Romanian Hepatitis Patients May Get New Treatments As Of 2015
Romanian patients suffering from hepatitis may receive new treatments starting this year, but the concrete results of modern treatments will appear within approximately one month.
Vasile Ciurchea, head of the National Health Insurance House (CNAS), said interferon-free treatment, and not only the triple treatment, is also considered. (Adevarul)
24% VAT And Russia’s Embargo Support Meat Black Market
The 24% value added tax and Russia’s commercial embargo have only supported the meat black market, according to producers and processors.
Producers and processors on the local meat market, which is now flooded with raw materials and products from abroad and huge tax evasion, await the pledged lowering of the value added tax on meat down to 9% starting 2016. Until then, however, the fight against the black market continues. Unfortunately, nearly one third of pork producers in Romania risk defaulting on their payments because last year, along with Russia’s commercial embargo, huge quantities of pork from EU countries ended up in Romania, more or less legally, according to producers. (Evenimentul Zilei)
Romania Proposes New Bill Amending Public Procurement Rules
The Romanian state seems to have found a way to become a winner in the public procurement odyssey.
Government officials proposed a new bill allowing the termination of contract after each evaluation stage.
According to the bill, the methods used to award public procurement contracts will be completed with a new procedure called “partnership for innovation.” It is when the state identifies the need of a product, service and innovating works that cannot be satisfied by acquiring the ones available on the market. Also, a public procurement contract will be awarded based on the most advantageous offer which will consider both the price and the quality of the product/service to be acquired, allowing the state to keep to itself, in certain conditions, the reason why it rejected a bid. (Puterea)
Antitrust Watchdog Says Current Electricity Transport Tariff Mechanism Affects Competition
Romania’s Competition Council thinks that the current tariff mechanism of electricity transport, which differs according to geographical areas, affects the competition without bringing any advantages to consumers or having a justification for the security of the national energy system.
In Romania, the two components of the transport tariff, namely, the tariff for feeding electricity into the grid and the tariff for extracting electricity from the grid are regulated differently for each geographical area. Thus, the tariff for feeding electricity into the grid is different for seven geographical areas, while the tariff for extracting electricity from the grid is different for eight geographical areas.
„Consiliul Concurenței: Sistemul actual de tarifare a transportului de energie electrică afectează competiția” (Adevarul)
CIA Director Brennan Thanks Former SRI Head Maior For Good Cooperation
John Brennan, of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) thanked former Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) director George Maior for the cooperation between the two agencies.
Brennan telephoned Maior to voice the appreciation for his contribution to the consolidation of the partnership with the United States in the strategic field of information, to the interest of the national security of both countries, of the region and of the world, according to a press release sent by Maior.
Maior, in turn, thanked the CIA director for his involvement in the evolution of operative relations between the two agencies and assured him, following talks with President Klaus Iohannis, Prime Minister Victor Ponta and the new SRI director Eduard Hellvig, that this partnership will continue at the same level of information quality and operations, as a priority for Romania’s security policy.(Adevarul)