Romanian Government Plans to Privatize Companies

"Romania will privatize its postal and national radio communication companies, the government said.

The radio communication company would be sold by the end of next year, while the postal company would have to be restructured first and could be sold by 2008, Communication and Information Technology Minister Zsolt Nagy said.

The state is interested in finding a strategic investor to take over the postal company, Nagy said.

The government also intends to list its minority stock in national telephone company Romtelecom on the stock exchange. The state owns 46 percent in Romtelecom, which is majority owned by Greek company OTE.

Consultants for the sales would be hired after a public auction, Nagy said.

About 25 percent of the state-owned stock in the Romanian Post and 20 percent of Romtelecom's stock would be transferred to a fund which compensates people whose property was confiscated during the communist regime.

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Romanian Olympic women's team disbanded

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romanian gymnastics was in disarray on Tuesday when the women's national team, winners of four Olympic golds in Athens, were disbanded after two of their leading members went nightclubbing without permission.

The Romanian Gymnastics Federation (FRG) said it broke up the team after state television station showed triple Olympic champion Catalina Ponor and Floarea Leonida returning from a Bucharest nightclub to their hotel early on Sunday morning.

"At an FRG emergency meeting, we decided to dismantle the female Olympic team following a string of unacceptable events," FRG sport director Anca Grigoras told Reuters.

"Ponor and Leonida spent a night in a nightclub without the permission of their coaches and this behavior is unacceptable for top-level sports performance."

Romania's national coaches Octavian Belu and Mariana Bitang, with no team at their disposal, have asked the FRG if they can resign.

"Coaches Belu and Bitang have no athletes to train so they have no purpose in their job," said Grigoras. "They will receive an answer to their request within the next few days.

"The team has been disbanded and the athletes will now train at their own clubs, if they want."

Earlier this month, double Olympic champion Monica Rosu and Alexandra Eremia quit the team after gaining weight and losing interest in their national training programme.

A fifth member of Romania's Olympic team, Daniela Sofronie, has since followed suit.

"We cannot continue in such conditions," Belu told Reuters. "The medals Romania have won so far were the result of a clear training system under an iron discipline ... giving this up means we have no chance for further medals.

"We can speak about a new Romanian Olympic team next year, when a new generation of gymnasts comes through," Belu added. "This year's world championships are compromised for Romania."

The 38th world championships will take place in Melbourne, Australia from November 21 to 27.

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Romanian Main Opposition Party Attacked from Within and Without

The main opposition party - PSD - has recently appeared as a political formation under siege, being the target of attacks - from the media and not only - coming both from within and without. It is enough to think to the transcripts’ scandal, the defrauding of the elections, or the investigation of certain leaders over the allegedly illicit character of their wealth in order to have a rather complete image of the situation of the social-democrats.

If we add the offensive connected with the replacement of the speakers of the two Chambers of Parliament, or of the chairmen of some of the County Councils, then we can believe that the party of Messrs. Geoana-Nastase is subject to a major offensive, further to which, if it resists it will grow stronger and will re-launch in view of the future elections, and, if not, it will slowly but surely slip on the slope of decline. The removal of the all-dominating President, acquired since the revolution of December 1989 in the person of Ion Iliescu, has generated a dissipation of power in the social-democrat formation; coming from a weak platform and with a feeble personality, Mircea Geoana did not impose himself over the barons of the party. A state of competition and tension took birth immediately between him and the Executive President A. Nastase, with frequent public outbursts.

The attempts of the new President to impose himself through the thesis of removing the corrupts as a condition sine qua non for the re-launching of the party has met with major reactions and resistance. His move instead of conducting to deep evaluations and significant discharges had the effect of a boomerang: the case of Geoana’s mother in law, Margareta Costea, who seems to warn him: keep a low profile, because you are one of ours (meaning corrupt!). Even the attitude and the suspicions towards the dossier of the transcripts of the meetings of the PSD Standing Delegation show that some people are trying to detach themselves (such as Miron Mitrea) pushing into the ring people belonging to a certain group (such as Rodica Stanoiu or Florin Georgescu). Concurrently, it is obvious that resuming in this period certain themes which had already been discussed previously reveals the existence of powerful interests of a different type, coming from the current power. It is not difficult to notice, for instance, that the problem of the transcripts raised initially on November 23, 2004, in the middle of the electoral campaign, views people such as Florin Georgescu, who occupied a much coveted position of Vice President of the National Bank of Romania, or Rodica Stanoiu, who also holds a not negligible position, that of chairman of the Commission on petitions and abuses of the Senate.

Beyond the juridical scent which is tentatively imposed on them, or the attempt to exploit non-governmental organisations (headed however from the shadow by persons such as Minister of Justice Monica Macovei, or presidential counsellor Renate Weber), the character of political struggle is obvious. It is difficult for someone, somehow familiar with the matter he is, to believe that in all these cases investigated by the Prosecution Office the viewed persons will be finally charged and prosecuted. What is even more serious, Justice is used in such a way in order to stir the media campaign of the public disparagement, with the hope to strike in this way a political blow. Indubitably, in this swing of the games of all types - judicial, image, but with a political ending - all the (grim) facets of the Romanian political life are coming up. A fishy, incompetent political class, pushed only by personal or group interests, with political men who hate and pursue one another in the harsh fight over the bone of power. The sad image of a pack, in which the weak one is torn to shreds by the stronger one, but who knows, if necessary, to defend his fundamental interest: namely to benefit from his position in order to get rich, by cheating the electorate.

In spite of the concentrated attack coming from everywhere, PSD appears united enough, at least at the level of its leaders. The interior danger of breaking into pieces is little probable at this time, when any lonely baron would be easier to tear apart by the adversaries. Especially that the departure of one person would also mean the tearing away of a significant share of the local political clientele. At this moment we cannot make a correct evaluation of the victims and losses suffered by one party or another. It is only after the settlement of the latest objectives of the total conquest of the power by the current rulers that we can make a first evaluation.
by Mircea Dutu
Source: Nine O'Clock

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ROMANIA: Consolidated Budget Deficit 2005 May Widen to Some 1% of GDP

According to Romanian Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu, the consolidated budget deficit 2005 will most probably widen to some 1% of GDP, Reuters reports.

Romania, which hopes to become an European Union member in 2007, had already agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to limit the budget deficit to 0.74% of GDP.

However, this proved to be unfeasible due to spending needs resulting from extensive floods the country has suffered this year. Source: REUTERS

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ROMANIA: Basescu - Nastase Dispute over Pan-European IV Corridor

While on a visit in Constanta County, President Traian Basescu denied rumours that Romania could be left out the “operating plan” of the pan-European IV Transport Corridor, stating that such rumours were launched by the main Opposition party, PSD.

“This is a story launched by PSD leaders these days, to accuse the Government of jeopardising the Fourth Corridor in Romania, but it is a huge lie. I can tell you that in 1997 in Helsinki, after lengthy negotiations and enough hindrances, it was I who managed to introduce Romania in the Pan-European IV corridor and to have Constanta Port agreed on as the terminus point of this main transport route.
Later on, on this basis, I signed the EUR 220 M financing agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB) in 1999, for the Bucharest-Cernavoda motorway, whereas PSD in the 2000-2004 mandate only managed to boycott the idea of a pan-European transport route taking the motorway to Cornu, because they were concerned with anything but the development of IV Corridor. The Nastase Government never invested any funds in this project,” Traian Basescu said.

The Head of State assured the audience that the transport infrastructure continues to be one of the main concerns of the incumbent Government, but also of the Presidential Administration.

In reply, former Premier, incumbent PSD executive president Adrian Nastase stated that construction of the Pan-European Corridor has nothing to do with Cornu locality, where one of his residences is located. “As a sailor, he (Traian Basescu, editor’s note) has travelled less on the country’s roads. Corridor IV has nothing to do with Cornu, and if he imagines the Brasov-Bors motorway crosses Cornu, it means he has lived too long on the sea and less in the country,” Nastase said. Source: Nine oClock

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Palmdale dealership to sell Romanian SUVs

A unique dealership is expected to join Palmdale's auto mall, selling off-road vehicles from Romania.

Auto dealer Mike Taheri is buying 3.1 acres from the city in the Antelope Valley Auto Mall to build a Cross Lander dealership, expected to open by December 2006.

"This will be one of the few places where you can buy one," said Councilman Mike Dispenza. "It's a good fit for our area. It's a very affordable vehicle."

In keeping with similar land transactions at the auto mall, Taheri will not actually pay for the property. Instead, the city would write off the $810,000 sales price through sales tax revenue generated by the new business over the next 10 years.

The total taxable sales projected from vehicle sales on the property are expected to exceed $7.8 million.

Targeted at off-road enthusiasts rather than at SUV owners who seldom need their four-wheel-drive capability, the Cross Lander 244X sport recreation vehicle is tall and boxy, described by manufacturer Auto Romania as a no-frills vehicle.

The vehicle gained U.S. Environmental Protection Agency certification last December.

Manufactured in Campulung, Romania, the vehicles will be equipped with a 4.0-liter V-6 engine and are expected to sell in the low- to mid-$20,000 range, the company said.

There are 148 dealerships signed up nationwide, but sales have not started, company officials said.

The company calls itself the only international manufacturer aggressively targeting American off-road enthusiasts.

