Press Review - August 4, 2017

08.04.2017 By Oana Gavrila

Rules To Special Pensions System Change As of Mid-September

The finance minister said Thursday the special pensions system, which allows pensions to be higher than current salaries on low contributions, will only stay in place until September 15.

After September 15, special pensions will only be indexed for inflation and there will be no pensions higher than salaries. However, people retiring before mid-September will benefit from special pensions under the current rules.

The minister said the pensions budget had a deficit of RON15.6 billion in 2016, RON14.1 billion in 2017 and would widen to RON17.2 billion in 2018 unless special pensions were tackled.

Police Union Chief Agrees with Pension Cap of RON10,000

The head of the national police union, Dumitru Coarna, said Thursday he agrees pensions for police should be capped at RON10,000 but there needs to be a public debate because there are officers who retired at 39 and the law must be amended.

“The average pension is RON3,000 and the average salary is RON1,600. I asked the prime minister to consult us because we have solutions and the law must be amended. All interior minister generals who retired at 39 didn't do it because of this law,” said Coarna.

French President Emmanuel Macron To Visit Romania This Month

French President Emmanuel Macron will pay an official visit to Romania at the end of August at the invitation of Romanian President Klaus Iohannis.

Iohannis had a bilateral meeting with Macron in Brussels ahead of the European Council meeting.

The Romanian president said at that time the meeting had gone very well and the two officials discussed the EU directive on detaching workers.

Orban: No Public Institution Has Enough Money for Wages Until Yearend

Ludovic Orban, president of the Liberal Party, said no public institution has enough money to pay salaries until the end of the year, only until September at most, due to the adoption of the unified pay law.

“All institutions will have to revise their budgets because they have to cover salaries first,” said Orban.

He added the state will be forced to slash money from investments and maintenance works to cover staff expenses.

Tariceanu Says Pardoning Law Enters Public Debate on September 1

Senate chairman Calin Popescu Tariceanu said Thursday the pardoning law will enter public debate on September 1, when lawmakers return from summer recess.

He said people sentenced to prison are “people with dignity”.

“The pardoning law has been sent to Parliament and debates will start on September 1. There are other additional measures the justice minister is considering. (…) Of course, there are also ECHR constraints,” Tariceanu said on Antena 3.

He said convicts must be treated as people with dignity and prison conditions should not be degrading.

Electricity Prices Rise, Energy Ministry Considers Cap

The Day Ahead Market on the energy exchange OPCOM registered Thursday RON570/MWh for August 4, a peak that has not been reached since the crisis in January and energy minister Toma Petcu said a cap on energy prices might be needed.

The energy regulator ANRE said it would analyze the situation and propose solutions to intervene on the market.

The ministry also notified antitrust authorities to check for potential price-fixing deals among energy producers.

Prices on the energy exchange started rising towards the end of July and experts say the causes are multiple, including a lower flow of the Danube River, which affects hydropower and nuclear power production, as well as an increased number of electricity providers trading on the Day Ahead Market.