Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc decided to invite unions and employers for talks on the new labor code Tuesday afternoon after they demanded the resignation of Labor Minister Ioan Botis. read more...

Romania plans to replace over half of its 20,437 MW installed electrical output with new units by 2035, Economy Ministry director Alexandru Sandulescu said Tuesday. read more...

The implementation by Romania of the SIS and SIRENE Schengen Information System is being conducted in accordance with the Schengen acquis, states the relevant report of the Schengen evaluation working group (Sch-EVAL), debated at the end of the previous week in Brussels, European diplomatic sources on Monday told; the cited sources reminded that the assessment report was positive, and that with one exception – that of France – the document was accepted by all member states. France asked for extra time to analyze the text. read more...

The Ministry of Public Finance (MPF) on Monday borrowed 2.541 billion lei (approximately 0.5978 billion euros) from the commercial banks, in an issue of discount T-bills, placed on tender through the Romanian National Bank. read more...

A Qatar Airways flight landed in Bucharest for the first time on Monday and the company is going to operate flights on the Doha-Bucharest route four times a week. Qatar Airways is the first five-star airline company coming to Bucharest and the first airline of the Middle East operating direct flights to Romania. read more...

The Romanian state’s ownership in Proprietatea Fund (PF) might go down by nearly 6 pct until the end of 2011 from the current 39 pct to 33 pct, Greg Konieczny, Templeton Emerging Markets Group deputy executive chairman and Proprietatea Fund (PF) portfolio manager told a press conference on Monday. read more...

The Roma minority is a sensitive issue for Romania and authorities may resort to harsh measures like halt state child allowance payments unless parents send their children to school, President Traian Basescu told OSCE’s High Commissioner on National Minorities Knut Vollebaek Tuesday. read more...

Romanian unions and employers called on the prime minister Tuesday to fire Labor Minister Ioan Botis, disgruntled with talks on the country’s new labor code. read more...

Romania could meet most of its objectives under the EU’s Cooperation and Verification Mechanism this year if the Justice Ministry and High Council of Magistrates get along and act together, Justice Minister Catalin Predoiu said Tuesday. read more...

A 29 year-old woman diagnosed with the AH1N1 virus has died in hospital in Iasi, eastern Romania, the second swine flu-related death in Romania over the past three days. read more...

The head of the Romanian Gendarmerie Olimpiodor Antonescu and his first deputy Nicolaie Rugina have been sacked following a scandal involving alleged illegal staff hiring in the institution. read more...

The US investment funds managed by Artio Global Investors (the former US investment arm of Swiss bank Julius Baer), which still own the largest portfolio on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, valued at around 130m dollars (100m euros), have started selling stock in OMV Petrom (SNP), the biggest listed Romanian company, according to market sources. read more...

The Romanian state collects half the value of petrol and diesel oil sales, i.e. around 3.5 billion euros in 2010, the equivalent of 9% of its revenues, based on estimates on the amount of fuels sold on the Romanian market. Around 20 million euros' worth of petrol and diesel oil are sold daily on the Romanian market. read more...

Mark Mobius, executive chairman of Templeton Asset Management and one of the most influential people of the financial markets, asks for reassurance that the foreign investors who will invest in Fondul Proprietatea (Property Fund) will be treated "fairly and with respect" by the Romanian Government, stating his willingness to go to the International Monetary Fund and to the European Union to make sure this is the case. read more...

TotalSoft, one of the leading players on the Romanian software and IT services market, will develop new products and tap into new business segments - such as applications dedicated to end users, in order to be able to speed up its revenue growth rate, Daniel Ionescu, the company's strategy manager told ZF in an interview. read more...

The 30 biggest contracts awarded by the National Motorways and National Roads Company in Romania (CNADNR) in the past four years are worth a total of nearly 1.7 billion euros, but only eight of them, worth more than 400 million euros were for works on motorways or on bypasses. Over this period, CNADNR had nearly 9 billion euros at its disposal. read more...

At least half the works of Alpine Romania, the local subsidiary of Austrian constructions group Alpine, could consist of road infrastructure works this year, said Ionel Giuglea, the company's general manager. read more...

Guaranteed life insurance and financial plans for children will be primarily targeted this year by clients seeking saving alternatives, given the continuing economic uncertainties, believes Cornelia Coman, general manager of ING Asigurări, the biggest player on the life insurance market. read more...

More than half of the 20 best-selling OTC drugs in Romania are used in the treatment of pain or for colds and flu, reveals a ZF analysis based on data provided by IMS Health research firm. read more...

Mechel Russian group, which owns four steel plants in Romania, announced it is about to complete investment of around 36m euros in the Oţelu Roşu foundry, part of Ductil Steel Buzău company, with a capacity of 810,000 tonnes of unprocessed steel per year. read more...