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Romanian Government approved subsidizing of wheat storing and trading

The Romanian Government okayed on Thursday the subsidizing of wheat storing in special spaces, and its trading. Farmers will be granted subsidies for storing a total of 1.5 tonnes of wheat, or 20.4 percent of the crop. Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development, Gheorghe Flutur, said subsidies will be given over six months, January 2006 included. As many as 2.5 euros per tonne will be paid for the first month, Flutur also said. For the farmers to enjoy fair participation, the programme does not work according to the principle that the first served is one having come first. The step has been taken for the regulation of the wheat market and for protecting it from speculation.

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Romanians Win Top Prizes in Copenhagen

COPENHAGEN, Denmark - Romanian-born director Radu Mihaileanu won awards at the Copenhagen International Film Festival for best movie and best script for "Live and Become," a film about an Ethiopian boy who struggles to integrate into Israeli society.

Cristi Puiu, also of Romania, was given the Grand Jury Special Prize for his film "The Death of Mr. Lazarescu" at Sunday's Golden Swan ceremony.

Norwegian director Bent Hamer won best director for his film "Factotum."

Lili Taylor, ho stars in the film, was tapped best actress while the best actor title went to Ioan Fiscuteanu for his part in "The Death of Mr. Lazarescu."

More than 100 films and documentaries, most of them European, were screened during the 11-day festival, 10 of which competed for the Golden Swan awards.

During the festival, British director Niicolas Roeg and Greek-born director Constantin Costa-Gavras were given lifetime achievement awards. Roeg is known for his 1973 movie "Don't Look Now," while Costa-Gavras' political movie "Z" won an Oscar in 1970 for Best Foreign Language Film.

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Eastern Europeans counting the cost of floods

Bucharest - Across eastern and central Europe on Sunday, work began to clean up after the disastrous downpours and flooding that have taken at least 26 lives across the region.

The Harghita region in Romania, where 15 lives were lost in a week and 33 people have died since mid-August, was among the hardest-hit.

Three hundred people have been washed out of their homes there and will not be able to return until mid-October, local authorities said.

"About 30 houses have been completely destroyed by the floods and several hundred seriously damaged," the head of the local authority said.

"Reconstruction work cannot begin until the roads have been rebuilt." He said 200 troops were busy clearing away "mud and debris."

The cost to Romania of damage since the start of the month has been put by the interior ministry at €260-million.

In Switzerland, where six people have died in the last week, the 70 inhabitants of Oey-Diemtigen, near Bern, have been told they will have to wait weeks, if not months, before their homes can be lived in again.

In Bern itself about 340 people living in the lower town along the river Aar have been able to go home but many other local residents have had to stay in temporary shelters because electricity and gas supplies have not been restored.

In Austria, where four lives were lost, thousands of troops, firefighters and volunteers - among them 100 asylum-seekers - have been cleaning up in the western provinces of Vorarlberg and the Tyrol.

Priority is being given to clearing river beds to lessen the risk of future flooding. In most communes electricity supplies and phone lines have been restored.

First estimates put the cost of damage to the rail system in the two provinces at €15-million and to the main highway system at €5-million.

Many roads remained impassable, in particular in the Paznau valley in the Tyrol and in Vorarlberg, where damage to local roads is put at €30-million.

Gargellen in Vorarlberg will have to be supplied by helicopters for several days to come.

Further west, in Carinthia and Styria, more landslides were reported late on Friday and rain was forecast for Sunday, raising fears of further damage.

In Germany, where one person died, levels of the Danube and its tributary the Isar were falling, police said.

"But we shall have to wait several days for all the water to leave for good," a spokesperson said.

At Passau, at the meeting of the Danube, the Inn and the Ilz, water levels were almost back to normal and sandbags used to form dykes were being removed and streets cleaned.

In Poland electricity and gas services have been restored in flooded areas near the Czech border but movement by road remains difficult, according to local authorities who complain of the lack of reaction by central government.

On the side of the continent, in Portugal four new wildfires broke out as temperatures rose, just hours after firefighters tamed three blazes overnight, including one that raced through a nature reserve, officials said.

Two fires were burning in the northern districts of Braganca and Vila Real, one was burning in the central district of Aveiro and another in the southern district of Faro in the Algarve, Portugal's main tourism centre, the civil protection agency said in a statement.

A pilot was killed when his plane crashed while water-bombing a wild fire in Mallorca, Spanish emergency services said. - Sapa-AFP

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ROMANIA: Central Bank Seeks to Prevent Inflows of Speculative Funds

Romania’s central bank (BNR) will only partly drain liquidity from the leu money market to avoid hiking interest rates and deter hot money from flooding the booming economy, governor Mugur Isarescu said yesterday.

Analysts say hopes of a leu currency appreciation are prompting yield-hunters from abroad to pump billions of euros into Romanian assets as the European Union candidate country approaches accession, as early as 2007.
“When we feel that short-term and very short-term capital is behind a treasury transaction, we will be seeking to prevent them from achieving their expected gains,” Isarescu said in a statement to private news agency Mediafax, sent to Reuters by his office.

Isarescu said the bank was determined to leave some excess liquidity in the market to keep interest rates at a level that would discourage speculators.

“There is plenty of money on the market which has nothing to do with the real economy,” Isarescu said. “There are funds which come here to speculate and then leave. These funds are a big source of financial instability.”

The BNR has stepped into the money market only once in 11 trading days to drain leu funds via one-month deposit tenders since merging its key interest rates to a single 8.5 percent benchmark on August 9, to make its policy more transparent.
The BNR’s quasi-absence from the money market triggered a drop in short-term interbank interest rates to 3/7 percent from 6/8 percent before it merged its key rates, dealers said.

The BNR shifted its focus from targeting the exchange rate to targeting inflation last week, but it was forced to intervene in the foreign exchange market for four days in a row to tame a rising leu, in a challenge to its own policy switch.

Isarescu said that increased leu liquidity might prompt some commercial banks to lower deposit rates for individuals, but that would be an isolated phenomenon.

“Some banks may consider lowering rates for deposits. But I count on the serious banks with strategic thinking and involvement in the economy, which look after their clients on the credits and deposits side, such as BCR,” Isarescu said.
“We are not against cheaper resources from abroad, but if we allow too many funds, people might get used to not saving money any more,” he added.


By Radu Marinas
Source: Reuters

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New Impetus for Romanian War on Corruption

More needs to be done to stamp out the high-level corruption, seen as major obstacle to the country�s bid to join the European Union.

By Marian Chiriac in Bucharest (BCR No 572, 25-Aug-05)

In the lobby of Romania�s anti-corruption office in downtown Bucharest sits a statue of Vlad the Impaler, the 15th-century leader best known in the West as the model for the fictional Count Dracula.

In Romania itself, however, Vlad is seen as a symbol of justice and moral rectitude, all the more so now given the rampant corruption that followed the collapse of communism in 1989. Although the statue was inherited from the building�s previous occupants, Romania�s new anti-corruption prosecutor, Daniel Morar, seems keen to keep it as a role model for his officers.

Morar, 38, who was appointed last week, has previously been involved in tackling corruption in the Transylvanian city of Cluj. Now he wants to improve the way the National Anti-Corruption Prosecutor�s Office, PNA, functions.

"We need dynamic and effective officers who are able to take the initiative and who won�t allow themselves to be politically manipulated,� Morar told Balkans Crisis Report, BCR.

Justice Minister Monica Macovei has said she expects Morar to perform well.

"After one year in office, Morar will publicly present an activity report, and I won�t hesitate to remove him from office if he does not produce visible results,� she added after nomininating him for the job.

In early August, Macovei urged the Council of Magistrates which controls the country�s judiciary, to dismiss Morar�s predecessor Ioan Amariei and seven other top prosecutors, saying they had failed to catch the big fish in the world of corruption. "Substantial funds were pumped into the PNA but it never functioned properly, and it has yet to produce the desired results," said Macovei.

Analysts unanimously welcomed the changes, saying they opened the way for a seachange in the way the government tackles corruption � a key outstanding requirement for European Union accession.

Romania, ranked by the watchdog group Transparency International as the most corrupt of new and aspiring EU member states, has been told by Brussels that it must prosecute big corruption cases or else see its accession chances shrink. Other international institutions list the problem as one of the main stumbling blocks to reform and foreign investment.

No truly high-profile public figure has been convicted to date. Between 2003 and 2005, the list of people facing corruption charges included only a handful of relatively influential people: one senator, one deputy director of the Central Bank, three directors of other commercial banks, and eight directors with the agriculture ministry.

At the lower end of the scale, there were more than 1,000 doctors and teachers and close to 200 police officers.

"Romania has complied with most requests from the EU to put in place all the necessary legislation, committees and resolutions which all ostensibly deal with corruption. But it has always lacked good officers capable of combating high-level corruption,� political analyst Cristian Ghinea told BCR. "Morar at least seems determined to rely only on prosecutors who are keen to catch the big fish.�

The new head of PNA has certainly started with high-level targets, by launching an investigation to decide whether two former senior politicians should be charged with abuse of office. Former justice minister Rodica Stanoiu and the former deputy chairman of the Social Democrat Party, PSD, Florin Georgescu will be investigated to find out whether they abused their positions to influence last November�s elections.

Before the election, both men are said to have attended a meeting of the PSD - the ruling party at the time - at which senior party members allegedly discussed instructing prosecutors to investigate opposition leaders, and tightening control over television and print outlets.

