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| THE WEEK IN REVIEW (14- 19.05.2007) |
| (2007-05-18) |
| Last updated: 2007-05-18 17:27 EET |
The extremely high temperatures in the month of May and the unusually warm and dry winter have caused serious problems to Romanians, of which drought seems to be the worst. It has already damaged hundreds of thousands of hectares of crops. Almost 10% of the parts of the country that were cultivated in autumn have been ravaged. Moreover, seasonal fruits are now out of question. That's why the National Committee for Emergency Situations proposed a series of measures, approved by the government, to help prevent massive damage in agriculture. Subsidies for irrigation will almost double and farmers will benefit from an extended grace period of 60 days instead of 30 for paying their debts. Furthermore, subsidies will be granted not only to associations but also to individual farmers. To encourage them to conclude irrigation contracts the executive decided that farmers should benefit from lower electricity prices for three months a year.
Prime minister Călin Popescu Tăriceanu:
“Why is this the case? Because I want to use all equipment at full capacity. As long as we have the possibility to provide irrigation, why not do it? In this way we’ll cover 70% of the total costs for irrigation”.
Romania has 700,000 hectares of land that can be irrigated. However this year farmers have asked for irrigation for just 35 thousand hectares, half this figure.
The Romanian Ministry of Economy and Finance on Wednesday launched the draft energy strategy for 2007-2020, for public debate. Here are some of the envisaged measures and estimates. The compounds in Rovinari, Turceni and Craiova (in the south), that provide for 30% of the national electricity output, will be privatised by the end of 2008. Private investors will be obligated to ensure the continuation of activity and observe environmental norms. As for national electricity consumption, Bucharest estimates that, from 2007 to 2020, consumption will grow by 3% annually. Moreover, the amount of energy exported will grow significantly after 2015, when reactors 3 and 4 of the Cernavoda nuclear power plant in south eastern Romania will be brought online. This is the only plant in central and eastern Europe to use Canadian technology. The price of domestic gas is estimated to grow by 53% in comparison to current prices. The authorities forecast that the modernisation of the energy sector will entail investments of more than 10 billion euros.
Fighting corruption, mainly high level corruption, continues to be, even after Romania's EU accession, a hard nut to crack for Romanian officials. The law on the establishment of the National Integrity Agency – a body supposed to check dignitaries' wealth - has been approved by senators and promulgated by interim president Nicolae Vacaroiu. The law was passed by MPs in a modified form which prompted European Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini to say that the respective law is being carefully analysed by the Commission.
Moreover, the Brussels official said Romanian justice minister, Tudor Chiuariu, must halt pressure on the prosecutors of the National Anti-Corruption Department and encourage them to continue investigating cases of corruption. Showing much interest in the fight against corruption, several representatives of the Irish, German, British, Swedish and US embassies and of the European Commission and World Bank attended Wednesday's meeting of the Higher Council of Magistracy.
According to the Romanian foreign minister, Adrian Cioroianu, the issue of opening the Bastroe canal has to be tackled not as part of the bilateral meetings with Ukraine but as part of the European foreign ministers' meeting: Attending the meeting of the General Affairs and External Relations Council in Brussels on Monday, Cioroinau explained:
‘The Bastroe Canal is no longer a bilateral issue between Romaina and Ukraine, it's more of a bilateral issue between the EU, which Romania joined in January, and Ukraine. We do not intend to have Ukraine punished for having built this canal. The idea is that Ukraine should become aware of the importance of observing the pledges it made in terms of environmental protection.'
Bucharest says that Bastroe canal built by Ukraine in the Danube Delta, a large part of which is located on Romania's territory, risks affecting the ecological balance of this area, included on the UNESCO heritage list. At the same meeting, the foreign ministers of the 27 EU member countries also talked about the Black Sea area. This is a region important both from the point of view of energy security, European neighbourhood policy and the recent tense relationship between the EU and Russia.
We end the week in review with two interesting events: the presentation of a Romanian film at the Cannes Film Festival and the 'Bucharest Challenge 2007' car race to be held in Romania's capital at the weekend. The film of Romanian director Cristian Mungiu 'Four months, three weeks and two days' was presented on Thursday night at the famous Cannes Film Festival. It is one of the two Romanian films out of the 22 taking part in the competition.
The other film that entered the Cannes competition is 'California Dreaming' directed by the late Cristian Nemescu, killed in 2006 at just 27 in a car crash.
This weekend Bucharest will be for the first time the European capital of car racing. Friday saw the start of the 'Bucharest Challenge 2007' car race on a special circuit set up around the Parliament Palace; this is the European stage of the Formula 3 Championship. The organisers expect 200 million people from all over the world to watch the event, which will be broadcast in 130 countries.
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