Press Review - August 30, 2018

08.30.2018 By Oana Gavrila

Companies May Apply for State Aid as of Sept 10

The finance ministry announced companies may apply for financing under the 807/2014 state aid scheme starting September 10.

The aid scheme has a budget of RON614 million this year with payments to be disbursed in 2019-2021. This is the first allocation from a total budget of RON1.8 billion.

Leu Loses Ground vs Euro

The Romanian leu had a reference rate of 4.6489 units to the euro at midday Wednesday, 0.03% lower compared with Tuesday.

On Tuesday, the leu stood at 4.6474 units against the euro.

The leu also lost ground to the US dollar, with a reference rate of 3.9852 units Wednesday from 3.9723 units on Tuesday.

President Criticizes Government For Mismanaging Swine Fever Epidemic

President Klaus Iohannis criticized the country’s Government on Wednesday for the way it handled the African swine fever epidemic, calling for urgent measures to stop further outbreaks from appearing throughout the country.

Iohannis pointed out that the virus ravaged the swine farming sector in southeastern Romania, where multiple big swine farms and pork meat retailers had to close due to huge losses.

“The damages are already in the tens of millions of euro, thousands of jobs were lost, as well as important commercial opportunities for Romania. We are talking here of major consequences for the national economy, as the African swine fever virus is endangering all commercial pig farms, which make approximately half of the total pork meat destined for internal consumption,” the president said in a statement.

The Romanian head of state criticized the Government for not informing farmers and the population about the risk of an epidemic in a timely manner, despite prior warnings in this regard from European institutions.

The current African swine fever epidemic has ravaged Romania’s swine farming sector, with nearly 800 outbreaks throughout 10 counties confirmed. Authorities estimate that more than 300,000 pigs will be culled in efforts to contain the epidemic, which has also affected country’s largest swine farm, in Braila county.

US Ambassador Meets With Romanian Ruling Party Leader

The United States Ambassador to Romania Hans Klemm held an unannounced meeting on Wednesday with the chairman of Romania’s lower chamber and ruling Social Democrat Party (PSD) Liviu Dragnea, at the latter’s office in Parliament.

The ambassador arrived at the Parliament in Bucharest at approximately 15:30 local time and left approximately one hour later, with no official announcement made regarding the purpose of the visit.

The meeting was not announced on the official schedule of the Lower Chamber chairman.

Dragnea said later they discussed the strategic partnership, which is a priority on Romania's foreign policy agenda.