Ooni Koda
  1. Home
  2. /
  3. Newsfeed
  4. /
  5. Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu wants to organize...

Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu wants to organize a referendum for Rosia Montana

April 4, 2024

Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu stated on Thursday, in a discussion with journalists at the Victoria Palace, that he wants to organize a referendum for Rosia Montana, to see if the Romanians agree with gold mining. The statement comes in the context of the expected pronouncement of the decision by the international arbitration court on compensations or the possibility of gold exploitation on Friday, March 8. “I would say to organize a referendum for Rosia Montana. Let’s see if the Romanians agree to start gold mining”, declared Ciolacu. A decision in the case of Rosia Montana is expected on Friday, and depending on this the negotiation strategy will be formulated, announced the Minister of Finance, Marcel Bolos, who explained that “there is also the option not to pay anything, but to carry out the exploitation”. “We were informed that during the day of Friday the decision will be pronounced by the international arbitration court. We are waiting to see what this decision will be and then we will formulate our negotiation strategy and depending on what the coordinates of this negotiation strategy will be, we will go through the necessary stages to reach a consensus with the beneficiaries of that decision”, said Minister Bolos. Asked if an extraordinary appeal was still possible, the finance minister said yes, but that “it’s moving quite quickly”. “It’s possible, but it’s happening pretty quickly. Such are the customs of international arbitration courts and the prospect of changing the decision that will be pronounced on Friday, following the discussions with the lawyers, is quite small”, said Bolos. In June 2017, the Canadian company Gabriel Resources, the majority shareholder Rosia Montana Gold Corporation, summoned Romania to court at a World Bank Tribunal, where it claimed losses of billions of dollars because the Government in Bucharest decided not to approve the exploitation of the gold mine Rosia Montana. The total updated value of the compensation requested by the companies Gabriel Resources Ltd. and Gabriel Resources (Jersey) in the international arbitration case opened against Romania, related to the “Ro?ia Montana gold mining project”, amounts to approximately USD 6.7 billion.  

Read in full - click here
FEPRA opens new PET and glass recycling facilities in Romania’s Hunedoara county

FEPRA has opened new PET and glass recycling facilities in Brad, Hunedoara county, an initiative expected to boost the recycling capacity of both the region and Romania. The two units, inaugurated on December 1 in the presence of local authorities, come as Brad–Hunedoara continues to search for long-term economic alternatives after years of industrial decline. […]

Romanian mountain rescuers continue search for missing British teen

Rescuers part of the Brașov County Salvamont Service spent the night in the Bucegi Mountains on Wednesday to Thursday, December 3-4, to continue searches for missing 18-year-old British citizen George Smyth. In the morning, the team of 17 mountain rescuers who slept in a chalet resumed the search in the Țigănești area despite difficult conditions […]

Nine in ten Romanian employers plan to award Christmas benefits this year, eJobs survey finds

Roughly nine in ten Romanian employers plan to award Christmas benefits to their staff this year, according to a new survey conducted by leading online recruitment platform eJobs. The findings show that 89.7% of employers have prepared holiday perks for December, while 10.3% reported having no budget available for this purpose. As in previous years, […]

Romanian authorities point fingers in Prahova water crisis, president stresses accountability

Authorities in Romania, such as the Environment Ministry, the Romanian Waters, and the Prahova local water authority Exploatare Sistem Zonal Prahova, have passed responsibility to each other for the ongoing water crisis that has left over 100,000 people without clean drinking water in the counties of Prahova and Dâmboviţa, as well as schools and hospitals in […]

From politics to pop culture: Nicușor Dan, Ion Iliescu, and Labubu shape Romania’s Google search trends in 2025

Google has released its annual report on Romania’s most popular search trends, showing how politics and pop culture shaped online behaviour in 2025. Queries about Nicușor Dan, Ion Iliescu, and the viral toy Labubu stood out among the fastest-rising searches of the year, alongside major entertainment moments and high-profile public events. The spring presidential election […]

Saint Nicholas Day marks the start of the holiday season in Romania

Romanians celebrate Saint Nicholas (Sfântul Nicolae) on December 6, a tradition that has grown far beyond its religious roots and signals the official start of the holiday season. The day is especially beloved by children, who eagerly prepare their freshly polished boots in hopes of finding small gifts in the morning. Many Romanians also celebrate […]