Central bank official: Printing & minting equipment fully in place by year-end for euro cash changeover

By the end of this year, Romania will have the complete technological equipment in place for printing euro banknotes, Cristian Popa, president of the National Bank of Romania's Numismatics Commission and member of the bank's Board of Directors said."As far as the process of Romania's joining the euro area is concerned, we are happy to inform the public that the corporations coordinated by the National Bank of Romania - the BNR Printing Office and the State Mint Corporation are making major progress in developing the technical capacities for printing banknotes and minting euro coins. The BNR Printing Office has been preparing steadily for the moment of switching to/printing euro banknotes, and at the end of this year, following extensive investments, we will tick off a major goal of this process: we will have the complete necessary technological equipment in place, which is no small feat. From a technical point of view, we will have the capacity to print euro banknotes at the very high standards required by the European Central Bank. In its turn, the State Mint Corporation has the technological infrastructure and professional skills required for carrying out euro production activities, in accordance with the requirements and standards imposed by the European monetary authority," Cristian Popa said.He mentioned that significant investments were made in state-of-the-art equipment intended for the stamping, sorting, counting and packaging of coins, such as high-precision presses for minting bimetallic coins and laser engraving equipment, capable of producing coin minting dies and high-precision microengravings or heat treatment ovens for increasing the durability of the dies in the pressing process.Popa said that this is not just about machines, but primarily about people: by the end of the year, the two corporations will have complete portfolios of state-of-the-art equipment as well as highly specialized human resources, trained over decades of activity in banknote and coin manufacturing."Of course, the actual production will be conditional on our obtaining the necessary certifications and on positive developments in the general accession process, a process which you also stipulates the fulfillment of the Maastricht criteria as a prerequisite, and where substantial progress is still needed. As for the design, the euro coins have a common side - the same in all Member States, and a country-specific one. What I can tell you at this point is that when it comes to choosing the design for the specific side, we will follow and comply with all the recommendations and requirements of the European Central Bank. Unlike euro coins, euro banknotes do not have a national side to indicate where they come from. The European Central Bank is currently in the process of redesigning the euro banknotes, also aiming to make the bills more durable and environmentally friendly. Last month, the ECB launched a public competition for the design of the future euro banknotes. The ECB Governing Council has already selected two possible themes for the future euro bills, consulting experts and the public. These themes are: European Culture, focused on common cultural spaces and a series of European personalities; and Rivers and Birds," Cristian Popa also said.