Traian Basescu And His Wife Maria Take Oath Of Faithfulness As Citizens Of Moldova
Former President Traian Basescu and his wife Maria have taken the oath of faithfulness as citizens of the Republic of Moldova at the Embassy of the Republic of Moldova in Bucharest.
Basescu thanked the President of the Republic of Moldova who granted him the right to also become a citizen of the neighboring country by issuing a decree.
“A republic which is dear to me, just as my country is. A republic with which I feel connected through culture, education, language and most of all through solidarity. The solidarity was what that made me, many times, throughout the ten years while being President of Romania, to carry out different activities in the favor of Moldovan citizens and in the favor of its European route, the independence of which Romania acknowledged before the entire world did. (…) I’m proud that I’ve accomplished the dream of having a citizenship which is valid on the whole territory, from the West border to the Nistru River and a little across it,” Basescu stated after taking the oath of faithfulness as a citizen of the Republic of Moldova.
In his opinion, a mentality change is needed so that the support projects for the Republic of Moldova will be continued. (Adevarul)
PM Ciolos To Attend Event Organized By Save Romania Union
Nicusor Dan, head of the Save Romania Union (USR), on Thursday said Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos confirmed his participation in an event to be organized next week by USR.
Dan said there will be no talks with Ciolos about positions in the future government to be formed after the parliamentary elections due on December 11.
“We shall talk exclusively with the prime minister, there will be no pre-electoral or post-electoral alliance and there will be no negotiations for positions in the future government (…), Dan added. (Puterea)
EBRD Revises Up Romania’s 2016 GDP Growth Forecast To 4.8%
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on Thursday revised Romania’s GDP growth forecast for next year from 4% to 4.8%.
EBRD also revised the country’s economic growth forecast from 3.5% to 3.7% for 2017.
“South-eastern Europe as a whole is on the rise. Greece is turning around thanks to a good season for tourism, and the return of business confidence. Serbia and Romania are pushing up the growth average,” EBRD said in a statement.
According to the report, Russia and Greece are emerging from recession, Turkey will grow at a slower pace in 2016 than in 2015, while Ukraine and Moldova are back in the black. (Puterea)
Agriculture Ministry Wants Harsher Rules For Foreign Land Owners
The Agriculture Ministry said at the end of June this year that it was planning to harshen the rules imposed on foreigners when buying farmland in Romania.
The bills regulating the sale of farmland and creating a mutual fund for farmers, which were put forward by the Agriculture Ministry, are put off on the backdrop of talks with farmers, said Agriculture Minister Achim Irimescu.
One of the bills targets the sale of farmland. Initially, the ministry was planning to limit the purchase of farmland to maximum 50 hectares. Following talks with farmers, they asked for 150 hectares per natural person and 1,200 hectares per legal entity, just like in Hungary, and capping could have reached 1,500 hectares, but only for fodder producers. The minister said he also wants to know the opinion of Romanian citizens on the matter.
The minister also said it is very easy to buy farmland in Romania, where the price per hectare starts from EUR2,000 and may reach EUR9,000-10,000 in western Romania, unlike Belgium or The Netherlands where one hectare of land costs EUR50,000. (Adevarul)
Tax Authority Amends Transfer Of Bank Account Data
Romania’s tax authority ANAF will provide information regarding taxpayers’ bank accounts to competent public authorities only in electronic format, as per a draft order of ANAF president.
According to the draft, to use the PatrimVen system, each institution must conclude a protocol of adherence with ANAF, which includes the list of available services and the description of access interfaces.
According to the tax authority, after the order of ANAF president has been enforced, the solicitation and conveyance of information regarding bank accounts will be made exclusively in electronic format through the secure computer system PatrimVen. (Evenimentul Zilei)