Physicians To Start Protests Monday
Romanian physicians will set off protests Monday, June 23, the first day of protests announced two weeks ago by the Sanitas Federation.
Trade unions in the local healthcare sector will be picketing the headquarters of the Health, Labor and Finance ministries for ten days.
Moreover, they threaten to go on a full-blown strike unless authorities meet their demands, namely to keep the promises they made in November 2013. (Curierul National)
Mircea Basescu Gets 30-Day Preventive Arrest For Alleged Corruption
The Bucharest Court ruled last Friday on a 30-day preventive arrest term for Mircea Basescu, the brother of Romania’s President Traian Basescu.
Last Thursday, Mircea Basescu had been detained for 24 hours on charges of trading in influence.
Mircea Basescu told the media last Thursday that he was summoned as a suspect by the National Anticorruption Department (DNA) for testimonies in a case involving a criminal complaint against him filed by Florin Anghel, son of interloper Sandu Anghel.
Florin Anghel had filed a criminal complaint against Mircea Basescu for using his influence, embezzling and misleading the investigators in a case where Anghel is accused of blackmail.
Traian Basescu said last week that he will not intervene with any state institution to protect his brother. (Evenimentul Zilei)
PSD, PC, UNPR, PPDD Lawmakers Call For Cutting VAT On Milk, Vegetables And Fruit To 9%
Lawmakers of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the Conservative Party (PC), the National Union for the Progress of Romania (UNPR) and the People’s Party-Dan Diaconescu (PPDD) propose the lowering of the value added tax on milk, vegetables and fruits from the current 24% to 9%.
The legislative proposition has been put up for public debate.
Also, Romanian meat producers and processors sent an open letter to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at the end of May, asking it to agree to Romania’s lowering the sales tax on meat and meat products to 5%, from the current 24%. They said the measure will help crack down on tax evasion in the sector, which is estimated at over EUR450 million.
Romania lowered the sales tax on bread to 9% from 24% starting September 2013. To offset the measure’s impact on budget revenues, authorities decided to increase excises on alcohol and introduce excise taxes on luxury products. (Curierul National)
EU Cracks Down On Corporate Tax Avoidance Scheme
The European Union on Friday moved to close a loophole that has allowed multinational companies to reduce their tax bills by exploiting differences in national tax rules, ending months of negotiations and potentially boosting EU states’ tax revenues.
“The aim is to close a loophole that currently allows corporate groups to exploit mismatches between national tax rules so as to avoid paying taxes on some types of profits distributed within the group,” finance ministers said in a statement. (Romania Libera)
Romanian And Israeli Governments To Hold Joint Meeting Tuesday
The Romanian and Israeli Governments will hold a joint meeting Tuesday in Jerusalem, the Romanian Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement.
According to the statement, the Romanian and Israeli foreign affairs ministers on Sunday signed a cooperation protocol between the two ministries.
Romanian Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean met Sunday with the Israeli counterpart Avigdor Lieberman, the statement also reads. (Evenimentul Zilei)