Antitrust Authority Advises Large Retailers To Open Gas Stations
Romania’s antitrust authority recommends large retailers should open gas stations to help diversify the local fuel market, which should ultimately lead to lower pump prices.
Other recommendations concerning the fuel market were to ease access of small fuel retailers to the market and creating a web applications to monitor pump prices.
The Romanian fuel retail market is dominated by large oil companies, part of international groups, with extensive experience in the sector, such as OMV, MOL, Lukoil, Rompetrol. (Puterea)
Hidoelectrica And Nuclearelectrica Should Sell Output Domestically
Hydropower company Hidoelectrica and nuclear power company Nuclearelectrica produce the cheapest energy in the country and should sell their output domestically instead of exporting, said energy regulator president Niculae Havrilet.
“I agree there should be no barriers in the way of exports,” he said, adding the two companies are the cheapest power producers on the market and it would be fairer to sell their output domestically since they benefited from investments using taxpayer money. (Evenimentul Zilei)
Finance Ministry Working On State-Guaranteed Farming Machinery Loan Program
Farmers forming associations will be able to get state guarantees of 40%-60% on loans to buy farming machinery, under a program proposed by the Finance Ministry.
The Finance Ministry is working on a program to support Romanian farmers improve production, considering agriculture covers a larger share of the gross domestic product compared with other European Union nations.
“We need to improve efficiency in agriculture. Agriculture accounted for 4.7$ of GDP in 2014,” said finance minister Anca Dragu. (Adevarul)
Over 460 Miners Protest Underground
A protest triggered Monday when 157 miners remained underground in Lonea mine in Jiu Valley has spread to include 300 more miners in Vulcan.
Miners are protesting the government’s indifference towards the insolvency of energy holding CE Hunedoara and call for the resignation of company managers.
CE Hunedoara, which covers approximately 5% of Romania’s electricity production and employs 6,257 people, went insolvent in January. (Evenimentul Zilei)
Romanian Weather Unseasonably Warm In February
Meteorologists said temperatures on February 23 were unseasonably high for this time of year and were above average temperatures by as much as 10 degrees Celsius.
In southern Romania, temperatures were as high as 24 degrees Tuesday, very warm for late February.
On Wednesday, the weather turns overcast and rains are expected first in the west, then throughout the country. Maximum temperatures in Bucharest will reach 15-16 degrees Wednesday and 12 degrees Thursday. (Adevarul)