Press Review - July 6, 2017

07.06.2017 By Oana Gavrila

Hidroelectrica Gets New General Manager

The board of Romanian hydropower producer Hidroelectrica appointed Bogdan Badea as its new chairman.

Badea was a manager at Hidroelectrica and a former state secretary at the Ministry of Energy.

The board also appointed two new members, Mihai Zdru and Marian Bratu. Zdru was a manager at Transelectrica, while Bratu headed Hidroelectrica's maintenance department.

Hidroelectrica has a dual management system.

State-owned Hidroelectrica reported a gross profit of RON743.7 million in January-May, 26% higher than in the same period last year. (cotidianul.ro)

ANAF Head Falls From Government Graces

Tax authority head Bogdan Stan was summoned to the government headquarters Wednesday to talk to deputy prime minister Marcel Ciolacu about poor VAT collections.

Prime Minister Mihai Tudose said he is considering dismissing anyone not doing their job.

On Monday, people close to the matter told News.ro Tudose had not yet decided whether to replace the tax authority head, but Stan had received special tasks and the prime minister plans to check on ANAF at the end of this week.

Stan was appointed head of ANAF in January this year. (cotidianul.ro)

Number of Luxury Pensioners on the Rise

The Social Democratic Party has turned on the money tap. In the past seven years, the number of retirees with luxury pensions grew by more than 1,000 people.

The principle of contributions, so often invoked by politicians, only applies to regular pensioners, as subsidies for special pensions are higher than monthly contributions by 50% to over 200%.

Romania pays luxury pensions to 8,324 people this year. Diplomats, former members of parliament, magistrates and other categories receive special pensions.   (cotidianul.ro)

Tariceanu: Romanian Companies Pay Triple the Profit Tax Compared with Foreign Companies

Senate chairman Calin Popescu-Tariceanu said Wednesday the government will analyze the impact of a tax on turnover replacing a tax on profit, adding Romanian companies end up paying higher tax on profit than foreign companies.

Tariceanu said the profit tax burden is triple for Romanian companies compared with foreign companies.

“I doubt foreign companies have weak management and all Romanian companies do so much better that foreign companies,” he said. (cotidianul.ro)

Government Expands Project Base for EU Fund Pre-Financing

Romania attracted around EUR17 billion by the end of last year from EUR18.8 billion allocated for 2007-2013, registering an absorption rate of 90.4%.

Romania managed to absorb some 5% less EU funding than countries such as Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Hungary, according to a central bank report.

According to data from the EU funds ministry, at the end of January this year, Romania had attracted only EUR14.8 billion.

To ease fund absorption, the government decided to grant pre-financing for eligible expenses, expanding the project base to all projects implemented by local public authorities and private beneficiaries, regardless of the EU fund financing them.

Romania must send payment applications of at least EUR3.4 billion to the European Commission by the end of 2018. (jurnalul.ro)