PSD leaders have said the case is groundless, and have accused the centre-right government formed after the election of conducting a witch-hunt against its predecessors. �It is merely an act of intimidation and harassment against our people,� PSD leader Mircea Geoana told the press. �A criminal enquiry can be launched only if there are serious pointers against someone."

As well as external observers, Romanians themselves perceive the country as being awash with corruption - no surprise since most people live on an average monthly wage of 150 euro. The perception is strengthed by the tales of wrongdoing that fill the newspaper pages every day, with scandals ranging from the unexplained wealth of political figures cronies to vanishing profits from the sale of state-run companies.

At a practical level, though, Romanians are more immediately concerned about the bribes, known as "spaga�, that they themselves have to pay for basic services. Although schooling and medical services are supposed to be free, people often have to hand over some cash to get decent hospital treatment or to place their children in good schools � in some cases even to get them good exam results.

"My mother was in hospital and I had to pay the doctors and nurses to treat her," said Raluca Badescu, a teacher. "To get her an operation, I had to pay almost 100 [US] dollars for the surgeon's services, not to mention money for the nurses."

While dealing with this more mundane level of corruption, people are also watching closely - and with a measure of cynicism - to see whether the government will really deliver on its campaign to nail the high-level culprits.

"There are so many corruption cases that are known, yet nothing gets done about it," said Fane Paduret, a pensioner. "These recent changes in the PNA office are just an attempt by the government to show off to the foreigners. "But they can't fool us. We live here."

Marian Chiriac is Romania director for the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN, IWPR�s partner in the Balkans.

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Romanian extremist rapped over anti-gay comments

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania's top anti-discrimination body said on Thursday it had issued a stern warning to ultra-nationalist party leader Corneliu Vadim Tudor for anti-gay comments on TV.

A candidate in last year's presidential election, flamboyant Vadim Tudor, known for his rhetoric against ethnic minorities, recently focused on Romania's homosexual community.

"Homosexuals are an aberration of nature," he told private OTV television in late May.

"They shouldn't mess with me because I'm going to impale them on wooden stakes and they might like it," he said, alluding to the favorite punishment of Romania's notorious medieval ruler, Vlad Dracula the Impaler.

The National Council for Combating Discrimination said Vadim Tudor's comments had earned him a disciplinary warning and he could face a fine of up to $1,350 euros if he repeats them.

"His statements violate gay minority rights to dignity, freedom from discrimination and equal treatment and for that reason we sent him a warning," it said in a statement.

Vadim Tudor angrily rejected the warning and said he would sue the council for trying to muzzle him.

"I will sue them for this warning. I am the one who is discriminated against because they don't allow me to express my constitutional right to free speech," he said.

"Why don't they condemn the Pope? He is also a Christian and he doesn't agree with sodomy, which is the second deadly sin after murder," he added.

Vadim Tudor founded the Greater Romania Party after the 1989 fall of communism and made it to the final round of the 2000 presidential race, won by former president Ion Iliescu.

He once mustered as much as 33 percent of the vote on an anti-minorities platform but his party only won about 13 percent in November's elections. His usual targets have been Romania's Hungarian, Jewish and Roma minorities.

It is the second time in a year that Romania's gay community has taken center stage in Romanian politics. Gay rights groups appealed to political parties during the election campaign to stop using the issue to win votes in a conservative society.

Homosexuality is legal in European Union candidate Romania, but the public largely accepts the powerful Orthodox church's view that is it a sin and a disease.

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EU Delay to Cost Romania EUR 2 B

Romania could lose EUR 2 B if the EU accession is postponed for 2008, Romanian foreign minister warned on Tuesday as cited by euexpands.com.

Mihai-Razvan Ungureanu also said that EU has not envisaged a plan B if the two countries entry is delayed. He said that Brussels still envisage a 2007 accession for both of them.

The minister recalled that the EU Commission prepares two country reports, one in October 2005 and the second in April 2006. The second one is likely to propose the delay of the EU accession.

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Romania flood death roll rises

Bucharest - The death toll in storms and floods over the past 10 days in Romania has reached 25, the interior ministry said on Wednesday in Bucharest.

Seven people drowned in the hard-hit Harghita district since Sunday and eight have gone missing. By the end of the weekend, 18 people were confirmed killed by incessant storms and floods.

Only in the town Odorheiu Secuiesc, in the Harghita area, 800 houses were submerged. In the broader region, the number of homes penetrated by water rose to 2 800 in 22 towns.

The picture is incomplete, as entire areas remain cut off, owing to floods and landslides.

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Wolters Kluwer buys Romanian legal publisher Rosetti

AMSTERDAM (AFX) - Wolters Kluwer NV said that its Legal, Tax & Regulatory Europe division has bought Rosetti, a Romanian legal publisher, for an undisclosed amount.

Rosetti, based in Bucharest with 17 employees, reported 2004 sales at 350.000 eur. The company is a legal and fiscal publisher for professionals in organizations and governments, such as lawyers, accountants, HR specialists, and public administrations.

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Romanian Foreign Minister Confident Country on Track for 2007 EU Entry

Rompres, EurActiv, EUobserver, FT - 23/08/05; AP, AFP, Reuters, BBC, Rompres - 22/08/05)

With only weeks to go before the European Commission releases a key report assessing Romania's readinesss for EU membership, Foreign Minister Mihai-Razvan Ungureanu voiced confidence Tuesday (23 August) that his country is on track.

"I am confident that the monitoring report of October 2005 will evoke the progress Romania made over the past eight months," Ungureanu, a member of the National Liberal Party (PNL), told a summer school for young liberals held at a Black Sea resort.

Bulgaria and Romania signed their accession treaties with the EU on 25 April. Both are scheduled to join the Union on 1 January 2007. But safeguard clauses included in the treaties allow the EU to postpone their entry by one year, if they fail to meet the commitments made during membership negotiations. Ungureanu warned on Tuesday that any activation of the EU safeguard clause would cost the country 2 billion euros. That is approximately the same amount provided by the EU for implementation of scheduled reforms.

Romania's specific commitments include reforms in the judiciary and public sector, as well as stronger anti-corruption measures and a reduction of steel subsidies.

In his comments Tuesday, Ungureanu acknowledged that Romania is lagging behind slightly in the implementation of judicial and environmental measures and in bringing competition rules in line with EU standards and norms.

However, both Ungureanu and PNL vice president Teodor Melescanu sought to downplay the effect of a possible negative recommendation in the October report, saying an April 2006 assessment by the EC would have greater weight.

"It is only in April 2006 that the European Commission will draw up the final report on the two countries' capability to join the EU on 1 January 2007," Romanian state news agency Rompres quoted him as saying.

Melescanu and Ungureanu's statements came a day after Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu replaced four ministers -- two from each the PNL and the Democratic Party (PD) -- in a bid to boost popular support for the ruling coalition and accelerate the reform process.

Among those sacked Monday was European Integration Minister Ene Dinga, who was replaced by Anca-Daniela Boagiu. Finance Minister Ionut Popescu, who angered some by announcing an unpopular VAT increase without clearing it first with partners in the four-party coalition government, was replaced by Sebastian Vladescu. Gheorghe Pogea was appointed deputy prime minister in charge of co-ordinating business activities in place of Gheorghe Seculici. Eugen Nicolaescu replaced Mircea Cinteza as health minister.

"We need ministers who will perform superbly, not just well," Tariceanu said Monday.

Tariceanu announced his resignation last month following a move by the constitutional court to water down EU-required judicial reform laws. He reversed his decision several days later after being warned by EU officials that Romania could not afford to waste time for early elections that his resignation would have sparked.

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When in Romania

A new book and an avalanche of CDs give Americans a clearer glimpse into the world of Balkan Gypsy music.

by Keith Harris

There's a definitive book yet to be written about the musical inbreeding between African Americans and Eastern Europeans, and Garth Cartwright is too restless to write it. That doesn't stop the New Zealand raconteur from invoking the ghostly whispers of rural bluesmen as he surveys the countryside villages of the Roma Gypsies. Cartwright's Princes Amongst Men: Journeys With Balkan Musicians (Serpent's Tail, $20) includes a great discography, as you might expect; an even better filmography, as you might not; and a solid bibliography that's maybe a little too convinced that Elvis Presley biographer Peter Guralnick and pan-American folklorist Alan Lomax can provide insight into the brassy wedding bands and breakneck rustic fiddling of the Balkans.

Then again, there's a definitive book to be written about a bumptious gadje (as the Roma dub foreigners) eating, drinking, and kvetching his way from Macedonia to Bulgaria; Cartwright's stamina, garrulous personality, and old-school romantic decadence suit the task ideally. Though his blog-worthy detailing of travel arrangements and the state of his passport can annoy, his mundane focus counterbalances the macro-political sweep of most reportage, providing a view of the region's post-communist aftershocks—particularly those caused by the dissolution of Yugoslavia—from the muddiest of ground levels.

And we need it. Gypsy music once trickled into the U.S., with Romanian old-timers Taraf de Haidouks occupying the token slot in any world-music dilettante's CD changer. Now, labels like Piranha and Asphalt Tango have doused the Western market with Balkan romps, and Cartwright's interviews with Roma legends like Saban Bajramovic and Esma Redzepova provide essential context.

