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| THE WEEK IN REVIEW 2-8/02/2009 |
| (2009-02-06) |
| Last updated: 2009-02-09 13:18 EET |
On Monday and Tuesday, Romanian President Traian Basescu paid an official visit to Hungary with the purpose of strengthening cooperation between Romania and Hungary on political, economic and cultural levels. Energy sources were among the issues discussed during the visit, as both countries are currently looking to diversify energy supplies, in an attempt to lower dependence on Russian gas. One step towards this would be the building of the Nabucco gas pipeline, a project which Romania fully supports. Regarding the issue of minorities’ rights, Hungary and Romania seem to have diverging opinions. Authorities in Budapest support the idea of an autonomous region in central Romania, where Hungarians make up the majority of the population. However, they are aware that this could only be achieved if the Romanian Constitution allowed it. Romanian President Traian Basescu said that Romania’s policy regarding minorities is in line with the European standards, and that such an autonomous region will never exist, as Romania is a unitary, sovereign and national state.
On Tuesday, the International Court of Justice in the Hague gave its final ruling in the case Romania versus Ukraine regarding maritime delimitation in the Black Sea. Romania won the case after 40 years of disputes. The decision recognised Romania’s ownership right on 9,700 sq. km of continental shelf, nearly 80 percent of the disputed territory that both countries claimed as their own. However, Romania’s success was overshadowed by a scandal that broke out the same day when the decision of the Court was announced. Authorities found that, during its last days in power, the former government, made up by the National Liberal Party and the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania, signed a document with the Canadian company Sterling Resources granting it, without tender, the right to exploit crude oil deposits in the Black Sea for 30 years. The document was signed in November of 2008, and came as an attachment to a 16-year-old contract which only gave the Canadian company the right to prospect the Romanian continental shelf. Prime Minister Emil Boc demanded that the document be declassified, and explained that it was used to turn the initial contract into an oil and concession agreement in exchange for periodic dividends from the Canadian company. Boc appointed the government’s control body to investigate the matter.
“We will analyze the legal aspects which made it possible for a prospecting contract to be turned into an oil and concession agreement. We will also analyze the economic consequences this may have on Romania.”
The position of Romanian Minister of Administration and the Interior has proved a handfull for its occupants. The government coalition between the National Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party came to power no more than a month and a half ago, but this position has already had three occupants. In January, the social-democrat Gabriel Oprea resigned from this position after 23 days in office, having lost the support of the party for appointing in key positions within the ministry people disapproved by his party. Oprea was followed by Liviu Dragnea, who remained in office for no more than 12 days. Dragnea said that he resigned because the ministry was granted insufficient funding in the budget for 2009. The current Minister of Administration and the Interior is the social-democrat Dan Nica, who is also deputy prime minister.
The International Monetary Fund believes Romania is becoming more and more affected by the global recession, and warns that the country might see a decrease in its gross domestic product in 2009. The IMF experts sent to Bucharest on an evaluation mission warned that a fiscal relaxation was no longer possible in Romania as expenses are already very high and the government doesn't have the means to finance a high deficit. The IMF recommends Romania to stick to the targeted 2% budget deficit in 2009, and says that the projected level of economic growth and returns are much too optimistic. The IMF advised the National Bank to bring back inflation to the established level of 4.5 percent and to continue to monitor the management of risk in the banking system. In the meantime, the National Bank of Romania decided, for the first time in the last year and a half, to reduce the interest rate for monetary policy by 0.25 percent to 10 percent per year.
On Thursday, the Romanian government adopted the budget bill for 2009 and sent it to Parliament for approval. The government also approved an anti-crisis plan meant to re-launch Romania’s economy and provide social protection. This year’s priorities include massive public investments in infrastructure as a means to create new jobs, the payment of governmental debts to private companies, accessing more European funds and supporting underprivileged social categories. Other decisions included the elimination of tax on reinvested profit, freezing the salaries of dignitaries and granting a social pension of 80 euros a month.
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