Press Review - April 25, 2018

04.25.2018 By Oana Gavrila

Klaus Iohannis Approves Criminal Probe Into EX Finance Minister Vladescu

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Tuesday approved anticorruption prosecutors request to investigate former finance minister Sebastian Vladescu on two counts of bribe-taking.

Vladescu was finance minister in August 2005-April 2007 and December 2009-September 2010. He is accused of corruption in connection with the rehabilitation of the Bucharest-Constanta railway line.

Govt Notifies Constitutional Court On Dismissal Of Chief Anticorruption Prosecutor

Romanian justice minister Tudorel Toader said the Government notified the Constitutional Court regarding the dismissal of chief anticorruption prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi.

Toader had said the previous week he would challenge at the Court the refusal of President Klaus Iohannis to dismiss Kovesi. Iohannis had said that Toader’s reasons for the dismissal were “unconvincing”.

The minister called for the dismissal of Kovesi in February citing facts and acts which are “intolerable to the rule of law”. Kovesi has been chief anti-graft prosecutor since 2013.

Three-Month ROBOR Hits 3-Year High At 2.28%

The three-month ROBOR index, used to calculate interests on loans in lei with variable interest, rose to 2.28% on Tuesday, the highest level since October 2014, central bank data showed.

The three-month money market interest rate grew from 2.22% on Monday.

The six-month ROBOR index, which is used to calculate interests on leu-denominated mortgage loans, grew to 2.52% on Tuesday, from 2.49%.

Romanians Are Most Energetic in Europe In the Morning, Study Finds

Around 40% of Romanians say they are full of energy and ready to start their day as soon as they wake up in the morning, followed by the French (2%), a study by E.ON and Kantar EMNID has found.

One-quarter of Romanians claim they get the best results early in the morning and just 19% admit they are grumpy when they've just woken up.

On the other hand, half of Germans wish they could go back to sleep in the morning. One-third of Germans don't even feel like chatting in the first hour since waking.

The most productive people are the Turks and 18% of them say they get better results in the evening, while 23% of Swedes say they get better work results in the evening. Just 10% of Romanians say they are more productive in the evenings.