OMV Petrom Net Profit Soars To RON2.4B In 2017
Romania’s oil and gas company OMV Petrom (SNP.RO), controlled by Austria’s OMV, ended 2017 with a net profit of RON2.4 billion, significantly higher compared to RON1.1 billion in 2016.
OMV Petrom registered consolidated sales of RON19.435 billion in 2017, up 17% from 2016, due to rising sales on all segments.
“For 2018, the company envisages investments of RON3.7 billion, mainly for ramping up drilling activity, the Neptun project, the scheduled full-site refinery turnaround and the Polyfuel project. While our focus remains on extracting the highest value from the existing Upstream portfolio, we estimate the daily average production decline to reach 4% yoy, excluding divestments”, OMV Petrom CEO Mariana Gheorghe said in a statement. (jurnalul.ro)
Several Hundred People Protested In Bucharest
Over 1,000 persons protested on Thursday outside the Government headquarters after Justice Minister Tudorel Toader’s announcement regarding the initiation of procedures for removing from office chief anticorruption prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi.
Toader on Thursday called for the dismissal of Codruta Kovesi citing facts and acts which are “intolerable to the rule of law”.
Toader presented in a press briefing a highly critical report on the activity of the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) and said that Kovesi failed to conduct checks on the allegedly abusive behavior of several prosecutors and that she failed in solving a high-profile case with estimated damage of USD104 million (for the period of time between 2004 and 2008) and EUR114.5 million (for the period of time between 2009 and 2013).
The justice minister added that Kovesi displayed an “excessively authoritarian behavior” and that she violated the Constitution by personally supervising the inquiries of several other prosecutors, including the investigation on the February 2017 emergency decree which decriminalized several corruption offences and triggered Romania’s largest street protests since the end of the communist regime. (cotidianul.ro)
Banks And NBFIs Propose Impact Study On Potential Cap On Annual Effective Interest Rate
The financial industry will start an impact study following a bill capping the annual effective interest rate, also known as DAE, for loans granted to individuals (mortgage and consumer loans).
„The idea of capping DAE simply took us and non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs) by surprise. We are close to ordering an impact study at an independent entity which we will take upon ourselves at industry level“, said Bogdan Preda, executive director of the Romanian banking industry association CPBR, as quoted by Ziarul Financiar.
The Romanian Banking Association thinks the same, arguing the initiative could have a major impact on consumers, credit institutions and the economy. (cotidianul.ro)
Environment Ministry Conveys New Information On Classic Scrappage Program
Environment Minister Gratiela Gavrilescu said that after approving the environment fund, the old Classic Scrappage program will get financing and the “Rabla Plus” program will enjoy an ecobonus of EUR10,000.
The “Rabla Plus” program, “which targets electric cars”, will have the same ecobonus of EUR10,000, the minister also said.
“Last year, this program was a success, and compared with 2016, the number of electric cars introduced on the market and which Romanians wished to buy, exceeded 1,000. Also, the ecobonus of EUR4,500 was kept for plug-in hybrid vehicles”, Gavrilescu also said. (puterea.ro)