Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said on Wednesday that the first natural gas drill in the Black Sea will happen in the middle of this year, with the new exploitation expected to provide about one billion cubic metres per year, which is 10% of the annual natural gas consumption in Romania."The first Black Sea natural gas drill will be conducted by Black Sea Oil and Gas in the middle of this year and then we will have an extra billion cubic metres per year provided by this investment. (...) In the Caragele field the first dill will be in 2024, and in the Neptune Deep field, before the end of 2026-2027; we cannot hope for Black Sea natural gas earlier than late 2026-2027. We have to say that Romania is a lucky country, having this very important resource at the moment," Ciuca told TVR1 national broadcaster on Wednesday.According to Ciuca, although there is currently enough gas for consumption by the population and industry, an additional amount of about 20% of annual consumption is needed, of which 10% would be provided by the exploitation of Black Sea Oil and Gas.Ciuca added that talks with the Bulgarian prime minister would be held on Friday on the completion of an interconnection between Greece and Bulgaria, so that liquefied gas could be brought to the Mediterranean and unloaded at terminals in Greece or Turkey.With regard to electricity, Ciuca said that the European Union's renewable energy programmes are being considered, along with steps for the commissioning of the Iernut plant, the Cernavoda III and IV reactors and small modular reactors.In connection with the offshore drilling law, Ciuca gave assurances that it will shortly be approved and forwarded for promulgation.
Participation in cultural education activities continues to be limited, with the main barriers being difficult access, insufficient knowledge, and cost, the recently released Cultural Consumption Barometer 2024 shows. The report showed that many Romanians still associate culture with entertainment rather than with personal development or furthering their knowledge. The need for relaxation dominates in cultural […]
Roughly 84% of Romanians say that the pace of the state’s digitalization is slow or very slow, according to an Edge Institute & AtlasIntel study presented at the Digital Governance Summit 2025, which took place on Tuesday, November 25, at the presidential palace in Bucharest. The survey aims to capture the way citizens relate to […]
Romania’s Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM) issued a negative opinion on the new bill regarding magistrates’ pensions. The move is only the latest development concerning a heated issue that led to tensions between the executive and the judiciary branch. CSM’s opinion is consultative, and the government led by Ilie Bolojan can still take responsibility for […]
Romania took the presidency of the Central European Initiative (or CEI) on Wednesday, November 26, according to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE). The organization is a regional intergovernmental forum established in 1989, following the fall of the Berlin Wall. It gathers 17 Member States in Central, Eastern, and South-Eastern Europe […]
Trade between Romania and Poland continues to grow, with annual bilateral exchanges in goods now valued at more than EUR 12 billion, according to figures presented by the Polish-Romanian Bilateral Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PRBCC). The data was released during a reception in Bucharest marking Poland’s Independence Day and Romania’s National Day. Polish investments […]
As Romania moves closer to implementing the EU Pay Transparency Directive, local employers are preparing for one of the most consequential shifts in workplace regulation in over a decade. The directive, set for transposition by June 2026, introduces strict new rules on salary disclosure, pay reporting, and equal-pay verification, aiming to close persistent gender gaps […]
