BUCHAREST
(Reuters) - Romania's leftist prime minister, Victor Ponta, said on Friday he had appointed the government's EU funds minister, Eugen Teodorovici, as the new finance minister.
Ponta had briefly taken over the portfolio following the resignation earlier this month of Darius Valcov, who faces accusations of corruption -- charges he has denied. Parliament voted on Wednesday to allow prosecutors to arrest him.
Teodorovici, 43, faces potentially difficult talks in April with the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission, where he will seek backing for Romania's plans for sweeping tax cuts in 2016 to 2019.
On Friday, the IMF said the planned tax cuts threatened to undermine five years of fiscal consolidation and urged the cabinet to reconsider their size and timing.
Romania has a standby 4 billion euro aid deal with the IMF and the European Commission, which is tied to its performance in implementing reforms and keeping the deficit in check. The accord expires in September.
The tax cuts were formally approved by the government on Wednesday and will be debated in parliament before a final vote that is expected by June.
Romania's talks with the IMF ended without agreement in February as Bucharest resisted calls for gas price hikes and restructuring state-run coal firms.
Including Ponta's brief stint, Teodorovici will become the sixth finance minister since Ponta took office in May 2012. The premier has jokingly referred to the position as a "kamikaze" role.
Valcov quit after prosecutors alleged he had favored a firm for a public works contract in exchange for about 2 million euros ($2.20 million). Prosecutors subsequently accused him of unlawful gains after they discovered cash, gold bars and a French Impressionist painting in his safe.
Some dinners are eaten. Others are remembered. At Corinthia Grand Hotel du Boulevard, the past few months have unfolded like a quiet culinary opera. One by one, Europe’s most celebrated chefs arrived, took over the kitchen of Boulevard 73 and left behind more than menus; they left stories. Now, on December 4, the curtain falls. […]
HORIZON CITY, a €130 million residential project, is emerging as one of the most solid and forward-thinking developments in the Pipera area—both through its scale and through the modern direction it sets for the new residential standards in the north. Developed across nearly 23,000 sqm, with 699 apartments and 926 parking spaces, the project brings […]
Romania’s National Forest Administration, or Romsilva, announced that it is putting over 16,000 Christmas trees up for sale over the winter in a press release published on Thursday, November 27. The trees can be purchased directly from the offices of the forestry districts. Prices range between RON 17 (EUR 3.3) for a spruce...
Lot 3 Pietroasele–Buzău of Romania's A7 highway, also known as the Moldova highway, was inaugurated on Thursday, November 27. The newly inaugurated segment is 13.9 km long. The A7 connects Romania’s historic regions of Muntenia, the southern part of the country, with Moldova, the eastern part. “We are opening another 13 km of the Moldova Motorway […]
The City Hall of Sinaia, a popular mountain town roughly 120 km north of Bucharest, announced that a new attraction, the alpine coaster on Pârtia Nouă, will officially open on December 1. The installation, located in the ski area near the Sinaia Gondola, features what the authorities say is the longest track of its kind […]
The Romanian national team debuted with a victory in Group A of the Women’s Handball World Championship, organized in the Netherlands and Germany. Romania won 33–24 (13–12) against Croatia in the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam on Thursday, November 27. The Romanian team dominated the match in the second half, left backer Sorina-Maria Grozav scoring 7 […]
