Liberals Want To Seize Power Through No-Confidence Vote
Liberals kicked off the new year determined to follow a strategy that would allow them to seize government power.
Liberal leaders met Monday to discuss the continuation of the merger between the liberal and democratic liberal parties and talked about submitting a no-confidence motion to topple the Ponta Cabinet.
Party co-presidents Alina Gorghiu and Vasile Blaga announced a no-confidence motion is an easier way to bring down the government and is preferred to early elections. (Puterea)
Government Calls For Suspension Of Microsoft Contract
The Romanian government has petitioned the court to suspend the state’s contract with Microsoft until legal issues are sorted.
Nine former Cabinet ministers are under criminal investigation for corruption for the unlawful attribution of Microsoft licenses.
IT Minister Sorin Grindeanu said the government has not terminated the Microsoft contract but asked the court to suspend due payments on it until legal issues are cleared. Romania still owes RON100 million under the contract. (Evenimentul Zilei)
2015 Could Bring Cheaper Fuel As Crude Oil Prices Dropped Over Past Months
Crude oil prices halved last year on international commodities exchanges, which led to a drop in fuel prices in Romania to RON5-5.3 a liter.
Analysts expect fuel prices will remain low throughout 2015. Prices on the Romanian market dropped from RON7 a liter in April, when the government introduced an additional excise, to around RON5 at the end of 2014.
International crude oil prices dropped 49% in 2014, the biggest decline since the onset of the financial crisis in 2008. (Adevarul)
Romania’s EU Fund Absorption Rate Reached 51.81% End-2014
The current absorption rate of EU structural and cohesion funds reached 51.81% at the end of 2014, the Ministry of European Funds announced.
The rate is “six times higher than at the beginning of May 2012 and 3.5 times higher than at the end of 2012,” the ministry said.
Romania required the European Commission to reimburse around EUR10 billion. Also, the total amount received by Romania from allotted funds reached EUR10.73 billion, including down payments and reimbursements. (Puterea)
Bucharest City Hall To Pay RON5.6M For Zoo Expansion Study
The Bucharest City Hall’s organization of a quick auction to award a feasibility study targeting the expansion of the city zoo rises suspicions as the city hall’s budget has been cut and infrastructure investments have been halted.
The city budget was lowered by more than RON700 million and infrastructure investments of any kind have been cut, which will raise final costs, the quick allocation of EUR1.5 million for a study is suspicious. Moreover, most recent talks about the zoo targeted its relocation and not expansion into what is now a residential area.
The city hall will pay RON5.6 million net of VAT to an association of firms that will draw up a study on the expansion of the city zoo. The auction was won by an association consisting of CMS International INC, Wilmotte& Associes and Maguari–One Zoo Consultans.
„Municipalitatea a tăiat sume mari de bani de la investiții, dar dă 5,6 milioane de lei pe un studiu” (Puterea)
Minimum Wage And Pensions To Rise This Year
The minimum wage will increase by RON75 this year and the pension point will be increased from RON790.7 to RON830.2.
The minimum pension will also be increased to RON400 a month from the current RON350. The measure will benefit 615,000 pensioners.
According to Labor Minister Rovana Plumb, pensions will increase by five percentage points this year, as the pension point rises to RON830.2. (Evenimentul Zilei)