The Romanian government has allocated a total of some 20 million lei, the equivalent of nearly 5 million euros, to clear snow from towns and villages in 15 counties in southeastern and eastern Romania. These areas have suffered from recent heavy snowfalls and blizzards. The most money went to the counties of Vrancea and Buzau, where tens of thousands of people were snowed in for days. Hydrologists say there is no risk of floods caused by melting snows at this time.

Romania to stand by commitments made by the former Government to international lenders

Earlier this week in Bucharest, the Romanian PM Mihai Razvan Ungureanu met with IMF representative to Romania, Jeffrey Franks and Istvan Szekely, the European Commission’s delegate to the country. Ungureanu gave assurances that Bucharest would stand by the commitments made by the former cabinet, headed by Emil Boc. Ungureanu also noted the new government’s objectives.

“We talked about our decision to boost the rate of European fund absorption. We discussed our decision to reduce tax evasion as much as possible. We also looked into ways to make some EU countries’ government more flexible in accepting Romanian workforce on their domestic markets.”

Last year, Romania signed a precautionary agreement with the IMF, the EU and the World Bank worth 5.4 billion euros.

The European Commission has temporarily halted payments from community funds to Romania

A harsh sanction for Romania: the European Commission has notified Bucharest it has temporarily frozen payments made to Romania through the Human Resources Development Program. The cause was named to be deficient fund management. The Minister of European Affairs, Leonard Orban, said:

“We are making efforts to prevent such cases in the future, but we cannot guarantee it, as rules are very harsh. The institutions that manage community funds in Romania have a very bad image in Brussels. Unfortunately, they have failed to fully meet their commitments for a very long time.”

Orban also announced that between February 29th and March 2nd, a delegation from the European Commission would assess the situation in Bucharest. If irregularities are solved, payments will be resumed. These funds add up to 3.5 billion euros.

The social Liberal opposition in Romania supports the European fiscal agreement

The main opposition group in Romania, the Social Liberal group, announced it agrees with Romania signing the European treaty of fiscal governance. The opposition also announced it would take part in parliamentary proceedings to this effect, despite having been on strike since February 1st, citing abuses by the ruling coalition. Last week, the parties in power, the Liberal Democratic Party, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians and the National Union for the Progress of Romania, signed a protocol in support of ratifying the treaty by December 31st. This pact was adopted in late January by EU states with the exception of the UK and Czech Republic, in the aftermath of the sovereign debt crisis facing the Eurozone. The document imposes on signatory countries legislation aimed at better financial discipline.

The European Commission downgraded its economic forecast for Romania from 2.1% in the autumn to 1.6%

The European Commission downgraded its economic forecast for Romania in 2012, from its autumn estimate of 2.1% to 1.6%. According to the study published on Thursday in Brussels, this change is due to uncertainty on financial markets and the evolution of the sovereign debt in the Eurozone. The report also shows that the inflation rate will be 3% this year, in Romania, as opposed to 5.8% last year. According to the European Commission, the main stimulus of growth this year remains domestic demand.

A significant gas pocket was found in the Romanian sector of the Black Sea

Austrian group OMV, majority shareholder in the largest Romanian energy company, Petrom, alongside American company ExxonMobil have discovered in the Romanian area of the Black Sea a gas deposit equivalent to Romania’s domestic consumption of 3 to 6 years. Preliminary estimates rate the deposit at 42 to 84 billion cubic meters. The two companies said that they still have to confirm the technical and commercial feasibility of deep-sea gas mining, and those future investments in mining and development may run up to billions of dollars. Extraction may be delayed up to the end of this decade.

Several Romanian citizens have been repatriated from Syria

Following the deterioration of the situation in Syria, the Romanian Foreign Ministry has set up a crisis cell to deal with the situation of Romanian nationals in that country. Syria has been facing a people’s revolt against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad., for almost a year. So far several scores of Romanian citizens have been repatriated upon request. As many as 14,000 Romanians are living in Syria.

The Romanian Football Team Steaua Bucharest has been eliminated from Europa League

Steaua Bucharest has been eliminated from Europa League, whose final is scheduled to take place on Bucharest’s National Arena, next May. On Thursday Steaua Bucharest lost the away return match against the Dutch team Twente Enschede, 1-0, as part of the 16th finals of the competition. Twente also won the first leg, played in Bucharest, 1-0.