Romania has not yet approved a National Energy Strategy (SEN), which defines the medium and long term objectives of the natural gas sector and the ways to achieve them, in order to ensure the sustainable development of the national economy, informs a performance audit on the implementation of strategies and policies in the field of natural gas investment and production, conducted between February 2022 and May 2023, by the Court of Accounts.During the audit engagement , which covered the period 2017-2021, the auditors found that the Ministry of Energy did not monitor the achievement of the objectives set by the old strategic document (SEN 2007-2020), which expired almost three years ago.Domestic gas production decreased by 16.81% between 2017-2021, while the amount imported more than tripled during the audited period. Due to the higher volume of imported gas, a deficit in the national trade balance of 2.056 billion euros (import of 2.335 billion euros - export of 279.5 million euros) was recorded in 2017-2021.The Court of Accounts mentions that the National Agency for Mineral Resources (ANRM) has not initiated public calls for tenders for the concession of oil operations since 2010, although it has been noted that there are free geographical areas for the concession of operations (68 perimeters).Investments in the construction of natural gas distribution networks were not completed in all cases within the agreed deadlines, nor were investments in the development of storage facilities carried out at the planned level.Among the positive aspects noted during the audit were the unblocking of the offshore gas exploitation projects in the Black Sea and the achievement of the objective to involve Romgaz SA in the Neptun Deep project, the increase in the length of the transmission pipelines by 6.81% (906.5 km), the exceeding of the drilling work programmes undertaken by Romgaz SA within the exploration programmes (141.86% completion rate).
June is the richest month. The most awaited two weeks in my annual festival pilgrimage. The route starts with Romania’s Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF), followed by Italy’s (and the world’s) most comprehensive festival for restored and archival film: Il Cinema Ritrovato. To shake up the traditional article on the two, I’ll start with the […]
Different Beauty, a recently opened exhibition of works by Czech photographer David Těšínský, offers a glimpse into everyday life in the war-torn region of Donbas in 2017. The photos were taken within the span of only a few days, as Těšínský traveled to eastern Ukraine to document the lives of women impacted by war. In […]
Different Beauty, a recently opened exhibition of works by Czech photographer David Těšínský, offers a glimpse into everyday life in the war-torn region of Donbas in 2017. The photos were taken within the span of only a few days, as Těšínský traveled to eastern Ukraine to document the lives of women impacted by war. In […]
Roughly 70% of Romanians are “very” or “moderately” concerned about how AI accesses and uses their data, according to the latest survey conducted by RoCoach in partnership with Novel Research between May and June 2025. Distrust in automated decision-making and the demand for regulation are becoming more pronounced, as Romania rolls out major digitalization projects […]
The Armenian Street Festival returns for a 9th edition between August 1 and 3, 2025, in the “Dimitrie Brândză” Botanical Garden in Bucharest. The festival brings into focus the living heritage of the Armenian community in Romania and the diaspora. According to the organizers, this year’s edition aims to strengthen the Bucharest–Chișinău–Yerevan cultural axis, articulated […]
The Romanian mergers and acquisitions market registered a total of 122 announced transactions in the first half of 2025, with a value exceeding EUR 2.7 billion, marking a slight increase of 6% in volume and 4% in value compared to the same period last year, according to an analysis by George Ureche, partner at PwC Romania. […]