Ah, Saban and Esma: the James Brown and Aretha Franklin of Gypsy music, our guide calls 'em, and who knows—maybe some Bucharest Eminem fan might have as hard a time relating to the Godfather and the Queen as I do to the tracks representing these aging stars on World Music Network's spotty 2004 Rough Guide to the Music of the Balkans. Cartwright's passing mention that Whitney and Mariah are the Balkan gold standard for Western pop cleared up the roots of my resistance—melodramatic emphasis on florid vocal technique knows no borders. Yet when the old folks resurface on the same label's brand-new Rough Guide to the Music of the Balkan Gypsies (how to identify it from the earlier collection: the first one's red, this one's green), they sound so much livelier, and not just because of the Dixieland wailing behind Redzepova, and not just because they aren't plopped amidst Croatian folk and Bulgarian chorales.

No, it's the new breed who carry The Rough Guide to the Music of the Balkan Gypsies: Preceded by the jazzy piano of Romanian teen idol Nikolae Simion on "Di, Murgule, Di," Bajramovic sounds quaintly good- natured, like Grandpa weaving drunkenly up to the mike at your wedding. Yet the collection's true scene-stealers are Mahala Rai Banda, second-gen Haidouk-lings who start the party with "Mahalageasca," a busy crisscross of horns that sounds like a work of genius even before it reaches its near-vaudevillian ragtime breakdown.

A cosmopolitan lot, members of Mahala are also behind the much-disparaged Electric Gypsyland (Six Degrees), on which well-meaning gadje electronically rework the rhythms of some willing Romamusicians. But the band's own recording, Mahala Rai Banda (Crammed), is a more successful flirtation with the world beyond the village, often with a North African flavor—"Red Bula" is, at moments, practically an Arab "Macarena."

Ah, yes, but is it the Gypsy blues— or better yet, given all those horns, jazz? Louisiana was, in fact, a major destination for many Roma immigrants to the U.S, and if they played anything like Romania's Fanfare Ciocarlia on Gili Garababdi: Ancient Secrets of Gypsy Brass (Asphalt Tango), their marching band synchronization might have tugged at the ear of a black cornetist or two. But maybe the cause of such similarities predates the American melting pot—after all, the West African styles that provided a seedling for the blues were inflected by Islamic modal scales, an influence the Roma encountered every step of the way in their long trek from India to the Balkans. And as the Boban Markovic Orkestar's brilliant swerve of sour harmonies and eccentric counterpoint on Boban I Marko (Piranha) makes clear, Gypsy music is too elastic and omnivorous to pin down stylistically. A rhythmic pattern suggests that "Biseri Srbije, Part 2" could become the Beatles' "Michelle" at any minute; instead, one of the trumpeting Markovics (either boss Boban or his son Marko) blasts into "Over the Rainbow."

And even the most fluid Gypsy music has only passing acquaintance with Africa's diasporan gift to humanity—the groove. The electronic beats running beneath the rough-hewn bear-training chants of the Shukar Collective on Urban Gypsy (Riverboat) aim instead for hypnotic or jagged. It's often claimed that the Roma are the blacks of Europe, but if that means anything, it's that like all "primitive" "outsiders," Gypsies provide an ideal screen on which other cultures can project their desires of freedom. So it makes sense that the twin rampant evils of nationalism and tribalism would spark interest in the history of a transnational race who adopt the cultural inflections of the societies they come in contact with, and the future of a cosmopolitan people in a world of stricter border patrols.

It's also telling that on their amazing new Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike (Rubric), America's premier Gypsy-music revisionists, New York's Gogol Bordello, explore international confluences (especially pan-Arab) rather than digging into hip-hop or its earthier predecessors. In the polyphonic frenzy of the Gypsies, there's a lesson on how to adjust to a world that's bigger and messier than the blues ever imagined.

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Central and eastern Europe battle rising waters

NNSBRUCK, Austria (AP) — Rescue workers piled sandbags to hold back surging floodwaters and evacuated hundreds of people from alpine valleys Tuesday as heavy rains and landslides battered central and southern Europe.

At least 26 people have died in storm- or flood-related accidents in the past week; most drowned, were crushed by debris or collapsed buildings or struck by lightning. Two Swiss firefighters were killed Monday in a landslide.

Worst hit was Romania with 18 dead, some 20,000 homes inundated and more than 1,000 small bridges damaged.

Five people were reported dead Tuesday in Austria, Bulgaria and Switzerland. Thundering torrents of water surged along riverbanks in many regions, causing millions of dollars in damage.

Austrian firefighters, soldiers and rescue workers fanned out to help hundreds to safety in the hard-hit Landeck region. The Kleinwalsertal Valley, which borders the German state of Bavaria, was completely cut off, with flooding of major access roads.

In a dramatic rescue in the southern province of Carinthia, firefighters saved a 72-year-old woman whose car was perched for two hours at a 45-degree angle into surging waters.

As water gushed around the windshield, a firefighter lowered by a helicopter shattered the rear window and attached cables to the frame. The car was dragged from the water with the driver inside. She suffered shock, police said.

Brown waters rushed just under a bridge spanning the Inn River, which was nearly overflowing its banks. Firefighters and volunteers heaved sandbags in a desperate attempt to hold back the river in Innsbruck, the capital of Tyrol province.

Rising waters caused a gas explosion in the town of Reuthe, Austria Press Agency reported. At least three people were treated for burns at area hospitals. Storms caused power and telephone cuts and interruptions in train service.

In Bavaria, German soldiers evacuated residents as river embankments collapsed, sending flood waters surging through several Alpine resort and farming towns.

"All hell broke loose," said Albrecht Ott, spokesman for regional authorities.

Rescue crews helped build makeshift barriers and personnel from police and fire departments around Bavaria were called in to help, the state Interior Ministry said.

Several regions of Switzerland reported the heaviest rainfall on record, and five people there have died in the past two days.

A new wave of rain hit northwestern Bulgaria, flooding dozens of communities and killing one man, Bulgaria's Civil Defense agency said Tuesday. Border areas between Croatia and Slovenia were flooded, and emergency officials were on alert.

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Social Security Systems in Bulgaria and Romania

The continuing development of the social security systems in Bulgaria and Romania will leave both countries in a tenuous position for EU accession scheduled for 2007, exacerbated by recent political instability.

Romania’s Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu recently resigned and then reneged on his decision. His centrist government has still to make sufficient progress according to EU officials.

Reforms have been undertaken which are aimed at reducing poverty and social exclusion, higher living standards for older people, to decrease the amount of claimants and to search for alternative sources of social security funding.

Traditionally Romania employed an austere system especially with unemployment benefit, a major example being the doubling of the total non-eligible unemployed to claim benefit payment which doubled between 1998 and 2003.

The evolution of social security in Romania has been guided by the principles of European Union legislation number 1408/71/ EEC on social security regulations on employed, self employed and on their family members moving within the European Community.

In respect of this, a legal framework consisting of three pillars has been constructed, the first pillar on mandatory public administered redistributive payments which include old age pensions, benefits for disability, maternity, sickness and a survivor’s benefit in case of bereavement.

Ensuring that all payments are in line with the European social security code and all of the rudimentary benefits which are offered, as like in all EU countries, are regulated.

The two remaining pillars, one for mandatory payments and one optional privately administered component, are currently under review for redefinition and improvement for the protection of supplementary pension funds.

Administrative competence will be further enhanced by the integration of the pension system into the national computer to eradicate voids in the legislative structure from cases which exceed national boundaries, aimed primarily at migrant workers and their family members.

Bulgaria is currently suffering with political instability following the
national socialist party’s inability to form a government from the recent election, the last administration introduced significant changes.

This included the introduction of a minimum insurance calculation based on groups of professions to be paid by employer and employees, and a fund for the guarantee of employees claims in case of employer insolvency.

There are restrictions on the amount that can be yielded on private pensions with law restricting investments to protect the insurer. The major investment possibilities are with a maximum 5% of real estate assets and 50% of securities, like bank accounts, leaving little room for manoeuvre.

Svetla Kostadinova, senior economist with the Bulgarian Institute of Market Economics, said: “There have been many changes in respect of becoming a member of the European Union, which include the introduction of the widening of the possibilities for the transfer of social insurance rights with the inclusion of the directive, like in Romania, of 1408 which allows social security rights for workers in the free movement area within the EU.”

She added: “There will also be the increase of the pension age and to even the payments between employer and employee to 50/50 by 2009.”

Although Bulgaria will have to sustain effort in its deregulation reforms to decrease unemployment which is currently twice that of the EU average level, the current rate of unemployment stands at 11% which is the lowest since 1998.

Further improvements will have to be made to the health system to continue the improvement of its social insurances. Emigration increased through the nineties and into this decade, with most working in low paid jobs or becoming ’welfare tourists’, relying on the host country to make insurance payments.

The returning labour have caused a public issue in using a system to which they did not contribute, there have been further complaints from those that can afford private healthcare whilst still being forced to pay into the state system.

The current system is very state bureaucratised and subsidised, whilst the belief that the increase of market influence and the incentive of service provision will improve the system was contradicted by the pre-electoral message, which projected that contributions will have to increase.

According to sources from the European Commission both nations have no major drawbacks which could scupper accession in the area of the framework of social protection programmes, though later membership in 2008 now remains a possibility.

