Press Review - July 3, 2018

07.03.2018 By Oana Gavrila

Romania 3-Month Money Market Rate Soars to 3.24%

The 3-month money market interest rate used to calculate interests for consumer loans in lei jumped to 3.24% a year on Monday, its highest level since March 2014, central bank data showed.

The 3-month rate had dropped to 3.15% on Friday.

The six-month ROBOR money market rate, which is used to calculate interests on leu-denominated mortgage loans, grew to 3.29%, the highest level since May 2014.

Social Democrat MP Receives Favorable Review To Head Foreign Intelligence Service

Romanian social democrat MP Gabriel Vlase has received a favorable review for his nomination to become director of the Foreign Intelligence Service, following a hearing in the Parliament’s control committee.

Vlase gained almost unanimous support from the committee, with only one opposition MP voting against his nomination.

The next meeting of the combined Standing Bureaus of both parliamentary chambers will set a date for a plenary assembly to vote on the social democrat’s validation for the office.

On June 14, President Klaus Iohannis nominated Vlase, deputy chair of Romania’s Lower Chamber, as chief of the country's foreign intelligence service. The agency has been headed by interim director Silviu Predoiu since the September 2016 resignation of former chief Mihai Razvan Ungureanu.

Romanian PM To Inspect Areas Affected By Floods

Romania’s Government announced on Monday that Prime Minister Viorica Dancila and part of her Cabinet will inspect areas from multiple counties that were hit by floods last week, to assess damages and identify solutions to help victims.

The prime minister will visit townships from the Buzau, Bacau, Covasna and Brasov counties, in central and eastern Romania, some of the hardest hit by floods at the end of last week. Dancila will be accompanied by Interior Minister Carmen Dan, Transport Minister Lucian Sova, and Agriculture Minister Petre Daea.

Five sectors of national roads in five counties were still closed on Monday morning due to floods, with railway traffic also affected in Brasov, Teleorman, and Valcea counties.

According to the Interior Ministry, 255 houses, 530 households and 14 sectors of national roads have been affected by flooding last week, while more than 760 people have been rescued by authorities from flooded areas.

Judicial Committee Approves New Definition For Abuse Of Office, Adds Minimum Wage Threshold

The parliamentary committee tasked with overhauling Romania’s judicial laws voted on Monday to approve an amendment modifying the offense of abuse of office, which will now require a damage threshold of RON1,900 and can only be prosecuted if it benefits the suspect or their close relatives.

The proposal was made by the ruling Social Democratic Party and was passed in the committee with 13 votes for and seven against. The law is part of a larger series of changes made to country’s Criminal Code.

According to the new definition of the offense, a civil servant who violates his office’s regulations can be prosecuted if the estimated damage caused by the act is worth more than one month’s gross minimum wage (RON1,900 at the moment), and also if he commits it for personal gain or that of direct relatives up to the second-degree.

The current legal definition does not state any requirements of a damage threshold or of beneficiaries of the offense for criminal proceedings to begin.

The new provision would also lower the maximum prison sentence from seven years to five, and also eliminates a previous interdiction of the right to hold a public office.

Following its validation in the committee, Romania’s Senate is due to vote on the bill on Tuesday.