With car sales down 25% on last year, when the market plunged by nearly 60%, premium car dealers seek to attract already existing customers to official service centres, writes Business Magazin weekly. read more...

The loan portfolios of leasing and consumer finance companies dropped by over 3bn RON (around 720m euros) this year, to 31,5bn RON in late October, considering new loans did not keep up with repayments, NBR data reveal. read more...

The beer market will continue to decline next year, though at a slower pace, as purchasing power will stay low and the price of commodities will rise, estimates Constantin Bratu, general manager of Romanian Brewers' Association. read more...

After several years when oil market firsts lacked, on the battleground of major companies in the field, an investor is betting over 20m euros to launch a new filling station chain. read more...

Romanian carmaker Dacia sold 56,119 Logan models in Russia in the first eleven months of 2010, up 15% from 2009, ranking sixth among the best-sold brands, in a market which grew 28%, to 1.7 million cars. read more...

Romanian cattle farmers will receive state aid amounting to 410 lei/head (EUR1=RON4.2998), according to a Government decision allotting RON569 million for around 225,000 beneficiaries. read more...

Companies will be able, starting next year, to pay social security contributions and income taxes through a single statement, submitted online to the National Fiscal Administration Agency (ANAF), Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc announced Wednesday. read more...

Sums representing salary rights won in court by Romanian public sector employees total 7 billion lei (EUR1=RON4.2998) and the money will be paid in tranches starting 2012, to allow the Government to stay within the fiscal target agreed with the International Monetary Fund. read more...

Romanian mothers will be able to opt for two years maternity leave and receive up to 1,200 lei (EUR1=RON4.2998) as a child-rearing benefit, the Government decided Wednesday. read more...

Sales of Renault cars in Romania will drop 11% this year, to 9,000 units, and the French carmaker’s market share will increase by 1.2 points, to 8%, as the overall Romanian car market will have a downfall trend, according to the carmaker. read more...

Google starts off with two employees a the local office opened in November in Romania and plans to hire another 6 next year, Romanian branch chief Dan Bulucea declared. read more...

Romania will issue only 5,500 work permits for foreigners next year, 2,500 fewer than this year, and will issue fewer work authorizations to temporary employees, for whom social security contributions are not paid. read more...

Romanian hydrologists on Wednesday issued a flood warning for the Danube, with a code orange for Calafat-Bechet segment, in the southern Dolj County, and code yellow for the rest of the river's Romanian sector. read more...

Revenues on the Romanian telecom market continued to decrease this year, but the decrease rate is below that registered in 2009, when the telecom market shrank 15% compared to 2008, to EUR3.9 billion, communications regulator ANCOM president Catalin Marinescu said Wednesday. read more...

Google on Tuesday expanded its Street View service to allow users to see panoramic images of the streets of eight Romanian cities – the first news announced by the company since it opened an office in Romania in early November. read more...

One of the biggest pharmaceuticals distributors in Romania, Relad, has legal problems caused by a second company, Relad International Pharma, which filed for insolvency last week. read more...

Modern retail, put by ZF at 7-9 billion euros, will continue to expand, but chances are slim for a new player opting for a greenfield investment on a market with more than 650 hypermarkets, supermarkets, cash & carry stores and discount stores. read more...

The state budget could raise around 180 million euros a year in additional revenues from taxes due for 90,000 new jobs as a result of eliminating red tape and of modifying the temporary work regulations, say representatives of the Foreign Investors Council. read more...

American-based Groupon, which has developed a global network of websites with 40 million subscribers, proposing to users in every country a "deal of the day" every day - the possibility to purchase a product or a service at a discount for a limited period of time, estimates it could reach 500,000 subscribers for the service that will become operational in Romania next week. read more...

Medical services operator Medas is investing over 5 million euros in a hospital in the Piaţa Victoriei area of Bucharest, with the facility to open at the end of 2011. read more...