Monday, October 18, 2004

source: REUTERS

BUCHAREST, Oct 18 (Reuters) - U.S. company AES has said it needs more
time to draft a competitive final offer in the sale of Romanian power firms
Electrica Oltenia SA and Electrica Moldova SA, newspaper Adevarul reported on
Monday.

The privatisation of electricity distributors is a key element in the
restructuring of the Balkan state's ailing power industry, as demanded by
international lenders and by the European Union, which Romania hopes to join in 2007.

"AES had no intention to withdraw from the race. But we need time to submit a
competitive offer," AES Vice President Joseph Brandt was quoted as saying. He
said AES aims to lodge the bid by Nov. 1.

In early October the Economy Ministry extended the bidding deadline for
Electrica by two weeks to Oct. 18 following requests by some of the prospective
bidders, and said that Greece's Public Power Corporation and AES had
withdrawn from the race.

The five qualified prospective bidders are Greece's Public Power Corporation,
Czech firm CEZ , Germany's E.ON , Spain's Union Fenosa
International and AES.

Romania launched the sale of Electrica Moldova and Electrica Oltenia in
April. Electrica Moldova has 1.31 million customers and Electrica Oltenia 1.36
million.

The ministry is offering 24.62 percent in each distributor to a strategic
investor, which must raise its stake to 51 percent through a share capital
increase.

Posted by Mihai Botea : 10/18/2004 10:49:00 PM

About one week ago I meant to write a post as I was very confused by how the prices for various products in Romania can go up so fast due to petroleum price increase. Basicallz, the petroleum price increased by 10%, while the price for meat and other day-to-day products increased bz more than 15%. As I imagine the transport has a little impact in the general price for meat, for example, it is hard for me to understand this argument.

But I hope the article bellow, courtesy of Ziarul Financiar, will put more light into this problem.

To be continued in a following issue....

----------------------------------------

The skyrocketing petroleum price is raising questions as to whether the inflation curbing pace planned will be possible to attain in 2005, right at a time when Romania is about to push the December to December rate below 10%, after 14 years of failures in this regard.

The Government has recently adjusted the inflationary forecast for next year upwards from 6% to 7%. The economic memorandum agreed upon with the IMF at the end of September, included a 6% inflationary target for late December 2005, with quarterly decline targets estimated at 8.1%, 8%, 6.5% and 6%. What is the official explanation for the change of forecast?

"We have a prudent 2005 inflationary target because there are potential growth risks, one of which is the international petroleum price if it maintains high," stated Finance Minister Mihai Tanasescu yesterday.

Under the circumstances, the State will also find itself deprived of its "reference fuel price" lever next year, which it used to pull in the past but ceased to work now that the main company on the market, Petrom was privatised.

Even if no significant price changes are made around the time of elections, there is no way they will be possible to avoid early in 2005, given that the new shareholder, OMV, cannot afford to operate at a loss.

Contrary to the initial expectations, the rise in the petroleum price turns out to be a lasting phenomenon, whose shocks will not be possible to dampen in spite of Petrom's domestic production of petroleum. Furthermore, a fast-growing economy like that of Romania will keep increasing consumption.

None of the major producers sees any significant price cuts being operated, as the crisis is made worse by the concurrent political instability in Iraq, Nigeria and Venezuela.

How can this effect be alleviated, which has already been delayed for as long as possible by not operating significant increases of Petrom's' prices?

At first, a temporary excise cut may seem to be the solution, but such an issue cannot be raised before Brussels, which expects to see excises rally to the levels in the EU on schedule.

If a new period of increased inflationary pressures looms ahead, how will NBR be able to continue reducing the benchmark interest?

At the same time, how can the expectations of the market about the inflationary trend be kept in check, considering it already sees prices increasing in a chain reaction as imminent?

The difficulty of proceeding with the disinflation once the 10% threshold was about to be reached was anticipated. The unexpected skyrocketing of the petroleum price, however, might turn out hard to overcome, particularly because it overlaps an inflation with a major structural component that is hard to tame as it is.

Inflationary rises were registered in countries like Hungary and Poland in those times when they were moving from the two-digit to one-digit inflationary rates. The Hungarian inflation therefore increased to 11.2% after having dropped to 10.3%. Poland's similarly resumed growth to 9.8% from 8.6%.

Posted by Mihai Botea : 10/18/2004 10:41:00 PM

It seems that the Social Democrat Party (PSD) and its ally, the small centre-left (social-liberal?!;-))Humanist Party (PUR), remain in the lead ahead of November
general elections, an opinion poll showed on Sunday.

The ISS polling agency's survey of 1,081 people between Oct. 7-10 showed the PSD-PUR group ahead of the centrist opposition alliance by 7.6 percentage points compared to 10 points in a previous poll.

So should we dicover a trend here? ;-)

The survey was conducted nationwide and has a margin of error of five percent.

