MEP Adrian Severin Indicted For Corruption
Romanian MEP Adrian Severin has been indicted on charges of bribe taking and influence peddling.
End-March 2011, Romania’s National Anticorruption Department (DNA) began investigating Severin, after local and international media reported on his alleged involvement in a corruption case. Severin was prepared to support the adoption of several amendments in exchange for EUR100,000 offered by journalists from British paper The Sunday Times. (Adevarul)
A Quarter Of Romanian Firms Don’t Pay Their Fiscal Obligations Willingly
One in four companies in Romania doesn’t willingly pay its taxes to the state budget, namely, the sales tax, the tax on profit and social security contributions, according to the country’s tax authority ANAF.
“In 2012, the voluntary tax compliance rate stood at 77.4% for VAT and profit tax payment, respectively, and at 74.2% for social security contributions,” according to ANAF vice-president Mihail Constantin. (Evenimentul Zilei)
PM Ponta Wants New Lump Sum Tax To Be Approved By Lawmakers
Romania’s Prime Minister Victor Ponta asked minister-delegate for SMEs and Tourism Maria Grapini to turn the draft ordinance on the new lump sum tax into bill and send it to lawmakers for approval.
The lump sum tax, which should be applied starting January 1, 2014, will be calculated as a fixed amount in ratio with certain indicators for each field of activity and will replace a 16% tax on profit or 3% of a company’s turnover in the tourism sector.
„Ponta dă pe mâna parlamentarilor introducerea impozitului forfetar de la 1 ianuarie. Grapini renunță la ordonanță: “Legea va trece prin procedură de urgență”” (Gandul)
Romania Inflation Falls To 3.67% In August On Lower Food Prices
Romania’s consumer prices extended their decline in August, supported by lower costs of food products, and the country’s inflation neared the central bank’s target interval.
The country’s annual inflation rate decelerated to 3.67% from 4.41% in July, according to statistics institute INS.
Consumer prices were down 0.2% on the month, reflecting a 0.8% drop in food prices, the data showed. However, the prices of non-food items and service tariffs rose by 0.1% and 0.3% on the month, respectively.
Romanians paid by 12.3% less for fresh fruits in August compared with the previous month, while prices of fresh and canned vegetables declined 6.3%.
Romanian central bank targets an annual inflation of 2.5% at the end of 2013, plus/minus one percentage point around the band.
„Inflația a atins în vara lui 2013 ținta stabilită de Banca Națională pentru anul 2008” (Adevarul)
PM Ponta Reiterates Support For Shale Gas Exploitation In Romania
Prime Minister Victor Ponta reaffirmed his support for the exploitation of shale gas in Romania.
End-May, Ponta asked Environment Minister Rovana Plumb to ignore the campaigns aimed at preventing Romania from searching for new energy resources.
According to Ponta, it all goes down to Romania securing its energy independence from gas imports from Russia and even becoming energy exporter in the region. (Adevarul)