Press Review - January 21, 2016

01.21.2016 By Gabriela Stan

PM Dacian Ciolos Met With French President François Hollande In Paris

Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos on Wednesday met with French President François Hollande during a two-day visit to Paris.

After an extended period of stagnation for the Romanian-French relations, Paris is showing an obvious openness to relaunch the strategic partnership, an interest which is also catalyzed by the recent international events.

At the end of the meeting, President Hollande confirmed he would come to Romania this year, following the invitation addressed by President Klaus Iohannis.

Hollande added that Romania and France are working together to facilitate Romania’s accession to Schengen area with airports, in a first stage. (Evenimentul Zilei)

 

Gazprom Announces Natural Gas Price Cut To $184 Per 1,000 Cubic Meters

Russian gas giant Gazprom, whose price is related to crude oil price, expects natural gas prices to fall to $184 per 1,000 cubic meters in Europe, versus $284 per 1,000 cubic meters in the corresponding period a year before, according to the Chairman of Gazprom board of directors, Viktor Zubkov.

"In the first quarter of 2015 the price was $284 while according to [preliminary] estimates in the first quarter of this year it will be $184, which means we lose $100," said Zubkov, cited by Itar-Tass.

According to the official, Gazprom plans to supply 160 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe in 2016. The Russian group is currently facing price cuts abroad, as natural gas prices are related to the oil price evolution in most of its contracts. (Adevarul)

 

Draft Law: Public Procurement Procedures To Develop Exclusively By Electronic Means

The public procurement procedures will develop exclusively by electronic means, and the public contracts will no longer be assigned only by the lowest price, according to a draft law which is currently in the Parliament.

European Court of Auditors has asked the European Commission to cease EU fund payments to Romania and other states as of 2017 unless they solve the irregularities in the public procurement systems. According to the auditors’ report, the main issues are related to arbitrary assignment of contracts and unfair competition.

Thus, all the irregularities related to public procurement procedures found within EU member states led to new EU regulations. (Romania Libera)

 

Romania's Tax Authority Launches Special Structure To Recover Court-Ruled Financial Damages

Romania's tax authority ANAF will launch a special structure with 150 inspectors that will become operational in February, in charge with recovering financial damages ruled by courts.

ANAF must recover debts in ten thousand criminal cases, of which it managed to recover around 10% of the financial damages ruled by courts due to the clumsy procedures, according to ANAF head Gelu Diaconu.

One of the most controversial cases is ICA file, by which Dan Voiculescu was sentenced to 10 years in prison for corruption. According to the court, the damages reach EUR60 million, but Diaconu says this amount cannot be fully recovered. (Puterea)

 

Sanitas Unionists In Talks With Health Ministry Representatives Over Salary Hike

Sanitas Federation representatives are in talks with the representatives of Health Ministry and Romania’s National Health Insurance House (CNAS) to get another pay rise for the medical staff in the public medical system.

Last October, the medical staff got a 25% salary hike after they threatened on Facebook with quitting.

“After 25 years of unwise political decisions regarding the medical system, we have reached the catastrophic situation in which hundreds of physicians are leaving the country every month due to the ridiculously low salaries. Another aspect would be the precarious conditions in many hospitals so that many of the physicians who stay in Romania are unable to perform a high-quality medical act for their patients,” Dr. Letitia Coriu wrote in the name of the Physicians Alliance, an organization set up shortly after the doctors got mobilized on Facebook. (Adevarul)