Law Requiring ID For Prepaid Mobile Usage To Be Discussed Wednesday
MPs in the parliamentary commissions for legal matters will be discussing this week a government-sponsored bill requiring ID for the purchase of prepaid card mobile users.
Over 60% of mobile users in Romania are prepaid card users .
The bill is under urgent debate in the Chamber of Deputies. It has already been adopted by the Senate and should take effect on January 1, 2015. (Gandul)
UDMR Leaders Don’t Want PPDD In Government
Leaders of the Hungarian minority party UDMR do not agree with Prime Minister Victor Ponta’s plan to have Dan Diaconescu’s PPDD party join the ruling coalition.
Even though Ponta gave assurance UDMR’s positions will remain unchanged and PPDD would get some of the governmental positions previously held by social democrats.
The signing of a protocol between PSD and PPDD was initially scheduled for this week but obstacles have begun to surface. (Romania Libera)
Agriculture Ministry Disbands Paying Agency For Rural Development And Fishing
Romania’s Agriculture Ministry will disband the Paying Agency for Rural Development and Fishing and will reorganize it into a Paying Agency for Rural Investments.
The new institution will be created by government emergency ordinance. (Puterea)
Romania January-April Trade Gap Widens To EUR1.75B
Romania’s trade deficit widened to EUR1.75 billion in the first four months of 2014, from EUR1.67 billion a year earlier, the country’s statistics institute INS said.
Exports of Romanian-made products rose 8.1% on the year to EUR16.93 billion in the January-April period, while imports advanced 7.7% to EUR18.68 billion, the data showed.
In April alone, the country’s trade gap widened to EUR634.6 million from EUR601 million in the same month of 2013.
Romania’s trade deficit narrowed to EUR5.7 billion in 2013, from EUR9.6 billion a year earlier. (Evenimentul Zilei)
Romania April Industrial Sales Fall 4.3% On Month
Romanian industrial sales fell 4.3% in April from a month earlier, on declining demand in all sectors, the country’s statistics institute INS said.
On an annual basis, industrial sales rose 6% in April, fueled by a 6.5% increase in the sales of manufactured items. Mining sales were down 5.4% on the year.
In January through April, Romanian industrial sales rose 11.6% on the year, on higher sales in all sectors. (Curierul National)
ECHR Grants EUR4,500 In Reparations To Former Senator Catalin Voicu
Former social democrat senator Catalin Voicu was granted reparations of EUR4,500 by the European Court of Human Rights for degrading treatment he suffered in detention.
Reparations were granted for the conditions in which he was forced to spend 16 months under preventive arrest.
Voicu is serving a seven-year prison sentence for corruption. (Puterea)