Author can be contacted at petertaberner1976@hotmail.com

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German MEP: Bulgaria, Romania Must Watch Infrastructure Plans

Bulgaria and Romania must pay attention to the European Commission's infrastructure plans, said German MEP Markus Ferber.

Ferber, who chairs the German Christian-democrat group in the European Parliament, criticized the Commission's new infrastructure policy. He warned that the two candidate-member countries should watch extremely carefully the infrastructure. In his words, the proposed schemes exclude Romania and the northern part of Bulgaria from the roadbed of Corridor 4.


A new axis from Hungary's capital Budapest to Sofia must be created according to the new infrastructure scheme. From Bulgaria's capital it will split into two branches towards neighbouring Greece and Turkey.

Such a strategy is dangerous because a lot of money were invested in creating the corridors, Ferber said.

Bulgaria and Romania are expected to join the European Union January 1, 2007. However, their accession might be delayed by a year.

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ROMANIA: Orange Passes Subscriber Landmark

Orange says that it has become the first mobile operator in Romania to reach 6 million customers. After announcing 5 million customers in January, Orange announced last week, that it had excedeed 6 million subscribers. In June mobile phone market penetration surpassed 50%, and estimations for the end of the year are envisaging penetration of up to 60%, these being clear indicators of a positive economic climate in Romania.

In a more and more dynamic telecommunication market, Orange Romania is the operator that for the last two years has registered the largest increases in both customer base and revenues. This strong development was underpinned by significant investments and by the launch of innovative products and services.

Richard Moat, CEO Orange Romania commented "Reaching 6 million subscribers is another milestone for Orange, which is strengthening its position as market leader in Romania. Since the beginning of the year, Orange has added more than 1 million customers. We are committed to focusing further on offering the best possible customer experience and providing innovative products and services that enhance people's lives. I would like to take this opportunity to thank to our 6 million customers for choosing Orange."

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Romanian President Warns Minister of Industrial Issues

Bucharest. In relation to replacements in the Romanian Cabinet made on Monday, the Romanian President Traian Basescu made warnings to the Romanian Minister of Industrial Issues saying that he expects that better things would be done in that Ministry too.
In relation to newly appointed Ministers Basescu said “they cannot count on mercy on his side, as he has been merciful with the Government for six months”.

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Romanian finance minister sacked in reshuffle

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romanian Finance Minister Ionut Popescu and four other cabinet members were sacked on Monday in a reshuffle aimed at boosting popular support for the ruling centrists as they tackle tough EU-prescribed reforms.

Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu said Popescu -- accused by foreign diplomats of not being up to the job -- would be replaced be finance ministry adviser Sebastian Vladescu.

"We need ministers who will perform superbly, not just well," he said.
Commentators said the reshuffle was part of efforts by the centrist coalition to win backing for urgent but difficult reforms in the next few months. Romania must speed up its efforts or risk seeing accession delayed by a year to 2008.

Tariceanu resigned in July to trigger snap polls after the constitutional court watered down justice laws crucial to EU entry, but decided to stay when Brussels told him Romania had no time to waste. A cabinet reshuffle had been expected since then.

Popescu, 40, who was also the country's chief negotiator with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), had been slammed by senior party members for plans to raise value added tax to 22 percent from 19 percent as of 2006.

VAT CHALLENGE
Vladescu, who was deputy finance minister during the 1996-2000 centrist rule which brought Romania to the brink of economic collapse, is a Liberal Party member and government representative on the board of leading oil firm Petrom.

"The government is trying to improve its image but I am not sure firing the finance minister is the best idea. If the VAT needs to be raised, the next minister will also have to do it," said Sorin Ionita, analyst with the Romanian Academic Society think tank.

The government has promised the IMF it will boost revenues to offset losses to the budget from introducing a flat 16 percent income and profit tax after coming to power in January. Previously income was taxed on an 18-40 percent scale and profit tax was 25 percent.

Popescu angered party colleagues by announcing the unpopular VAT rise -- likely to hit poor pensioners in mid-winter -- without clearing it first with his partners in the four-party government led by the Democrats and Liberals.

Tariceanu said former Transport Minister Anca Boagiu would become EU integration minister, replacing Ene Dinga, whom EU diplomats have criticised for a lack of communication skills.
Eugen Nicolaescu, a senior Liberal Party MP, becomes health minister in place of Mircea Cinteza, who failed to improve the crumbling national healthcare system.

Deputy Prime Minister Gheorghe Seculici was replaced by Democrat Party member Gheorghe Pogea, and Tariceanu named Adrian Iorgulescu, a musician, as culture minister, a post that had been empty since Mona Musca resigned in July.

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Floods leave 16 dead in Romania

At least 16 people have died in severe storms and flooding which have hit Romania in the past week, the interior ministry has said.

The latest victim was an 11-year-old boy, who was swept away by flood waters as he was playing with friends. Another two people are still reported missing.

More than 1,400 people from across the country have been evacuated and thousands of homes have been damaged.

This year Romania has suffered some of its worst floods in decades. In July, flooding killed dozens of people and left thousands of homes and acres of farmland and other cultivated areas submerged. More than 1,000km (620 miles) of roads have been flooded and thousands of wells contaminated, officials say.

Interior Minister Vasile Blaga said some 9,000 soldiers had been deployed to help those affected by the bad weather.

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Shareholders plan Misr Romanian Bank stake sale

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's state-owned Banque Misr and other shareholders are planning to sell a controlling stake in Misr Romanian Bank this year, a senior Banque Misr executive said on Sunday.

Banque Misr and Egyptian funds together hold 51 percent, while Romanian banks hold the remaining 49 percent.
"Banque Misr and other major shareholders are planning to sell a controlling share in Misr Romanian Bank before the end of 2005," the executive, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.

Misr Romanian Bank was established as an Egyptian-Romanian joint venture in 1977 and has branches in both countries. It offers a range of retail and commercial services, such as personal loans, letters of credit and project finance.

The bank reported zero profit in the first three months of 2005, compared to 4.81 million Egyptian pounds in the same period a year earlier, the bank's Web site said. The bank had total assets of 3.7 billion pounds at the end of March 2005.

The bank's shares are listed but not traded, the executive said. He said Banque Misr had received some informal inquiries about buying a controlling stake but that the process was at a very early stage. He did not name any of the interested banks. The daily Al-Gomhuria said Lebanese bank BLOM had offered to buy a controlling stake in Misr Romanian Bank. BLOM officials could not immediately be reached for comment. The Egyptian government relaunched a stalled privatisation programme last year that includes selling state-owned stakes in banks.

Banque Misr and other shareholders agreed last week to sell a controlling stake in Misr International Bank to France's Societe Generale.

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Case of Marine Accused of Killing Romanian Musician Continues

Arlington. The fate of the marine accused of killing a Romanian rock star in a car accident last December is now in the hands of the commander of the 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade at Camp Lejeune, the Internet site estripes.com announced.Col. Glen Sochtleben, 4th MEB commander, is now reviewing recommendations regarding Staff Sgt. Christopher VanGoethem that were forwarded following a two-day Article 32 hearing at Marine Corps Base Quantico on July 25-26.VanGoethem, 32, was commander of the Marine security detachment at the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest.The most serious of the charges is negligent homicide resulting from a traffic accident that killed 50-year-old Teofil Peter, bassist for the rock band Compact.

VanGoethem, who is married, also stands accused of committing adultery with the daughter of an American Embassy official in Bucharest; asking her to lie to cover up the affair; drunk and disorderly conduct resulting from an earlier car accident; and storing and viewing pornography on a government computer.

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GAIL eyes stake in Central European gas pipeline project

New Delhi , Aug. 20 GAIL (India) Ltd is likely to bag equity participation in the Rs 25,000-crore Nabucco natural gas pipeline project, a transnational 3,300-km pipeline from the Caspian Sea to Central Europe.

According to a company communiqué, GAIL has sent an expression of interest for participation in the project. A final decision on GAIL's equity participation in this project is expected by the end of 2005.

To implement the project, a new company Nabucco Company Pipeline Study GmbH has been set up with the major objective of financing, selling of the transportation capacity and all related activities.

The Nabucco Company, owned by Nabucco consortium partners from five participating countries — BOTAS from Turkey, Bulgargaz EAD from Bulgaria, S.N.T.G.N. Transgaz S.A. from Romania, MOL Natural Gas Transmission Company Ltd from Hungary, and OMV Gas GmbH (a 100 per cent subsidiary of OMV Aktiengesellschaft) from Austria — has agreed to evaluate the GAIL offer.

GAIL has also offered its services for carrying out operations and maintenance of the proposed pipeline, highlighting its experience and expertise in this field.

The pipeline would run from the Georgian/Turkish border and the Iranian/Turkish border, respectively, to Central Europe via Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria, GAIL said.
The capacity of the pipeline would be 26-32 billion cubic meter per annum (BCMA)/70-90 million standard cubic meter per day (MMSCMD).

Out of the total pipeline capacity, around 50 per cent of the gas is to be supplied to Austria.
The project is likely to be completed by 2011.

The decision to nominate GAIL as the nodal agency to pursue Indian participation in the project was taken during a meeting held in New Delhi in March this year between officials of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and GAIL with a Romanian delegation led by the Director-General, Ministry of Economy and Commerce, Romania.

Subsequently, during the visit of an Indian delegation led by Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, to Romania in July, GAIL had a meeting with Transgaz, Romania, regarding participation in the project.

