hills by the mines of the past.

The corporation has even bottled some of it for their publicity campaign. Rosia Red they call it.

"What keeps Rosia Red?" asks the label on the back.

"Anti-mining activists who want to stop a new, modern mine designed to strict EU standards, that would actually clean up the rivers of Rosia!"

The second shock is the sheer extent of the Gold Corporation's plans to change the landscape.

Cetate Hill will disappear altogether, like a bad tooth plucked from the mouth of the Carpathians, to be pulverised along with three of its neighbours.

In exchange, Romania has been promised more than £1bn ($2bn) in economic benefits.

Ancient conquerors spoke of enough gold here to pave a road all the way to Rome. You can still find it in faraway museums, punched with Caesar's proud head.

Gold Corporation geologists admit that the main seams have already been carted away, but say 300 tonnes are left in low concentrations.

That is why they need to grind up whole hills - 13 million tonnes of rock a year - to make the operation worthwhile.

Homes belonging to opponents of the project are easily identifiable by their yellow "This property is NOT for sale" signs, among the green, more frequent plaques on homes already bought by the company: "Property of Rosia Montana Gold Corporation."

Project master plan

Remus Cernus is hammering and sandpapering a window-frame in his carpenter's workshop when we arrive.

I don't want... the very mountains which God created to disappear Remus Cernus

There is a picture of the Madonna and Child on the wall, and his home - like the Orthodox Church in the village - is panelled with cherry, pine and beech woods from his hard-working hands.

According to the project master plan, his house and workshop will disappear under the deep base of the tailings pond.

"I do not want everything I've done here, the traces of my parents, my forefathers on this earth, the very mountains which God created to disappear," he says slowly.

And he speaks sadly of close relatives who were persuaded by the company to sell.

Divided communities

It is a common theme among opponents of the mine: the divisive effect the corporation's activities have had on local communities, with offers of money or re-housing... and the freeze placed on any plans to improve local facilities on the grounds that the company will do everything in the future.

On the slopes of Orla Hill, where his frozen land too should be ground up for gold, Eugen David is defiant.

"There are thousands of villages in Romania which are developing without gold," says the leading light of Alburnus Maior, the main opposition group. "Why should this one be different?"

And anyway: "It's the Romanian state's responsibility to rehabilitate the landscape, not some Barbados company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange!" he mocks the corporation.

Later we sit in his kitchen, tasting his cheese, washed down with fiery plum spirit.

Diana, his nine-year-old daughter, describes debates in school between "the Greenpeacers" - as some children call themselves - and the "Goldists".

And who is in the majority? "The Greenpeacers!" Diana says loyally, as her grandmother brings another pancake from the top of the wood-burning stove, and spreads it thickly with homemade rosehip jam.

Leaving Rosia Montana, we get our gold at last: a sudden flicker in the sky, where we were least expecting it, after sunset.

It is -4C (25F) in the mountain pass above Ariesen. The snow is waist-deep among the fir trees at the roadside.

And there is proof of some non-mining investment in the area. The ski slope is preparing for its first visitors of the season.

Surburban Romania rife with 'foraging' bears

ABC News

By Europe Correspondent Emma Griffiths

Romania's bear population flourished in Communist times because of a hunting ban. (Reuters: Christian Charisius)

In many parts of Europe wild animals like bears and wolves are making a comeback, and in one country the bear population is flourishing.

There are so many brown bears in Romania that they are a common sight wandering through villages and farms, and in some big towns they have been seen foraging through the suburban bins.

The population boom has led to a debate about how many bears the country's forest can sustain, and it has also fuelled a controversial new business for Romania - hunting tourism.

Another bear and her four cubs are tucking into their dinner. It is not the middle of the forest, or a zoo, it is a suburban street in the Romanian town of Brasov, and the bears' picnic has been provided courtesy of the neighbourhood bins.

The bears have ventured down from the surrounding hills to eat their way through plastic bags of garbage, searching for any tasty morsels discarded by the humans living just across the street.

They have become a tourist attraction, and a source of pride for residents, but for the garbage collectors, cleaning away a bear's meal can be a little tricky.

"They kind of scare us," a garbage man admits, "we chase them away with rocks, we clap and they go up the hill. And they make a mess."

Romania has the largest bear population in Europe. The animals flourished in Communist times because of a hunting ban imposed by the former dictator, Nicholai Ceaucescu.

Only he and his cronies were allowed to hunt for bears, and by the time he was ousted in 1989, their numbers had soared.

Current estimates range from 3,000 bears to more than double that.

Bears in trouble

It helps to explain why they are roaming beyond the forests and into towns like Brasov.

Christina Lapis is a wildlife activist who has made it her life's work to protect Romania's bears.

She says they are being pushed out of their habitat, and foraging through the town's garbage is evidence that they are in trouble.

"For the bears in Brasov I should prefer to take them in another place to release them and to let them live free," she said.

"It's very stressful for them, they are coming for food.

"They find here easy food, but for this they pay with their behaviour - now they are used [to it] and they have a different behaviour."

The healthy population of brown bears has spawned a big business in hunting tourism.

The bear hunt is limited to about 300 animals a year, so just as in Communist times, it is an elite practice, only open to those who can pay the fee of several thousand dollars.

Veteran hunter Todor Danitz guides wealthy Western Europeans through the forests to claim their trophies.

"The bear is a rare animal," he said.

"Just like a person desires something that is out of reach, in the same way he wants to shoot a bear, because then others will call him a bear hunter."

The Brasov Hunting Association says there are more than enough bears to sustain the quota. Mr Danitz has even likened it to a controlled cull.

But for conservationists, it is another threat to the animals known as the king of the European forest.

