Bucharest And 16 Counties In Southern Half Of Romania Under Yellow Code For Storms
Capital Bucharest and 16 counties in the southern half of Romania are under a code yellow storm warning from Tuesday evening (10 p.m.) until Wednesday evening (10 p.m.).
The code yellow warning is valid for Bucharest and the counties of Ilfov, Giurgiu, Teleorman, Olt, Dolj, Mehedinti, Gorj, Valcea, Sibiu, Arges, Brasov, Covasna, Vrancea, Buzau, Prahova and Dambovita.
Weather authorities said precipitation will exceed 25 liters per square meter and 40-50 liters per square meter in some areas.
The wind will blow hard, especially in southern region of Oltenia, with speeds exceeding 60-65 km per hour, and is expected to exceed 70-80 km per hour in the mountains. (Adevarul)
Planned Ordinance On Public Sector Wage Ready Until August
Labor Minister Dragos Pislaru said he thinks the planned ordinance regarding wages in the public sector will correct the mistakes made by the former labor minister and will be ready until August 2016.
Pislaru also said public sector employees will cash the new salaries starting September.
Early April, Government spokesperson Dan Suciu said salaries of more than half of public sector employees in Romania will rise on average 5% starting August 1, 2016. Suciu also said social workers will see the highest wage increase, up to 20%, while other categories of public workers will see slight pay raises of 1%.
According to Suciu, the planned pay raises are set in ratio with the minimum wage updated starting May 1.
Smallest Romanian Divisions Of Greek Banks In Talks To Merge
The smallest Romanian divisions of Greek banks, Banca Romaneasca and Piraeus Bank, are in talks to merge.
Banca Romaneasca and Piraeus Bank are in advanced talks and are trying to analyse the compatibility of their portfolios. The newly-founded bank will be called Banca Romaneaca, which will also ensure the management of the new financial institution.
Piraeus manages loans of EUR765 million and deposits of EUR853 million. Banca Romaneasca, member of Greek group National Bank of Greece, has a market share slightly higher than that of Piraeus.
In 2015, Piraeus placed 13rd in the Romanian banking system, in terms of assets, while Banca Romaneasca ranked 14th. The registration of the newly-founded financial group under the name of Banca Romaneasca would mean the exit of Piraeus from Romania. (Puterea)
Liberals Held Emergency Meeting On Mayoral Candidate Marian Munteanu
Leaders of the National Liberal Party (PNL) met Tuesday evening to discuss the situation of mayoral candidate Marian Munteanu.
Sources within the Liberal Party said Munteanu is close to withdrawing from the electoral race and Vasile Blaga and Cristian Ciucu are rumoured to join the race for Bucharest mayoral election.
Former president Basescu asked Blaga to run for Bucharest mayor and replace Munteanu, a former leader of the anti-government protests that took place in 1990 in Romania and were ended violently by the intervention of the miners (the Mineriad). (Puterea)
UNPR Head: Parliament Won’t Accept Non-Enforcement Of Law Raising Child-Rearing Benefits
Kelemen Hunor, head of the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR), said it would be wrong if the government decided to put off the enforcement of the law raising child-rearing benefits.
Hunor also said the Parliament would never accept such a decision.
President Klaus Iohannis signed into law the bill raising child-rearing benefits, saying it is a good and long-awaited law. Iohannis said he asked the prime minister and labor minister to enforce the law as soon as possible.
On April 12, Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos said the Government will further decide on this law, as it depends on the financial resources needed to back the law. Ciolos pointed out that the enforcement of the law could be postponed if there was no money to back it. (Evenimentul Zilei)