Members of the Schengen evaluation group will decide on Friday, if they will adopt the technical reports for Romania and Bulgaria following the decision on January 14 when, at the request of the French representative, members awarded supplementary time to study the reports on Romania, Romanian news agency Mediafax reads. read more...

Summing up how things stand with European funds attracted until December 2010, the result is disastrous: only 47 million euros paid from EU funds of the 4.5 billion euros available. At this rate, there is a danger of losing the money allocated to this sector to other countries. read more...

Only one of the five proposals to modify the Labour Code made by the Foreign Investors Council (CIS) and AmCham has been accepted by the draft variant proposed by trade unions and employers' associations, which means there may not be any significant changes to the current legislation in the final version sent to the Government. read more...

The Otopeni Airport upgrade will be financed via a 100 million-euro "private" loan taken out by the national company that manages it, although theoretically the state borrowed 20 billion euros from the IMF and the European Commission precisely for investment purposes. read more...

Around 20,000 Romanians have an e-reader and a tablet PC, but the market will boom over the next few years along with the development of the content offer (books, applications) and of mobile Internet networks. read more...

Annually, several thousand Romanians choose to go on a cruise for their holiday, with prices starting from several hundred euros, and reaching as much as 45,000 euros, the price of the most expensive cruise sold by a local agency. read more...

Clients' lack of confidence in the economy, on the one hand, and the low incomes and real estate uncertainties, on the other, are the main hurdles in the way of loan sales picking up, maintains Radu Topliceanu, a retail executive with Raiffeisen Bank. read more...

Silvarom furniture producer of Bucharest is in talks to resume exports this year, with Germany as the main destination. read more...

Băneasa shopping centre of northern Bucharest, controlled by businessman Gabriel Popoviciu, will have its first direct competitor as of autumn, as the retail park part of Colosseum project of Soşeaua Chitilei (Chitilei Road) is to be completed, with stores of Carrefour, Leroy Merlin and Altex retailers due to be opened. read more...

So far, the Proprietatea Fund has brought around 20 lawsuits against Nuclearelectrica, Hidroelectrica and the Craiova Energy Complex. read more...

Romania’s consolidated budget posted in 2010 a deficit of 33.3 billion lei (EUR1=RON4.2675), or 6.5% of the estimated gross domestic product, lower than the ceiling agreed with the International Monetary Fund, the Finance Ministry said Thursday. read more...

Several AH1N1 cases were confirmed on Thursday in several cities across the country, Romanian news agency Mediafax informs. A man from Satu Mare, North Romania and is in a severe condition in hospital. The virus was also confirmed in the women in Constanta, South East Romania and on a man in Suceava North Romania and Craiova, South Romania. read more...

Romania’s general consolidated budgetary deficit amounted to, at the end of last year, to 33.3 billion lei representing 6.5% of GDP below the limit agreed with the IMF, a press release of the Finance ministry reads. The deficit target in the supplementary letter to the stand by agreement with the IMF was of 34.6 billion lei. read more...

Competition Council launched an investigation to check whether there was or not an agreement between Rompetrol Gas and its distributors on the market for liquefied gas. Any form of agreement hinders competition and affects the interests of the consumers, President of the Competition Council Bogdan Chiritoiu said. read more...

Romania’s household electricity prices might remain at 2010 levels this year, since energy regulator ANRE sees no reasons for an increase, people close to the matter told MEDIAFAX. read more...

The price of vegetable oil in Romania might increase by about 30% in April or March, due to a lack of raw materials on the local market, Foodstuff Industry Union Federation president Dragos Frumosu told MEDIAFAX. read more...

The Romanian opposition Social Democratic Party is calling on the Government to urgently reduce the value added tax back to 19%, social democrat senator Olguta Vasilescu told a news conference Thursday. read more...

Romania's Government and the International Monetary Fund are discussing the terms of a two-year follow agreement to a EUR13 billion loan program that expires in May, people familiar with the talks said. read more...

Romania will launch this spring a new strategy for the integration of the Roma minority to be applied until 2015, Romanian President Traian Basescu said Thursday in Strasbourg. read more...

Romanian oil company OMV Petrom (SNP.RO) Wednesday said the fuel price changes were only due to tax raises, mainly the sales tax, to international oil prices and to the US dollar's exchange rate, rejecting local tax authorities' claims of unjustified increases. read more...