If we take 5 from 7,6, there remains only 3% ;-) and both presidential and parliamentary elections will be on Nov. 28.

I don't know for sure about all my colegues on this blog but I am a ...'positive' person. And since, in Romanian, Yes = DA, you can reach your own conclusions...D.A.? And you can translate this in english either with Yes or with J.T.



Following are the results of the four latest opinion polls:

PARTY POLL CONDUCTED BY

ISS INSOMAR CURS INSOMAR 2000 POLLS

Oct 10 Oct 5 Sept 28 Sept 25 lower senate

PSD 43.62* 39* 44* 36* 37.61 37.09

PNL 35.99* 29* 35** 31** 6.89 7.48

PD - - - - 7.03 7.58

PRM 12.76 11 11 9 19.48 21.01

UDMR 4.47 5 5 5 6.80 6.90

PUR - - - - - -

Won't vote/

undecided - 12 37 16 - -

-------------------------------------------------------------

PRESIDENT

Adrian

Nastase 43.53 49 - 41 -

Traian***

Basescu 33.86 20 - - -

Theodor

Stolojan*** - - - 28 -

Corneliu

Vadim Tudor 13.16 23 - 9 33.17

NOTES:

* indicates joint result for the PSD-PUR alliance.

** indicates joint result for the PNL-PD alliance. (D.A. the Justice and Truth Alliance)

*** Stolojan withdrew from the presidential race citing health

problems. The PNL-PD alliance chose Traian Basescu, the vocal

Bucharest mayor, to run for president.

---

I am watching Train's Campaign and his trend in polls...


Posted by Cristian C. Francu : 10/18/2004 04:26:00 PM

Sunday, October 17, 2004

It is a very good news to see that private companies in Romania have started to be more cmopetitive and more powerful that state-owned companies. With new pirvatisations going on as we speak, this trend is very likely to continue and even grow in the future.

Below you will find the full article about this, published originally and copyrighted by Ziarul Financiar.

-------------------------------------------------

More than twelve billion euros. That was the combined turnover last year of Romania's top twenty companies, which includes both state-owned and private businesses. 2003 was the first year the combined results of the 20 biggest companies showed overall profits.

The main change to the Top 20 has come in the form of the growing number of private companies. In 2002, eleven of the top twenty companies were state-owned, only nine were private. Things changed last year, however, and there are now only seven state-owned companies on the list.

This can be partly explained by last year's "complete" privatisation of RomTelecom, in which Greek telecommunications group OTE increased its stake in the Romanian operator to 54%. Moreover, some of the larger state-owned companies, such as Termoelectrica (which had a turnover of 646 million euros in 2002), were split up.

On the other hand, many private companies had an outstanding year in 2003. Sidex, Metro Cash & Carry, Mobifon, Orange Romania, Interbrands, Dacia and the tobacco companies Philip Morris and BAT Trading - all saw turnover grow by between 10 and 30 percent in real terms.

Some companies, such as Lukoil Downstream, almost doubled their turnovers in 2003. The ranking has also become accustomed with the presence of mobile telephony operators Orange and Connex, which have the highest profit per employee ratios (over 86,000 euros in net profit per employee for Orange and more than 66,000 euros per employee for Mobifon).

According to data from the Finance Ministry's website, SNP (National Oil Company) Petrom remained Romania's largest company last year, despite a 20% decline in turnover.

Excepting the two Distrigaz companies (Sud and Nord) and the National Lignite Company Oltenia, all the state-owned companies in the Top 20 saw their turnover fall last year. This trend, however, brought about improved profit performance: not counting Electrica and Hidroelectrica, who together made losses of 100 million euros, all the state-owned companies broke even. Paradoxically, last year's biggest losses were incurred by two private companies - Rompetrol Rafinare (290 million euros in losses) and Dacia (97 million euros).

This new trend whereby an increasing number of private companies are making their way into the Top 20 is set to continue this year. The change in the shareholding structure at Petrom (which is being bought by Austrian group OMV) and the current retail boom (the opening of new stores in many cities) will attract more new companies to the Romanian market next year. The retail market is poised for further growth in 2005.

Furthermore, two Electrica subsidiaries and the two Distrigaz will also become private property next year. Under the consequences, only three-four state-owned businesses are expected to remain on the Top 20 list next year, unless significant changes occur.


Posted by Mihai Botea : 10/17/2004 03:58:00 PM

Friday, October 15, 2004

The Government yesterday endorsed the draft of the consolidated budget for 2005.

The draft sets targets for deficit of 1.5% of GDP against economic growth of 5.3%, inflation of 7% and a current account deficit of 5.4% of GDP, announced Public Finance Minister Mihai Tanasescu.

So, the inflation target was revised upwards from 6% to 7%, calculated for December 2004-December 2005, the estimated current account deficit is 0.2% higher in terms of GDP than agreed upon with the International Monetary Fund and the predicts economic growth will be 0.1% higher than initially calculated.