GAIL has a memorandum of cooperation with BOTAS, Turkey, a state-owned company. Under this framework, GAIL and BOTAS are also in discussion for GAIL's participation in the Nabucco project.

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Romanian floods death toll rises to 14

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - The death toll from extensive floods across Romania over the past four days has risen to 14, with more than 1,200 people evacuated from their collapsing houses, the Interior Ministry said on Saturday.

A 25-year-old man and two shepherds from northern Romania were killed by lightning and two other men drowned in a swollen river in central Romania in the last 24 hours.

Lightning killed four and three other people have drowned in southern Romania in the past four days. A 9-year-old girl drowned in the northern region of Botosani and an elderly villager was crushed under a collapsing electricity pole.

Interior Minister Vasile Blaga said floods destroyed 200 houses and damaged some 5,500 others. As many as 33,000 hectares (81,540 acres) of farmland were flooded and 88 villages remained without electricity.

The government has yet to estimate losses.
Torrential rains have swept across the Balkans for most of the summer, killing dozens of people in Bulgaria and its neighbor Romania and causing hundreds of millions of euros in damage to roads, bridges, railways and crops.

About 30 people lost their lives in the worst floods in 50 years, which hit Romania in April, May and in July.

Meteorologists said more rain was expected next week.

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German Politician: EU Enlargement Should Stop Once Bulgaria and Romania Join the Bloc

Berlin. The enragement of the European Union should stop once Bulgaria and Romania join the bloc, said Wolfgang Gerhard, Chairman of the German Liberal Party (FDP) in an answer to a question of the French newspaper Le Monde whether a change in Germany’s position regarding Turkey’s accession to the EU is possible.

“Once the accession of Bulgaria and Romania becomes a fact, enlargement should stop immediately. We now know that there is no majority in Europe when speaking of Turkey’s accession”, Gerhard said.

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The "Romanian Strawberrian" - between Hero and Hurdle

On the 1st of August 2005, an ugly rumor crossed over the Western European highways which transported Romanian citizens back to their home country for the summer holiday: “Passports were being taken away from the Romanian citizens who had illegally extended their stay in the EU, over the 90 days allowed for tourists.”

Thus, the Romanian Strawberrians: Romanians picking up strawberries and other fruits of the land in Spain, Greece, Portugal, the Romanian baby-sitters (Romanians taking care of children and old family members), the Romanian “Putzfrau”s (Romanians cleaning offices, shops and streets), the Romanian “exotic dancers” and “the Italians” (Romanians working in Italy, the pride of the Nation, because they come in August and invest a lot in houses, cars and electrical appliances) were at a loss. What to do? Enter the country and risk having your passport confiscated and thus receive an interdiction for as high as 10 years? Or make a U-turn (sic!) on the Hungarian highway and go back as quickly as possible to the Western European countries where they have been working for years, illegally?

It used to be easy to cross the home country’s border. Generally, bus drivers acted as an intermediary between the “strawberrians” and the border control authorities. Crossing the border came in handy if you had a clean consciousness, passport and luggage. With 20 euros you got the guarantee that your bus wouldn’t be turned upside down and that you would cross the border in no time. A dirty consciousness and passport cost a bit more – 150 to 300 euros. Nowadays, the Romanian “strawberrian” gets his/her passport confiscated if the documents are not in order.The Romanian nation seems to be divided into two categories: those who had the guts to leave and work either legally or illegally and those who stayed and wish they hadn’t, and envy “the Italians” who come in August and have posh clothes and posh rented cars and say “Si” to the waiter and not “Da” and want their water “frizzante” and not “mineralã”.The money sent by the Romanians working abroad to their families represents one of the main sources of the Romanian economic growth. In 1999, the money sent by the “strawberrians”, have helped elude the financial crisis looming on that moment over Romania (e.g www.baniinostri.ro – 08.08.2005).

Only in 2004, those Romanians working abroad have sent over 2 billion euros to Romania and in 2003 the figure was a billion and a half. How many are they? Figures vary from state ones which say 750.000 persons to rumored ones of up to 3 million persons.The rationale for this decision of confiscating the passports of the Romanian citizens that don’t have their documents in order is common place in the Romanian society and political discourse: “The EU wants us to!”.

The fear of being hit with the safeguard clause, the Romanian authorities are implementing a government decision which was actually taken in 2003 by the Nastase government, but not implemented for fear of losing electoral capital.Disliked (to put it mildly) by many of the citizens of Western societies and by other cheap-labor, the Romanian “strawberrians” are positioned somewhere between heroes – for many Romanians staying home and living on the money sent by them, and hurdles – for the Romanian authorities, who are pressured by the authorities of the EU member-states to act upon reducing their numbers.

Ramona Chiriac
Bacau (Romania)

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Disaster Charter Brings Satellites To Bear On Romanian Flooding

Teams responding to devastating flooding in Romania received assistance from orbit, with satellite images and maps of affected areas provided in near-real time following activation of the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters.

Torrential rainfall across Southeast Europe has led to serious floods across Romania, described as the worst for half a century. Some 31 counties out of 42 have been affected, the worst hit being the counties of Bacau, Vrancea and Galati in Moldavia, where the Siret River burst its banks to flood numerous towns.

Soldiers and firefighters have had to evacuate more than 12 000 people. Preliminary estimates are that 14 751 homes have been flooded, with 3571 houses destroyed completely and 2993 houses damaged. Around 300 500 hectares of farmland and many hundreds of kilometres of roads have been inundated.
Army helicopters have been delivering emergency supplies to otherwise unreachable communities. The death toll is reported to stand at 22 and the country's government estimates overall material losses at 2394 million lei (675 million euro).

The International Charter on Space and Major Disasters was activated on 15 July, following a request by the Romanian government to the European Commission. Member space agencies then prioritised acquisitions over the basin of the Siret River.Strasbourg-based rapid mapping specialist company SERTIT generated and distributed products on a near-real time basis, working with French space agency CNES, responsible for the management of this Charter activation. Some 43 satellite-derived maps and products have since been delivered via the Romanian Space Agency (ROSA) to the Ministry of Environment and Water Management (MEWM). The products were disseminated to daily crisis cell meetings, to relevant government ministries and also featured in the Romanian media.

"We can say we had the chance to get very fast, very good images and maps," stated Iurie Maxim at the Nature Conservation Directorate of MEWM. "We were able to show out minister at 8pm some posters with images from the same day. The next morning the same posters were presented to the Prime Minister and forwarded to the people working on this issue. "We were able to provide the necessary tools to the people involved in the water department and to those involved in the civil protection."

The International Charter on Space and Major Disasters
The International Charter on Space and Major Disasters represents a joint effort by global space agencies to put resources at the service of rescue authorities responding to major natural or man-made disasters. To date the Charter has been activated more than 80 times.

Following the UNISPACE III conference held in Vienna, Austria in July 1999, the Charter was initiated by ESA and CNES with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). Other members include the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Argentine Space Agency (CONAE) and the Japan Aerospace Agency (JAXA), with the United Nations as a 'cooperating body'.

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ABN Decision On BCR Withdrawal Is Wise -Rabo

1057 GMT [Dow Jones]

ABN Amro (ABN) decision not to pursue stake in Banca Comerciala Romana (BCR.YY) is wise, says Rabo Securities. Synergy potential in Romania and Eastern-European market is limited for ABN, which owns 5% market share, says Rabo. Sees KBC (KBC.BT) as more likely takeover candidate. Retains neutral rating, EUR20 target. Shares -0.3% at EUR19.63. (NSP)

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Romania, Ukraine Border Dispute Goes To European Court

16 August 2005 (RFE/RL) -- Romania said today it has filed documents with the International Court of Justice to support its suit asking the court to resolve its Black Sea border dispute with Ukraine.

The two countries have been wrangling for years over the boundary line in the Black Sea. Last September, Romania filed the suit asking the United Nations' highest court to intervene and demarcate the border, saying bilateral talks were leading nowhere.

Romania's Foreign Ministry said today it has detailed Romania's position in the report filed with the court in The Hague. The report includes "a presentation of the juridical reasons of the demarcation option proposed" by Romania, the ministry said. It would not give further details, saying the report was confidential. Ukraine is expected to file its own report in coming months, after which the court is to start the hearings in the case. (AP)

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ROMANIA: Gov’t Reshuffling and Restructuring In Autumn at The Latest

PM Calin Popescu Tariceanu affirmed yesterday in Cluj-Napoca that a government reshuffling could take place in autumn concurrently with the splitting of some giant ministries. In this context, Tariceanu said that he is not satisfied with the managerial activity of the Health Minister, Mircea Cinteza.

After the meeting with the Cluj liberals, the premier said that UDMR president, Marko Bela, was right when he supported the need of “splitting the giant ministries such as the Ministry of Transport, Construction and Tourism.” “There are indeed such giant ministries which must be restructured. I shall analyse these issues and we shall report when this restructuring could take place,” the PM said. He hinted to the fact that the reshuffle will take place concurrently with the reorganisation of the ministries, that is in the autumn.

Although he did not make any assessment of the liberal ministers in view of the reshuffling, Tariceanu said that he is not happy with the managerial activity of Health Minister, Mircea Cinteza, but added that the health care issue is related to the system. Another definite victim of the reshuffle will be Integration Minister, Ene Dinga. According to some sources associated with the governmental coalition, the government reshuffle could take place in the forthcoming period. “A talk took place between the coalition leaders on this topic and an accord was reached to proceed to this reshuffle and not to the governmental restructuring,” the aforementioned sources have declared.

