President Basescu Passes Volunteer Work Bill Into Law
President Traian Basescu has signed into law the bill regulating volunteer work.
The law provides that youths choosing to work for free will receive from the host organization a certificate acknowledging the skills and competences gained through volunteering.
Under the law, volunteer activities will count as professional experience and increase the chances of employment. (Adevarul)
Organized Crime Prosecutors Disband Fraud Ring
Organized crime prosecutors in Ploiesti (southern Romania) on Monday disbanded a fraud ring made up of 22 Romanian and Chinese people, following searches at home and within several commercial companies.
According to prosecutors, the fraud ring caused damages worth over EUR12 million. (Puterea)
SMEs And Finance Ministers Discuss Conditions For Introduction of Lump-Sum Tax
Romania’s Minister for SMEs and Tourism Florin Jianu and Finance Minister Ioana Petrescu have discussed the conditions for the introduction of the lump-sum tax.
They said the tax will be applied only if the entrepreneurs targeted by the tax understand what this lump-sum tax means and if it is easily “tracked” by the tax authority ANAF and the Finance Ministry’s control bodies.
Jianu also said those who currently pay their taxes honestly should pay less or as much as they pay now.
“Unless any of these conditions is met, neither one of us shall endorse this type of regulation,” said Jianu. (Evenimentul Zilei)
Visa: SMEs In Romania Use Cash For Nearly 80% Of Business Payments
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Romania use cash for nearly 80% of their business payments and only 8% use cards, according to a survey conducted by Visa Romania, which also shows that over 50% of SMEs have trouble managing cash flows.
Among the firms using cards, 5% hold business cards, 2% debit cards, 1% credit cards and 1% fuel cards, while 4% make payments online and 6% make bank transfer payments. Also, 1% of small businesses use cheques to make payments and 1% use bills of exchange, according to several independent studies regarding SMEs conducted at the request of Visa.
“Reality is harsh when it comes to using payment instruments. We are not starting from scratch, but there still is a long way to go,” said Catalin Cretu, VISA Europe manager for Romania and Croatia. (Romania Libera)
President Basescu Unwilling To Step Down After His Brother’s Arrest
Romania’s President Traian Basescu on Monday vowed to stay on for his full term in office, rejecting calls to step down after his brother Mircea Basescu was arrested on charges of corruption.
“I will not take into consideration calls (to step down) or declarations voted by parliament,” Basescu said five months ahead of a presidential election.
Mircea Basescu was placed under preventive arrest for 30 days on June 20 on charges of taking a bribe to help keep an underworld boss out of jail.
The president’s brother was brought in for questioning after Florin Anghel, the son of crime boss Sandu Anghel, had filed a criminal complaint against him. Anghel’s father was sentenced to eight years and nine months in prison for almost fatally stabbing one of his nephews in a bar in 2011. Mircea Basescu has constantly denied taking money to influence the judiciary.
Prime Minister Victor Ponta has repeatedly called on his center-right rival Basescu to resign in a bid to “safeguard the prestige of the judiciary.”(Adevarul)