Offering employees benefits in the form of voluntary private pensions (Pillar III) can reduce an employer’s total staff expenses by 1.1% and increase a company’s profit by 4%-5%, according to calculations of the Association for Private Pensions in Romania (APAPR). read more...

Bechtel Interational, SNC Lavalin Nuclear and Atomtechnoprom are the companies that launched in the fight for the public tender on the construction of units 3 and 4 of the Cernavoda plant, Economy ministry reads. read more...

The IMF's big disappointment after two years of arrangement with Romania is that the economy has yet to return to growth, says Jeffrey Franks, the head of the mission negotiating and managing the Fund's relationship with Bucharest. read more...

The Government needs to ensure a stable business environment in Romania in 2011, without frequent and unexpected changes of fiscal rules, as has been the case in the last few years, with stability and predictability being even more important and more beneficial than certain fiscal incentives, say fiscal consultants. read more...

The latest debates on the modification of the Labour Code, a bill proposed by the Foreign Investors Council and the Romanian-American Chamber of Commerce, failed again because of trade unionists and because of representatives of employers' associations. read more...

iPad, the PC tablet launched in April 2010 by American company Apple, last year sold around 8,000-10,000 units in Romania, according to unofficial market estimates. Sales have seen a strong rise despite the American company not having a local office or paying for local advertising campaigns. read more...

US Citi, with operations in Romania for over 15 years, is stepping up investments to the tune of tens of million euros annually to cement retail operations, launched broadly as late as the autumn of 2009, after the onset of the crisis. read more...

Fan Courier delivery services provider, one of the biggest Romanian-held couriers, owned by Romanian entrepreneurs Felix Pătraşcanu, Adrian and Neculai Mihai, ended last year with turnover worth 189.7m RON (around 45m euros), up 13% in RON year-on-year, according to the company's representatives. read more...

Romanian sales of SABMiller, producer of the Ursus and Timişoreana brands, remained steady (in terms of volume) in the October-December period of 2010, compared with the similar period of 2009, at a time when the market recorded a decline, according to data in the company's quarterly report. read more...

Lawyer Daniel Badea, the managing partner of the Bucharest office of the world's biggest law firm, Clifford Chance, considers Romania needs a successful floatation of Fondul Proprietatea, the sale for a good price of the state's stakes in major companies, as well as the launch of some mega infrastructure projects to be able to regain its appeal in foreign investors' eyes. read more...

Thousand of people own Fondul Proprietatea shares jointly, being registered at the Central Depository in "joint accounts" which they share with several inheritors of the same former owner. They cannot trade their shares on the Stock Exchange before going to the notary public. read more...

Romania will register a slow economic recovery in 2011 after a 2% decrease in 2010 and will confront with tough austerity measures and any opposition to them might produce instability, Economist Intelligence Unit reads quoted by the Romanian news agency Mediafax. read more...

Romania's workers' unions and employers' associations must draft by Friday a joint position on the changes to the Labor Code and the other laws under negotiation, which the prime minister will analyze by January 26 and announce which of their proposals will be taken into account. read more...

President Basescu declared on Tuesday that the money for electoral campaigns, for general and local elections should be paid, in fixed amounts from the state budget or the local budget. read more...

The International Monetary Fund will show flexibility regarding the duration of a follow-up agreement with Romania, IMF mission head Jeffrey Franks said Tuesday, without giving an exact timeframe. read more...

The Romanian government prefers to boost efficiency in the companies it owns, not privatize them, a World Bank official said Tuesday. read more...

Romania’s Constitutional Court on Tuesday cleared a government emergency decree issued in 2009 that raised taxes on gambling and the minimal value of share capital required for a gambling license. read more...

The World Bank is prepared to offer Romania technical and financial assistance for its planned follow-up deal with the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission, much like it did when the initial bailout package was signed two years ago, a World Bank official said Tuesday. read more...

Romania registered a third AH1N1-related death this year, as a 23 year-old woman died Tuesday in hospital in Ploiesti, southern Romania. read more...

Romanian used apartment prices rose by as much as 8% since the beginning of the year, but representatives of realty ads platform imobiliare.ro expect owner ambitions to “deflate” in the near future. read more...