As a matter of fact, the coalition parties have intensified their internal activity lately, to prepare for the reshuffle. Two weeks ago, PD made such an assessment in which the democrat ministers presented their activity reports in the first six months since they have taken over their terms in office. UDMR also had yesterday such an assessment but did not propose any name for the reshuffle. UDMR Operational Council analysed the activity of its ministers, considering that the latter is good but that it can be improved in the field of the communication and the liaison with the media.

The minister delegate for Commerce, Iuliu Winkler, declared that in the event of an Executive reshuffle, the Union will maintain the support granted to its ministers and will back the granting of complete portfolios to the two delegate ministers. The agenda of UDMR Operational Council also included the assessment of the operation of the incumbent ruling Coalition and UDMR priorities in the autumn parliamentary session. A pre-assessment of the ministers will also take place today in PNL, during the meeting of the limited leadership, while the Conservative Party has not yet reported the intention to analyse the activity of its own ministers.
Source: Nine O'Clock

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Romania bank says inflation falling

Romania's central bank governor said Monday that the economy was growing strongly and he expected inflation to fall in the third quarter.

Governor Mugur Isarescu said the bank expects inflation to drop to 7.5 percent for 2005 and 5 percent for 2006, down from 9.3 percent in 2004. He said inflation was higher than expected in the second quarter due to increases in energy prices and taxes, but that inflation was expected to decrease in the last three months of the year.

"Chances are that we will achieve our inflation targets for this year and next year," Isarescu said. He added that controlling inflation was a top priority for the bank.

Isarescu warned, however, that the inflation target was threatened by a rise in foreign investment.
"We are flooded by foreign capital," Isarescu said, adding that the bank was happy about incoming direct foreign investment but wanted to discourage excessive short-term capital flow into Romania. A possible rise in the value-added tax in 2006, from 19 percent to 22 percent, would also threaten the inflation targets, as would measures stimulating demand.

The governor added that the central bank would continue to apply limited controls on the flotation of the national currency, the leu, to ensure that its levels against foreign currencies remain at sustainable levels.

Isarescu said the economy was improving, with a small public debt and a reduction in arrears that have plagued the Romanian economy for more than a decade.

Romania's economy is expected to grow at about 6 percent for the next few years.

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New Storms Batter Eastern Romania, Two Bridges Collapse

BUCHAREST, Romania -- Storms pounded eastern Romania at the weekend, damaging houses, roads and infrastructure in the counties of Buzau, Prahova and Dambovita. According to local press reports Monday (15 August), about 150 families in these regions are isolated by flooding that cut communication links. The floods also caused the collapse of two bridges -- a railway bridge in Giurgiu and a pedestrian one in Maracineni.

It was also announced that the Development Bank of the Council of Europe has extended an 8.8m-euro loan to Romania. The funds will go towards rebuilding the water supply system in the western region of Banat, ravaged by floods in July. (Rompres, Curierul - 15/08/05)

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Romania Bank Says Inflation Falling

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) -- Romania's central bank governor said Monday that the economy was growing strongly and he expected inflation to fall in the third quarter.
Governor Mugur Isarescu said the bank expects inflation to drop to 7.5 percent for 2005 and 5 percent for 2006, down from 9.3 percent in 2004. He said inflation was higher than expected in the second quarter due to increases in energy prices and taxes, but that inflation was expected to decrease in the last three months of the year.

"Chances are that we will achieve our inflation targets for this year and next year," Isarescu said. He added that controlling inflation was a top priority for the bank.
Isarescu warned, however, that the inflation target was threatened by a rise in foreign investment.

"We are flooded by foreign capital," Isarescu said, adding that the bank was happy about incoming direct foreign investment but wanted to discourage excessive short-term capital flow into Romania. A possible rise in the value-added tax in 2006, from 19 percent to 22 percent, would also threaten the inflation targets, as would measures stimulating demand.
The governor added that the central bank would continue to apply limited controls on the flotation of the national currency, the leu, to ensure that its levels against foreign currencies remain at sustainable levels.

Isarescu said the economy was improving, with a small public debt and a reduction in arrears that have plagued the Romanian economy for more than a decade.

Romania's economy is expected to grow at about 6 percent for the next few years.

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European Political Analysts Argue Romania's Chance of 2007 EU Entry Decreasing

Romania and Bulgaria must overcome their political problems and complete their essential reforms in time in order to be able to join the European Union on schedule, suggests a poll among political analysts taken by Reuters and published by Mediafax. According to the poll taken on 8-11 August, in which 34 analysts participated, the probability that Bulgaria may be admitted into the European Union over the next two years is 70 percent, while Romania's chances are 63 percent. The previous poll, published in May, gave Bulgaria a 90-percent chance and Romania an 80-percent chance of joining the European Union on deadline.

"Political instability, both in Bulgaria and Romania, seriously influences their chances of joining the European Union in 2007," said Tim Ash of the Bear Stearns Company in London. Ash added that the two countries must enact new, very important laws, and must make efforts to observe the commitments made for the next 18 months, at a time when they do not have strong governments. Bulgaria is facing political deadlock following the inconclusive result of the 25 June election, when the socialists defeated the reformists led by former King Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, but did not manage to form a majority.

Tariceanu, Political Obstacles
In turn, Romania is facing political obstacles. These could have led to an early election after Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu announced in July that he would resign, but this was a decision he later reversed. According to EU officials, the centrist coalition in power has made significant progress, but there still remain problems that need to be solved. In the opinion of 27 out of the 34 analysts polled by Reuters, Bulgaria's chance of joining the European Union in 2007 is 50 percent or higher.

In Romania's case, only 26 analysts said this probability was higher than 50 percent. "Only domestic factors, such as a lack of progress in observing the convergence criteria, lack of reform, and political incertitude like the formation of the Bulgarian Government, could delay the process," said Marianne Kager of Bank Austria Creditanstalt in Vienna. The parliaments of the 25 EU members must ratify Bulgaria's and Romania's accession treaties. Most of them will do so after the European Commission publishes the country reports in the latter half of this year.

Corruption Forewarns Black October
Currently, Romania's EU accession is scheduled for 1 January 2007 and it is premature to discuss a possible postponement by one year, said EU Enlargement Commissioner Ollie Rehn in an interview for Radio Free Europe, reports Rompres.

As far as the European Commission is concerned, Romania's accession is set for 1 January 2007, so the door will be open as of that day, said Stefaan De Rynck. However, he reiterated that, if the European Commission reached the conclusion that Romania had not carried out all its pledges, they would propose a postponement of the country's accession until 2008. Asked whether the process of Romania's accession may be influenced by the current tension in the Romanian governing coalition, De Rynck said that domestic political crises are not unusual in the existing EU members. "A much more serious issue is corruption, which you know we are watching very carefully in our annual reports, and which we will look at again when Commissioner Rehn presents the annual report in late October this year," said Spokesman De Rynck.

The Brussels official refused to make any comment on the domestic political situation in Romania. Schroeder Maintains Position Yesterday, the Romanian Foreign Ministry initiated a range of contacts with representatives of the German authorities in Berlin to clarify the recent statements made by Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Romania and Bulgaria's EU accession. The discussions have clearly indicated there is no change in the known position of the German Federal Government on Romania's EU accession. In the context of the election campaign in Germany, Schroeder reasserted the consistent position of the German authorities, according to which Romania's accession may occur on the target date on condition Romania fulfills the pledges it has made.

The German Government will continue to support the efforts made by the Romanian Government and citizens to fulfill those pledges, in order to join the European Union on 1 January 2007, reads a press communique issued by the Romanian Foreign Ministry. Dinga Mentions German Election Campaign Schroeder's statements possibly postponing Romania's accession date by one year must not be taken out of context, namely the ongoing election campaign in Germany, said European Integration Minister Ene Dinga yesterday. "Schroeder made that statement in the run-up to their election, which will be held soon, so it must be viewed with this amendment or reservation. However, of course, the statement is important, because it may warn against something, it may refer to a situation on which we must focus," Dinga told the BBC.

Dinga was keen to emphasize that Schroeder's remarks shed light on a well-known fact: namely that, if Romania does not do its homework, they can actually postpone its accession." However, Dinga emphasized that the postponement may only be decided based on the evaluation of Romania's progress and included in the monitoring report due on 25 October. As for the monitoring report prepared by the European Commission, Dinga reiterated his opinion that the report would only include "an enumeration of the progresses made by Romania in its preparation for accession and firm recommendations, possibly in a heavier tone, about the need to implement the reforms."

But, he does not believe they will make any reference to the safeguard clause: an explicit reference to it will be made in the report published in April 2006. Source: Bucharest Ziua

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Political Limbo

Romania, Volume 98
12.08.2005

The rift between Romania's president and prime minister has continued to widen recently, with the country facing uncertainty over future elections and its ability to meet EU accession targets.
On August 11, President Traian Basescu again accused the government of performing badly, saying that it has not lived up to its promises on health, energy and commercial legislation.

