Press Review - December 21, 2015

12.21.2015 By Gabriela Stan

PM Dacian Ciolos And Cabinet Ministers Hold Informal Meeting On Saturday

Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos and the Cabinet ministers held an informal meeting on Saturday, at 9:00 am, related to the priorities for Health, Education, Transport and Regional Development Ministries, according to Mediafax.

The ministers might have also talked about the minimum wage, as trade unions are discontent with government’s decision not to increase the minimum wage. Ciolos has recently stated that the government should make a decision related to the minimum wage by the end of the year.

The PM also said he does not exclude the minimum wage rise but it takes a thorough examination by sectors, considering regional disparities. (Romania Libera)

 

Alina Gorghiu: Liberals Ask Government For Extra Economic Measures

Alina Gorghiu, co-chair of the National Liberal Party (PNL), announced that liberals asked the government to correlate the minimum wage rise with a cut in labor taxes.

"Our informal talks with government members are heading to this direction (...). We asked the government members to consider the possibility of cutting labor taxes in parallel with hiking minimum wage (...) This was our request at the negotiations of the new Tax Code," Gorghiu stated Sunday, during a press conference.

Gorghiu says she hopes the minimum wage rise would occur in 2016, saying that the government will decide whether it is enforced in January or in the summer. (Puterea)

 

Romania Posts Agri-Food Trade Surplus In January-September

Romania registered a surplus in the trade with agri-food products in the first three quarters of 2015, as exports rose 7.6% compared with the same period a year before, to EUR4.2 billion, while imports rose 17.3% to EUR4.16 billion.

“The trade surplus of agri-food products was at EUR31.1 million in the first nine months of 2015, sharply down from EUR349.6 million in the corresponding period a year before. Romania exported agri-food products worth EUR4.2 billion, up by EUR297.1 million compared with the same period a year earlier, while imports, totaling EUR4.16 billion, rose at a faster pace, exceeding the value registered in the first nine months of 2014 by EUR615.6 million,“ according to the Agriculture Ministry. (Adevarul)

 

ANOFM: Over 330,000 Persons Hired In January-November

Over 330,000 persons were hired in the first eleven months of the year through the National Employment Program, over half of them from the urban areas, but only 71,483 were youngsters under 25, data from the country’s employment agency ANOFM showed.

According to ANOFM data, 338,541 persons were hired between January and November, accounting for 96.73% of the target for 2015. Of these, 71,483 persons are under 25, 79,600 are aged between 25 and 35, 84,382 are aged between 35 and 45 and 103,076 are older than 45. (Adevarul)

 

Stomach Cancer Frequency On The Rise Due To Replacement Of Traditional Food With Modern Food

The frequency of stomach cancer has increased lately due to the replacement of traditional food with modern food imported from other countries, according to prof.dr. Mircea Beuran.

“Modern life has brought a change in the eating habits. But the body is unable to get used over night to new food, which can be spicier, hotter, with other sauces, leading to the increase of the number of digestive affections. Over one third of human cancers are located on the digestive tube. We are talking about colon and rectal cancer, stomach, liver, pancreatic, esophagus cancers, namely all the segments of the digestive tube and its appendices,” said Mircea Beuran, head of the Surgery Section at Floreasca Emergency Hospital in Bucharest.

Nevertheless, Beuran said they have made important progress in tracking down cancer although no national screening program has been implemented so far. (Evenimentul Zilei)