Press Review - June 21, 2017

06.21.2017 By Oana Gavrila

Anticorruption Prosecutors Probe Serban Mihailescu for False Testimony

Anticorruption prosecutors are investigating Serban Mihailescu for false testimony on the witness stand in a case where Senate chairman Calin Popescu Tariceanu is accused of false testimony and aiding a felon.

Mihailescu told High Court judges on May 23 he never worked with Tariceanu and had only met him twice between 2004 and 2016, at a wedding and then at a party in Israel. Mihailescu also said he had never been in the home of Tal Silberstein.

In Tariceanu's case, the court adjourned until September 5.

Former Justice Ministry State Secretary Sentenced to 5 Years for Corruption

Ovidiu Putura, a former state secretary at the Ministry of Justice, was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison for bribery and influence peddling.

The ruling is final. Putura lost his appeal over a first five-year sentence and the High Court upheld the initial ruling.

In November 2014, Putura promised to use his influence as state secretary to rig an exam for notaries public in favor of a judge's son, in exchange for a favorable ruling to his wife, who was a recurrent plaintiff in a case tries by that judge.

Nokia Invests EUR73M In Expanding Its Campus In Timisoara

Nokia on Tuesday said it will be expanding its campus in Romanian western city of Timisoara with the biggest research and development (R&D) center in the Romanian telecom industry and the total investment exceeds EUR73 million.

“The center is developing broadband wireless technologies which are applied in fields like Internet of Things, big data, and new mobile communications technologies,” the company said in a statement.

After the expansion, the new Nokia Campus in Timisoara will cover 27,000 square meters and the total investment exceeds EUR73 million.

Over 1,300 people are currently working in Nokia Campus.

Nokia currently has 1,600 employees in Romania. The company will be offering a total 300 new openings by the end of 2017, of which 100 in R&D teams and 200 in its services team.

Romania Is Again EU’s Main Cereal Exporter

End-May 2017, Romania became the main cereal exporter in the European Union, as local companies exported 7.15 million tons of grain from the 2016-2017 harvest, of which, over 5 million tons were wheat exports, according to a study released by KeysFin analysts.

KeysFin data show that cereal production has doubled over the past seven years, from RON8.34 billion in 2009 to RON16.1 billion in 2015.

Currently, over 7,000 companies with over 40,000 employees work in the Romanian agricultural sector, on the cereal growing segment. The number of companies has increased by almost 30% compared to 2009, and the bulk of firms are located in Timis, Constanta, Teleorman, Ialomita, Calarasi, Braila, Arad, Tulcea and Dolj. More than 300 cereal growing companies were registered in Bucharest.

In 2016, the main player on the grain producers market was Calarasi-based company Agro-Chirnogi, controlled by a group of Lebanese businesspeople. The company has more than 600 employees and registered a turnover of RON960.1 million in 2016, almost double against 2015, and its net profit reached RON12 million, according to Finance Ministry data.

Parliament Debates, Votes on No-Confidence Motion Wednesday

Romania's Parliament will assemble Wednesday to debate and vote on a no-confidence motion submitted by social democrats and coalition partners against their own government.

For the motion to pass and topple the Grindeanu Cabinet, 233 votes in favor are required. The ruling coalition of the Social Democratic Party and its partner ALDE have a total of 247 lawmakers.