President Klaus Iohannis is attending a European Council meeting in Brussels on Thursday and Friday.According to the Presidential Administration, the main topics on the agenda of the meeting are European coordination in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the EU digital agenda, the recent rise in energy prices, migration, European trade policy and foreign relations, with a focus on the preparation of the EU-Asia Summit (ASEM), the Eastern Partnership Summit, as well as the COP 26 meetings on climate change and the COP 15 on biodiversity.In preparation for the meeting, President Iohannis attended a videoconference meeting on Monday with European Council President Charles Michel, his Lithuanian counterpart and prime ministers in Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.After this videoconference, the Presidential Administration reported that the head of state highlighted the crisis in Romania regarding the incidence of COVID-19 cases, showing that the low vaccination rate contributed significantly to this situation. He mentioned that Romania had activated the European Civil Protection Mechanism and thanked the member states that have already offered support to Romania.As to the energy situation, the President stressed that the significant increase in energy prices is a major concern for Romania, given the impact it has on citizens, businesses and, in particular, on vulnerable consumers.The head of state stressed the need to quickly identify efficient solutions in the short term, because the current energy crisis will have serious effects in all EU countries, with profound socio-economic impact, both in household consumers, population and economies in general, affecting the competitiveness of industries. The President pointed out that a medium- and long-term approach was also needed to address the structural problems of the energy sector, but also of the common market in the field of energy.In the perspective of the Eastern Partnership Summit in Brussels in December, Iohannis emphasized the need to support, through concrete measures, the three partner countries that want to strengthen relations with the EU. In the context of the current energy crisis, the head of state requested the support for the Republic of Moldova for the supply of natural gas and electricity.
Romanian prime minister Marcel Ciolacu announced during the first government meeting this year that over 200 kilometers of highways and express roads are planned to be inaugurated in 2025. Among the key projects highlighted was the Focșani-Brăila expressway, valued at over EUR 1 billion, for which multiple bids have been submitted,
SevenX Ventures increased its stake in Holde Agri Invest, one of Romania’s largest agricultural land operators, the company announced. At the same time, Leonard Leca, a member of Holde’s Board of Directors and an investor in SevenX Ventures, increased his holding in SevenX Ventures to 71%, resulting in a reduction of Vertical Seven Group’s stake […]
The Romanian executive recently granted emergency approvals for banned bee-killing pesticides in clear violation of European regulations, according to the European branch of the well-known US political news outlet Politico. Specifically, the Romanian ministry of agriculture greenlit the use of Cruiser 350 FS - a neonicotinoid insecticide banned in the EU due to its devastating impact...
Romanian finance minister Tanczos Barna confirmed on January 9 that the tax collection agency ANAF, together with the judicial bodies, is investigating the financing of the electoral campaign of former presidential candidate Călin Georgescu, focusing on "the manner and flows of money that arrived from various sources." "It is an investigation alongside the judicial bodies, […]
Romanian energy minister Sebastian Burduja announced that he is considering extending the capping-compensation scheme, in its current form, for another 3-6 months after April 1, 2025 – when it was supposed to be phased off. The ministry is working on several scenarios, he said. One of the scenarios is to keep the compensation-cap scheme for […]
Turkish exporters want to use a new maritime route for their goods and are looking at Romania’s port of Constanta in the context of hundreds of trucks waiting for a long time at the border crossings with Bulgaria, especially at those at Kapikule and Hamzabeyli, according to Türkiye Today. ...
