Romania GDP Grows 4.2% in First Quarter
Romania’s gross domestic product rose 4.2% in the first quarter compared with the same period last year in seasonally adjusted terms, the country’s statistics board showed Tuesday.
In unadjusted terms, the GDP grew 4.3% year-on-year in the first quarter. Compared with the fourth quarter of 2015, Romania’s GDP grew 1.6% in real terms, the data showed.
The government expects economic growth of 4.2% this year, according to its 2016 convergence program approved late April. (Adevarul)
Energy Ministry To Appoint Company To Negotiate Setup Of Investment Fund With KMG
The Romanian Energy Ministry will appoint, most likely this month, the company that will negotiate the setup of the $1 billion investment fund with KMG International (former Rompetrol Group), the second largest player on the local oil market.
In 2013, the government gave up the litigation with former Rompetrol group for recovering the historical debt worth $600 million, and in exchange, the Romanian state agreed to become a shareholder, jointly with KazMunaiGaz International, in an investment fund worth $1 billion. The measures were approved in January 2014 by government decision but the investment fund has not been set up yet.
“We have not decided on the company, it can be a recently-founded company or it can be a company that will be soon set up in this respect. But the company will most likely be appointed this month,” official sources in the Energy Ministry told PUTEREA newspaper. (Puterea)
State Sanitary Inspection Checks Up All Public Hospitals On Use Of Hexi Pharma Products
The State Sanitary Inspection ordered checkups in all Romanian hospitals following suspicions that certain hospitals still use Hexi Pharma products, according to the Health Ministry.
At Suceava Emergency Hospital, they found a product with Hexi Pharma logo, but the product was acquired, not produced by the company involved in the recent scandal with diluted disinfectants used in Romanian hospitals.
At Arad County Hospital, they found two open but unused bottles of Hexi Pharma products, which were removed from the hospital.
At Craiova Emergency Hospital, authorities found a low number of Hexi Pharma products still used in the current activity. (Adevarul)
New Mayor Gabriela Firea Mulls Free Ground Public Transport In Bucharest
The new mayor of the capital, Gabriela Firea, stated that she will do everything that can be done for providing free ground public transport in Bucharest.
Firea told B1 TV station that they have already analyzed the alternative of free ground public transport for Bucharest, which proved to be economically achievable.
“One of the first projects that I will submit refers to the restructuring of RATB company. There is an economic plan related to free ground public transport which can be applied. We want to encourage ground public transport, so that we leave our cars at home and avoid suffocating traffic conditions. I had talks with specialist (…) and we decided it can be done. We are only talking about RATB, not the underground transportation, which is held by the Transport Ministry. It is an economic plan which can be applied”.
Firea added that the project is applicable, especially if RATB covers its expenses by selling abroad the tramways made in Romania. (Evenimentul Zilei)
A New Blood Test Could Personalize Depression Treatment
Scientists have developed a blood test that can predict whether people with depression will respond to common antidepressants, according to Reuters.
The discovery, which was conducted at King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, could bring in a new era of personalized treatment for people with the debilitating mental illness.
In the study, published in the International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, the scientists focused on two biomarkers that measure blood inflammation as previous studies have already linked raised levels of inflammation with a poor response to antidepressants. (Romania Libera)