President Iohannis Pays Official Visit To Ukraine
President Klaus Iohannis started his official visit to Ukraine on Tuesday, where he met Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko.
Poroshenko received Iohannis with official ceremony at the Presidential Administration of Ukraine while the Romanian President saluted the honor guard in Ukrainian language.
Iohannis stated he agreed with Poroshenko on making the ethnic minorities of Romanians in Ukraine and Ukrainians in Romania more visible, as they should represent “a bridge” in the relations between the two countries.
The Romanian President stressed that the actions of the two countries target positive effects as regards the direct contacts between their citizens and joint economic and cultural projects. (Puterea)
Foreign Tourists Spent EUR1.1B In Romania In 2014
Foreign tourists spent 5.09 billion lei (EUR1.15 billion) in Romania last year, up 6.2% from RON4.79 billion in 2013, according to data released by the country’s statistics institute Tuesday.
Romania was visited in 2014 by 1.91 million foreign tourists, up from 1.171 million in 2013.
According to the statistics bureau, 61.3% of the foreign tourist came in Romania for business, congresses, conferences, courses, fairs and exhibitions. Business travelers accounted for 68% of the overall spending.
The remainder of 38.7% of foreign tourists came for private trips (vacations, shopping, for cultural or sport events, medical treatments, visits at friends or relatives etc. ) and they accounted for 32% of non-residents’ spending in Romania. (Puterea)
Value Of Payments Requested By Banks For NPLs Rose 45% In 2014
The value of payment requests submitted by banks to Romania’s national guarantee fund for small and medium-sized businesses (FNGCIMM) for non-performing loans (NPLs) rose 45% in 2014, the fund said in a statement.
It also said the rate of payment requests calculated in ratio with the balance of guarantees surged 60% at the end of 2014, compared to the rate registered at the end of 2013.
In 2014, the fund raised its risk provisions for guarantee payments and the rate of payments covered by risk provisions reached 94% at the end of the year, compared to 67% in 2013. (Romania Libera)
Government Mulls Excise Duty On E-cigarettes As Of 2016
Romanian government wants to add excise duties on electronic cigarettes starting with January 2016, saying the measure is in line with EU steps in this respect, according to the updated version of the Tax Code obtained by Mediafax.
According to the document dated March 13, the measure is in accordance with the current EU practices and consultations related to the taxation of other products for smoking. The new excise duty will be RON0.5/milliliter for the liquid containing nicotine and RON384/kilogram, for the tobacco included in such products. (Adevarul)
Paintings And Fashion Collection Of Artist Alexandra Popescu-York At ICR New York
The Romanian Cultural Institute New York (ICR New York) will present a fashion collection and a series of paintings of artist-designer Alexandra Popescu-York, on March 27, 2015.
Alexandra Popescu-York presented her latest couture fashion collection “Âme de l’artist” (Artists’ Soul) on February 15, 2015 during the 21st season of Couture Fashion Week New York, jointly with another 20 international designers.
At ICR New York, Alexandra Popescu-York will present her latest monumental paintings, with Romania as source of inspiration, as well as 15 paintings such as “Hawaiian Jewels”, “Summer Calling”, “Extravagantza” or “Dangerous Florals”. (Evenimentul Zilei)