Roads Authority Employees To Stage Go-Slow Over Pay Monday
The employees of Romania’s national roads authority CNADNR said they would stage a go-slow Monday, June 3, in revenge for planned wage cuts strike, according to Cartel Alfa unionists.
Unionists said the company’s salary fund has decreased from 22.24% in 2008 to 9.49% in 2013 and the wages of around 60% of CNADNR employees are below RON1,000 per month. (Curentul)
Antena TV Group Head Sorin Alexandrescu Detained For Blackmail
The general manager of Antena TV Group, Sorin Alexandrescu, was detained Thursday evening by anticorruption prosecutors on blackmail charges.
Lawyer Gheorghita Mateut said a court is expected to rule Friday whether Alexandrescu should be placed under preventive arrest.
According to prosecutors, Alexandrescu allegedly threatened to “discredit” the administrator of a commercial company by revealing certain information about him if he refused to sign a contract under certain conditions. (Curentul)
Romania Antitrust Body Says Visa, MasterCard Inter-bank Fees Too High
The Inter-bank fees charged by Visa and Mastercard for card transactions in Romania are among the highest in Europe, according to an antitrust investigation.
Romania’s Competition Council has completed an inquiry into the inter-bank fees Visa and MasterCard levy for processing local transactions. The antitrust watchdog collected data from 28 local banks, member of Visa and/or MasterCard, as well as 22 economic operators and from Visa Europe Ltd. and MasterCard Inc.
The probe revealed Visa’s inter-bank fees in Romania for debit card payments reach 1% of the value of the transaction, above the 0.8% maximum fee charged in countries such as Belgium, France, Italy, Sweden or UK.
Likewise, MasterCard charges 1.2% of the value of the transaction for card payments in Romania, the Competition Council said. (Curentul)
Romania Falls To Its Lowest Ranking In IMD Global Competitiveness Report
Romania fell two notches this year to its lowest ranking since 2003 in a competitiveness report covering 60 economies worldwide.
The eastern European country dropped to the 55th place in the 2013 IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook, from 53rd a year earlier.
Romania is slightly less competitive than financially troubled Greece, which climbed three places from 58th in 2012, but a touch more performing than Jordan and Bulgaria. The latter fell three places to 57th this year.
Consolidating economic stability and preserving the level of investment attractiveness are among Romania’s main challenges in 2013, the Switzerland-based business school said in its report. (Curentul)