Despite the number of bears, they say they say they have a precarious future, and must be protected.

Bucharest's new Green Belt should reduce air pollution

After years of continued deforestation around the Romanian capital, authorities are taking ecological warnings seriously by planning to build a Green Belt around Bucharest.

By Paul Ciocoiu in Bucharest for Southeast European Times - 29/10/07

Bucharest has suffered severe deforestation over the past two decades, with growing air pollution as a result. Now municipal authorities hope to reverse the trend by planting trees in seven villages around the city, creating a Green Belt.

"We aim at planting 200,000 new trees," said Mayor Adriean Videanu, assessing the cost at between 5m and 10m euros.

The project, recommended by the agriculture ministry, is being implemented over a six year period. Besides improving air quality in the capital, the project will help control urban sprawl, provide recreational spaces and preserve the scenery.

According to experts, over the past 17 years almost one million trees have been cut down in Bucharest, and another two million in surrounding areas. After the overthrow of communism, large tracts of forestland were returned to private owners, many of whom decided to convert them to agricultural use. As a result, Bucharest boasts only 25% of the forestland it had in 1989.

The impact on health is serious. According to the Environmental Experts' Association (AEM), the dust quantity in Bucharest measures 260 to 280 tonnes per sq km, while in other European capitals -- some of them much larger -- the volume is around two tonnes per km.

Green spaces provide "a barrier against dust, purify air and diminish phonic pollution" says AEM Vice President Florin Vasiliu. "At the same time, they help maintain the temperature differences between seasons, days and nights."

Almost 10,000 residents die annually from pollution-related causes, the group Eco-Civica reports.

City Hall experts have started to inventory the trees in Bucharest, which is estimated to total around 1.5 million. Old and sick trees will be cut down and replaced with saplings.

Almost one million trees in Bucharest are more than 30 years old, and risk uprooting by storms, posing another threat, Videanu says.

Europe Cuts Romanian, Bulgarian Emissions Grants

By Mathew Carr and Jonathan Stearns

Oct. 26 (Bloomberg) -- The European Union cut the number of carbon dioxide permits that Romania and Bulgaria can grant in the five years through 2012, to create scarcity in the world's largest greenhouse gas trading program.

The European Commission, regulator of the system, said Romania can hand out 75.9 million metric tons of permits a year starting next year, 21 percent less than its request for 95.7 million tons a year, according to a statement on an EU Web site. Bulgaria can issue 42.3 million tons a year, 37 percent less than the 67.6 million tons a year requested, the statement said.

The EU has said it wants to curb emissions by at least 20 percent by 2020, compared with 1990 levels, in a bid to help keep global temperatures from rising 2 degrees Celsius. Emission permits for 2008 have gained 25 percent so far this year, helping boost German power futures to records.

``If you believe the EU has the political will to get to the 20 percent target, the price has to go up,'' Mark Lewis, a Paris- based analyst at Deutsche Bank AG, said today by telephone. The cut to Bulgaria's plan is ``much more severe than we expected.''

EU carbon dioxide permits for December 2008 fell 13 cents to 22.65 euros a metric ton on the European Climate Exchange in London at 3:52 p.m. local time. Lewis forecasts they will rise to 35 euros.

`Robust Market'

The total cap for EU nations will be 2.08 billion tons of permits a year for the five years through 2012. That's 10.5 percent less than the amount originally proposed.

``We have assured a robust market with real emission reductions,'' EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said in today's statement.

The commission, the 27-nation EU's regulatory arm, wants to restore investor confidence in the emissions-trading system after letting governments hand out too many allowances for the current period from 2005 through 2007. The surplus caused a slump in permit prices for the first phase to as low as 5 euro cents on the ECX.

Bulgaria said it may sue the commission because of the size of its phase-two cut.

``This would have a significant negative impact on our businesses,'' Bulgarian Environment Minister Djevdet Chakarov said in a statement on the ministry's Web site. ``That is why we will seek a fair decision for Bulgaria by all possible means, including a court procedure.''

Bulgaria's current carbon dioxide emissions levels are about 52 percent of the 127.5 million metric tons allowed under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, an agreement between nations to curb climate change, the ministry said.

More Lawsuits Possible

Seven other member states are challenging commission grant decisions for the five-year period, commission environment spokeswoman Barbara Helfferich said today. Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have signaled they will sue.

Romania's grant in 2007, the last year of the first phase, should be no more than 74.8 million tons, the commission said today. Bulgaria's allocation in 2007 should not exceed 42.3 million, it said.

Separately, the commission allowed Germany to boost imported emission credits to 20 percent from 12 percent of allocations, the statement said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mathew Carr in London at m.carr@bloomberg.netjstearns2@bloomberg.net Jonathan Stearns in Brussels at

EU: Romania, Bulgaria must cut national CO2 quota plan for 2008-12

London. The European Commission Friday ruled that Romania and Bulgaria must both reduce their carbon dioxide national allocation plans for the period 2008-12 by more than 20%, Nasdaq reports.

The commission said Romania must cut its annual CO2 allocation by 20.7% to 75.9 million tons of CO2 allowances for the second period of the European Emissions Trading Scheme, spanning 2008-12.

It also ruled that Bulgaria should reduce its annual CO2 allocation by 37.4% to 42.3 million tons of CO2 allowances for the second period of the ETS.
Under the scheme, E.U. governments must set national limits on the amount of CO2 industry can emit in the five years between 2008 and 2012, which must then be approved by the commission.
Romania and Bulgaria, the latest entrants to the European Union, were the last two countries out of the 27-member bloc whose CO2 plans needed to be approved by the commission.