Romanian retail sales fell 9.4% on the year in December 2010, the largest decline in the European Union, official data showed Thursday. read more...

Reducing the value added tax is not a good solution for Romania, as it will not lower prices, but it will have a negative effect on the predictability of the fiscal framework, Finance Ministry state secretary Dan Lazar said Thursday. read more...

EU, US and Romania pressure Moldova’s political processes in an attempt to draw the state towards their area of influence, Russia’s Ambassador to Chisinau, Valeri Kuzmin declared. During the electoral campaign, Russia adopted a politically correct attitude, as the practice of international relations requests it, the Russian diplomat said. read more...

The number of tourists entering Romania was 0.7% lower in 2010 compared with a year before, while the number of tourists accommodated was down 7.1%, the National Statistical Institute, or INS, said Thursday. read more...

Nearly 80 border police and customs workers have been detained Thursday morning in the Siret customs, one the border with the Republic of Moldova, on cigarette smuggling and bribe taking charges. read more...

The committee for legal matters in the Romanian Chamber of Deputies approved Wednesday anticorruption prosecutors’ request to have democrat liberal MP Dan Pasat placed under preventive arrest on corruption charges. read more...

Brokerage firm Equity Invest in Bucharest, in which former economy minister Adriean Videanu holds 24%, brokered transactions worth 55.7 million lei (13 million euros), climbing to the 13th position of the brokers' ranking, with the company brokering average transactions worth 2 million euros monthly last year. read more...

The telecom market will remain difficult in 2011 as well, with clients continuing to ration their spending, and tight competition among operators. However, interest for PC tablets is high, as that for smartphones. read more...

The sheer frequency of legislative modifications in Romania, which exasperates both citizens and the business world, does not only stem from the need to change legislation after the revolution of 1989, but also from the ease with which the governments that succeeded each other during the last 20 years adopted emergency ordinances. read more...

The area of the new office buildings due to be finalised in Bucharest this year will halve against 2010, to 135,000 square metres, but real estate developers have not found tenants for these projects, either, for the time being. Thus, 80% of space will stay vacant, taking into account contracts inked so far. read more...

A Romanian will spend almost 167 euros per month on average for food, beverages, cigarettes, clothes, footwear and personal care products in 2015, over 50 euros more than in 2010, according to ZF's calculations based on data provided by Euromonitor market research company. read more...

Drug sales in Romania last year rose by 18.7% in lei (19.6% in euros), to 9.6bn lei (2.28bn euros), with the best performance being registered in the first six months of the year, according to the data provided by Cegedim Romania market research firm. read more...

Banca Transilvania (Transilvania Bank - TLV), the biggest Romanian-controlled lender, finalised a primary offering at the end of January, targeted at employees and a limited number of private investors, whereby it raised 8.05 million lei (1.89 million euros). read more...

Romanian government does not have the competence to set up prices for natural gas, given that the energy regulatory authority ANRE is an independent institution, but it can only interfere in abuse cases by indirect check-ups, Prime Minister Emil Boc said Wednesday. read more...

Romanians younger than 35 will be eligible for up to EUR10,000 as non-refundable financing to start their own micro-company, as long as they hire at least two employees and reinvest 50% of their profit every year, as per an emergency ordinance approved by the Government on Wednesday. read more...

The next agreement with the IMF will focus on reforms that would accelerate Romania’s growth potential: special attention will be given to the flexibility of the labour market, EU funds absorption and orienting money towards investments, sources close to negotiations declared for HotNews.ro. read more...

Romania posted the seventh growth in installed wind power capacity among the European Union member states in 2010, namely a 448-megawatt increase to a total of 462 MW, according to a report of the European wind energy association EWEA. read more...

The sale price of apartments in Romania’s seven largest cities increased by up to 2.5% on the month in January, as owners’ optimism was fueled by the rising interest of potential buyers, according to a survey of property website imobiliare.ro. read more...

The Romanian Senate’s committees for human rights and equal opportunities endorsed Wednesday a bill initiated by democrat liberal lawmaker Silviu Prigoana proposing to replace the term “Roma” with “gypsy”. read more...

The complete destabilisation of the Arab world by the imminent fall of the Mubarak regime in Egypt will reset the strategies of world leaders. We could witness policies of stockpiling and rationing fuels and basic products, believes professor Daniel Dăianu. read more...