Romanian Parliament Sets Up Committee For Rosia Montana Mining Project
Romania’s Parliament has elected the members of a special committee tasked with debating the bill on gold exploitation in Rosia Montana.
The committee includes 21 lawmakers (ten senators and 11 deputies) and will be chaired by social democrat MP Darius Valcov.
Thousands of people in Bucharest and other cities across the country have been rallying for weeks against the government-backed bill allowing the start of a gold mining project in Rosia Montana, western Romania.
The bill is now pending a vote in Parliament. (Adevarul)
Romanian PM Presents Main Points Of New Stand-By Loan Deal With IMF
Romania’s Prime Minister Victor Ponta Tuesday presented in Parliament the main points of the country’s new stand-by loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission and the World Bank.
According to Ponta, Romania’s letter of intent to the new agreement was sent to the IMF on September 12.
End-July, the authorities in Bucharest reached an agreement with the officials of the IMF and the European Commission for a two-year stand-by loan deal worth EUR4 billion. Half of the money will come from the IMF and the Romanian authorities will treat the deal as precautionary, meaning they do not plan to draw on the available funds. (Evenimentul Zilei)
Romania To Raise Household Gas Prices By Some 1% In October
Household gas prices in Romania will rise by at most 1% starting October 1, Niculae Havrilet, president of energy market regulator ANRE, said Tuesday.
The measure is part of Romania’s deregulation strategy in the natural gas and electricity markets, which stipulates prices in the sectors are to be aligned to European levels by 2018.
Home production covers about 75% of total gas consumption in Romania and the remaining 25% is secured by imports from Russia. (Adevarul)
Romanian Doctors Threaten Protests Over Small Wages
Romanian doctors will stage warning protests in Bucharest calling on authorities to increase their wages and allot at least 6% of the gross domestic product to the healthcare sector.
Protesters will picket the Health and Finance ministries between September 18 and September 27 and will go on strike in November. (Curentul)
Over 5% Of Romanian Teenagers Use Drugs – Survey
Some 5.4% of Romanian teenagers are using drugs and other psychoactive substances, according to a UNICEF survey presented Tuesday.
Almost all teenagers who use drugs said they drank alcohol or smoked cigarettes at least once, UNICEF representative to Romania Sandie Blanchet told Agerpres.
According to Blanchet, teenagers start using drugs at the age of 11 to 15. (Curentul)