President Klaus Iohannis Pays First Official Visit To Republic Of Moldova
President Klaus Iohannis has paid his first official visit to the Republic of Moldova, which was delayed by one month, for the new Chisinau government to be set up.
The Romanian President met Moldovan President Nicolae Timofti and had talks about Romania’s support for Moldova on its way to EU integration.
Asked about the measures that should be taken by Moldova to have a justice system like the Romanian one, Iohannis said it takes “popular and political will” to tackle corruption, recommending the same steps that were taken by Romania in this respect.
“We benefited from consistent support from European partners, you should force your politicians do the same things,” Iohannis concluded. (Puterea)
Romania Private Lending Falls In January
Romanian private lending went down in January, as banks continue to shed bad loans of their books, central bank data showed Tuesday.
The overall non-government loans stood at 210.35 billion lei (EUR47.4 billion), down 4.2% in real terms from January 2014. Compared with the end of December, private lending was down 0.7% in real terms, the data showed.
Private loans in Romanian lei were down 0.9% on the month, and foreign currency loans were down 0.2% when expressed in lei, but 0.7% higher when expressed in euros. (Adevarul)
Insolvent Chemical Company Oltchim Might Be Sold By Yearend
Creditors of Romanian insolvent chemical company Oltchim SA (OLT.RO) will discuss the reorganization plan in March, which includes the sale for EUR307 million, according to lawyer Gheorghe Piperea, partner of administrator RomInsolv, who added that he hopes the company would be sold by yearend.
Piperea said the reorganization plan includes the setup of a special purpose vehicle called Oltchim SPV that would include assets, licenses, authorizations and the personnel, so that investors could buy the equity shares.
RomInsolv representative said the company’s situation has already started to improve. Thus, Oltchim currently operates at 30% of capacity and has a monthly turnover of EUR15 million and EBITDA worth EUR700,000 euro, compared with 2012, when it operated at 80% of capacity and posted monthly losses of EUR5 million. (Puterea)
Medicine Price Update Could Trigger 20% Lower Price For Certain Products
The update of medical drug prices, scheduled to be completed by March 10, could lower prices for certain products by up to 20%, according to National Health Insurance House (CNAS) president Vasile Ciurchea.
“This will be a real benefit for the system. We will actually be able to treat more patients with the same costs, and the money saved could be used by the system for innovative treatments. Even if we have this money, we will close cost-volume-efficiency contracts, allowing access to these treatments for as many patients as possible,” Ciurchea said. (Adevarul)
Outpatient Clinic Of Marie Curie Children’s Hospital Revamped With RON5M
The outpatient clinic of Marie Curie Children’s Hospital in Bucharest was renovated following RON5 million investments from the Romanian Health Ministry, and now looks like a private clinic.
The outpatient department, whose walls and tiles were in a very bad condition, was impeccably revamped, and the revolving door at the entrance can even compete with entrances of private medical clinics or shopping malls, according to hospital representatives.
“It is important that parents and children come to a civilized environment. It’s easier to convince a child to go to the doctor to a very colorful place which even has a play area,” Radu Spataru, medical director of Marie Curie, stated. (Evenimentul Zilei)