However, he then said that he wanted a "genuine partnership" with Prime Minister Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, but that the premier should choose "between Romania's president and vested interests outside the government". The president's public accusation that the government is being influenced by lobbies and vested interests was also followed up by a warning to Romania's Executive Committee for European Integration that members of the government could endanger the EU accession process by falling prey to such influence.

The dispute is all the more damaging as both President Basescu and Prime Minister Popescu-Tariceanu are members of the same ruling Justice and Truth Alliance (DA), whose main parties are Basescu's Democratic Party (PD) and Popescu-Tariceanu's National Liberal Party (PNL). In response to Basescu's accusations, the prime minister requested the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) investigate the matter. But as of August 12, the information provided by the SRI had reportedly not indicated any such problem among members of the current government. Meanwhile, at the August 10 meeting of DA leaders, the PNL requested a special "clarification" meeting between Basescu and the prime minister. The proposal was turned down by the PD.

This infighting comes after months of political ambiguity over the country's government, exacerbated recently by the prime minister resigning in July and then retracting his resignation. Popescu-Tariceanu originally resigned after the constitutional court blocked judicial reforms demanded by the EU. He then retracted his resignation in response to severe flooding, which killed some 20 people and plunged many areas of the country into crisis, as well as pressure from Brussels over the EU accession schedule. Romania has to work especially hard to try and institute reforms required for its EU membership, scheduled for January 1, 2007. The recent rejections of the European Constitution in France and the Netherlands have left Romania uncertain of its accession prospects. The margin of error has thus narrowed, and most see a strong, focused government as necessary to achieve the political and economic changes required to stick with the accession timetable. Romania faces the possibility of having its membership delayed until 2008 if reforms are not carried through to the EU's satisfaction.

Faced with this, the President, popularly elected in December 2004, has been campaigning for early parliamentary elections since January 2005. He believes that calling another ballot would end current weaknesses in the government and improve coherence and efficiency in preparing for EU accession. His criticism of the government's performance focused particularly on health, customs and energy. Speaking to the press on August 11, he called on the government to introduce laws on hospital managers which would prohibit them from becoming parliamentarians, presidents of health insurance institutions or managers of clinics.

This, he claimed, was necessary to prevent conflicts of interest. He also called for a shake up of the customs authorities, "to change the persons put in place by the outgoing power with persons put in place by the current power". He then attacked what he saw as a lack of free competition in the energy market. The prime minister had earlier addressed these issues, however, telling reporters after the DA meeting on August 10 that "I have more than once publicly stated that the healthcare system is inefficient and I am glad that the President agrees that a sweeping change in this system is badly needed. I am preoccupied, much as the President is, with eradicating corruption from customs houses. I am interested that the privatisation measures, including those for [petroleum company] Petrom, achieve the objectives initially assigned to them and that they are not high jacked."

The PNL and the prime minister do not accept the need for early elections either. This view was backed up by recent opinion polls, which have shown that around 60% of Romanians eligible to vote do not desire a fresh ballot. Basescu has countered that the opinion poll merely reflects a lack of sufficient explanation for why early elections are necessary. Yet PNL spokesman Eugen Nicolaescu said at an August 10 news conference that snap elections would be an extreme measure, and that there are many other ways to solve the current political instability. He also said there would be no negotiations with the opposition Social Democrat Party (PSD) regarding the current make-up of the government.

Some analysts say that the current dispute is intensifying as a series of crucial EU and European Commission reports on Romania gets nearer. If the Commission report in the autumn on Romania's reform process is unsatisfactory, many predict that the President will blame the prime minister and use the opportunity to oust him. But as both men have a great deal of support behind them in the government, it seems that this manoeuvring will potentially only result in a stalemate, which can hardly be beneficial to the pace of Romania's EU reforms.

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ROMANIA: President Basescu Puts Order in Government’s Yard

President Traian Basescu slaps the Government again
2005-08-12 11:57:12

In spite of the fact that only one day before, one could read headlines mentioning that the head of state had returned from holiday, yesterday, the President made another surprising gesture, in a press statement at Cotroceni during which he was drawing the Government attention to having deviated from some commitments taken during the election campaign, asking it to keep these promises. The head of state came with concrete action lines for the Government, such as meeting some due promises or changing laws from health, energy or business environment field.

Basescu appreciated the protocol signed on Wednesday evening by the Coalition’s leaders, but he emphasised that they had to meet the commitments written in the document. “I would like to think that this protocol is going to be observed, unlike the first one”, the President affirmed. He announced that he would ask the requirement coming from some Coalition parties to have meetings at Cotroceni. “But this meeting has to be prepared, because I do not to work on image issues during these meetings. The four Coalition parties must first settle some commitments made in the election campaign period”, Basescu declared. The head of state assured that Government would have his support conditional upon observing some commitments, made during the campaign, which appear to have been overlooked. “Government has my support as long as it does not come with laws for the political clientele. The major priority of the Alliance this year is to change laws from health and energy. These are issues we have been complaining of during the campaign and which we have come to like once being in power”, Basescu said. He again spoke strongly against those groups of economic interests that influence the Executive’s decisions. “I am not hostile to the business community, at all. But from this aspect up to serving the interests of a small group, there is a world of difference. This difference is called influence trafficking by the Criminal Code, and it is not the same thing as lobbying”, the President warned.

Issues due One of the things Basescu asked the Government was to change the law on hospitals. Basescu considers that a change to this law should address conflicts of interest so that it would ban hospital’ managers from being MPs and presidents of Health Insurance Houses or clinics managers. The President is also unhappy with the policy pursued by the Government in energy. He affirms that there is no free competition yet in the energy market. “I find hardly admissible for Hidroelectrica to classify those contracts by means of which it supplies energy to business operators”, Basescu mentioned. He drew the Executive’s attention that the Ordinance by means of which 8 per cent of Petrom shares are assigned to employees is a commitment that must be observed and one should take appropriate measures for these shares to be indeed owned by the employees.

The President makes the meeting with the Government conditional also on another aspect: changing strategy in the customs points. “I propose the Government to put forward, for competition purposes, shortly, all the customs heads offices”, the President affirmed, emphasising that the principle used in this field was “to change the persons put in place by the outgoing power with persons put in place by the current power”. The threatening journalist ask to disclose his identity Related to the scandal around the mysterious journalist, who has threatened him, Basescu did not want to reveal his identity. “I ask the journalist who did this, if he is still responsible for what he did, to do this. I did not take his threat that he as a threat against national security”, Basescu declared.

by Alina Grigoras Source: Nine O’Clock

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Romania: Television, the Most Popular Broadcast Medium Report

Television remains the dominant media in Romania, according to a report commissioned by BBC World Service. The survey, carried out by local fieldwork agency TNS CSOP, questioned 1985 people and took place in October/November 2004.

Television
Television is the most popular broadcast medium in Romania: 96 per cent watch weekly. This is followed by radio (68 per cent) with internet a long way behind - just 9 per cent of Romanians go online weekly.

This pattern is unsurprising given the differences in penetration levels of the respective technologies: home ownership of satellite and cable TV is high, 71 per cent nationally rising to 92 per cent in the capital, while home PC ownership and access to the internet are especially low at 21 per cent and 8 cent respectively.
TV is the primary mode for consuming news but radio is also very frequently used for this purpose: 97 per cent watch TV for news while 80 per cent also listen to radio news. Just 4 per cent ever use the internet in this way.
Radio

Listening to stations which are mainly speech-based is a minority activity in Romania - just 12 per cent of weekly radio listeners tune into this type of station per week. Stations which offer a mixed format of music and speech are the most popular: 70 per cent of weekly radio listeners tune to this type of station.

Although the Romanian radio market is slowly advancing and consolidating with the entrance of powerful new players bolstered by foreign capital, the structure is still far from mature. There are over 200 radio stations serving a country of 22 million people. TV, press and even outdoor media exceed radio in terms of advertising spend (source: AC Nielsen Media International - Emerging Markets report). Furthermore, the Romanian licensing authority has been very generous in its recent awards of low power FM licences, however the majority of the latest tranche were specialist/niche stations.

Radio Romania Actualitati - the main state owned station and the only one with national coverage - leads the radio market. Its weekly reach is 33 per cent. This has stabilized after a fall in listenership between 2002 and 2003. Radio Europa FM and Radio Kiss, with weekly audiences of 22 per cent and 18 per cent respectively, are the next most popular private commercial stations. Although they are both expanding their networks, neither of these stations has full national coverage yet.

Romanians are highly attracted to radio news and current affairs. Interest in news content on the radio is as high as that for music - Two-thirds of Romanians describe themselves as "extremely or very interested" in radio news. The same was found for music on the radio.
Geographically, Romanians are most interested in domestic news but international news is also important to nearly half the population. 65 per cent are "extremely or very interested in" domestic news compared with 46 per cent for international news.

International radio
Although listening via shortwave continues to fall, it is still more common in Romania than nearly all other European markets which have much higher FM usage. International radio maintains a stable presence in Romania.

The withdrawal of VOA and less output from Radio Free Europe in Romanian have not had a significant effect on overall foreign radio listening levels: 10 per cent of Romanians said they listened to one or more international radio stations in the past week, consistent with 2003 levels.
Radio Free Europe is the most well-known foreign radio broadcaster in Romania, achieving 53 per cent awareness compared with 21 per cent for Deutsche Welle and 16 per cent for Radio France International. There is significant awareness of the BBC too.
[Source: BBC World Service research 10 August 2005]

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