Romania received a warning on Wednesday for failing to fully comply with the Landfill and Waste Framework Directives despite having already been fined by the European Court of Justice in December, euractiv.com informs. According to the Commission, Romania has successfully closed and rehabilitated 92 landfills and plans to address five more by 2026-2028. However, the situation for four others remains uncertain despite ambitious targets to send less than 10% of municipal solid waste generated to landfills by 2035. Environment, Water and Forests Minister Mircea Fechet has stressed the urgency of closing or rehabilitating at least 31 hazardous and non-hazardous industrial waste sites to avoid EU fines. During a site visit to Sofert Bacau, a 16-hectare dangerous waste landfill in north-eastern Romania, Fechet highlighted the daily fines of €18,000 incurred by this site alone, which has been storing hazardous phosphogypsum industrial waste since communist times. Today, a significant amount of recyclable material still ends up in landfills rather than in factories, while Romania is still unable to control waste imports, the minister said in an earlier statement. On 14 December, the EU Court of Justice (CJEU) imposed a fine of €1.5 million on Romania, along with daily penalties of €600, for delays in closing non-compliant waste dumps. The CJEU noted that the failure to fulfil obligations has lasted more than four years since 2018, described as “a considerable duration”. In addition, the CJEU pointed to “a significant risk of pollution and serious consequences for human health, in particular through the release of harmful chemicals into soil, air and water”.
The Arts Hour on Tour, the BBC World Service arts and culture program that visits cities all over the world, will be in Bucharest next week to record a show on topics relating to the cultural life in the city and Romania. Television and radio broadcaster Nikki Bedi, who curates, writes, and presents the program, […]
Romanian prime minister Marcel Ciolacu recently stated during an interview that foreign minister Emil Hureaznu will be replaced if he continues to send messages to private individuals, such as those addressed to Elon Musk, without consulting him. The warning comes after Emil Hurezeanu stated on Saturday, February 22, that Elon Musk’s support for Călin Georgescu […]
Romanian state-controlled gas producer Romgaz (BVB: SNG) reported a net profit of RON 3.22 bln (EUR 647 mln) in 2024, up 14.5% compared with the previous year. The company’s revenues went down by 11.9% to RON 7.93 bln (EUR 1.6 bln) because of lower...
The Romanian Parliament rejected the no-confidence motion initiated by far-right parties AUR, SOS Romania, and POT against the government led by Social Democrat prime minister Marcel Ciolacu. The motion received 147 votes in favor and one against during the lawmakers' meeting on Friday, February 28 - a figure lower than the 155 signatures with which […]
Nuclearelectrica (BVB: SNN), the company that operates Romania’s only nuclear power plant – Cernavoda, reported a net profit of RON 1.7 bln (EUR 343 mln) in 2024, down 31% compared with the previous year. The company recorded 37.6% lower revenues from electricity sales due to lower average...
In his first press conference since becoming interim president, held on Friday, February 28, Ilie Bolojan said that discussing peacekeeping troops in Ukraine is premature, since no peace agreement was reached. He also discussed increasing Romania’s defense spending, the relationship with the United States, and the reconstruction of Ukraine. The press conference was organised after Ilie […]