In this case Romania would have the highest growth in Europe this year at 7.6%.
In the same time inflation was up again increased by 0.9% in September, reaching 6.6% for the first nine months of the year.

If the target for the year of 9% is to be achieved, price increases over the next three months cannot exceed 2.2%, or monthly increases of 0.7%-0.8%.





Posted by Iulia Rasoiu : 10/15/2004 04:54:00 PM

Thursday, October 14, 2004

Tarom will extend the number of internal and external destinations starting from the winter of 2004.

The new internal routes will be Arad with 5 and Sibiu with 3 flights per week. Also, the number of flights to Iasi will be increased to six and Bacau and Suceava will have four flights / week.

New external routes: New York, Washington, Geneva and Zurich. Also, the number of flights to Munich will increase to six.


Posted by Mihai Botea : 10/14/2004 02:10:00 PM

The pipe construction will begine in 2006 and it will be completed by 2010. The pipe will link Austria to Egypt and it will cross Romania. In the meantime disscutions are underway regarding a joint venture between Egypt and Romania, which will produce oil/gas extraction and transport equipment. Egypt will play a major role on the gas market in Romania says Dan Ioan Popescu (ministry of economy and commerce).

This can bring an escape from the russian / ucrainean potential monopoly on this market in Eastern Europe and for EU countries as well.

Posted by Mircea : 10/14/2004 02:08:00 PM

We salute the joining of Mircea Boistean, a very important contributor to the Business Romania Blog.

Mircea is a person with great experience in the political sector, an active member of VIP organization (Volunteers for Ideas and Projects) and of Casa NATO.

His academic studies are in the Economic and Management field and his experience will be very important to the growth of the Business Romania Blog.

Welcome, Mircea !!


Posted by Mihai Botea : 10/14/2004 01:29:00 PM

The World Economic Forum published yesterday, in New York, the Global Competitiveness Index rankings.

Romania is up 12 positions from 2003, ranking on 63rd place for 2004. The total score for Romania's competitiveness was 3.86.

The main drives for this upgrade were the score for competitiveness in the microeconomic sector and the competitiveness for the macroeconomic sector. Also, an improvement can be found in the score for internal competition. Still, Romania was poor on the diffeence between active and passive interest rates and also for the internal fiscal policy.

On the first place of the Global Competitiveness Index you can find Finland with a score of 5.95, followed by United States with 5.82.

You can download the Competitiveness Rapport here (PDF) and the Composition of Growth Competitiveness Index here (PDF).



Posted by Mihai Botea : 10/14/2004 11:37:00 AM

Business Romania salutes the first issue of Global Business Review, a UK-based magazine that invites you to join a knowledge conversation.

The purpose of the Global Knowledge Review is to keep you updated on the changes taking place at the leading edge of the 'knowledge world'.

Global Knowledge Review is a joint venture between David Gurteen and Bizmedia Publishing. Knowledge consultant David Gurteen will be one of the thinkers initiating the conversation in Global Knowledge Review. Bizmedia is an independent publisher who has been producing conferences, events, magazines and reports in the knowledge and learning space for over five years.

The first issue of the magazine is available for download for free, the next issues will be charged USD 240 / 10 issues.


Posted by Mihai Botea : 10/14/2004 10:24:00 AM

Wednesday, October 13, 2004

They Rule -http://www.theyrule.net a web site that allows you to create maps of the interlocking directories of the top companies in the US in 2004.The data was collected from their websites and SEC filings in early 2004, so it may not be completely accurate as long companies merge and disappear and directors shift boards.


They Rule aims to provide a glimpse of some of the relationships of the 'US ruling class'. It takes as its focus the boards of some of the most powerful U.S. companies, which share many of the same directors. Some individuals sit on 5, 6 or 7 of the top 500 companies. It allows users to browse through these interlocking directories and run searches on the boards and companies. A user can save a map of connections complete with their annotations and email links to these maps to others. They Rule is a starting point for research about these powerful individuals and corporations.

You must try the saved popular maps. ;-)

Interesting.

Either you are a fan of the conspiracy theory or just an interested entrepreneur or professional...'they rule' is a powerful tool.

enjoy!
You can also read the new They Rule weblog which has links to related sites.

Posted by Cristian C. Francu : 10/13/2004 04:58:00 PM

I was talking earlier about various loans for Romanian companies like ALRO, Banc Post and RCS.

Also, FinansBank Romania will benefit from a $15 milion credit from 9 financial institutions. This sindicated credit facility was launched by a group consisting of Alpha Bank London, The Bank of New York and Warchovia Bank National Association.

This is probably the first sindicated credit for export portfolio granted to a Romanian bank and the discussions lasted no longoer than three months.

Posted by Mihai Botea : 10/13/2004 04:57:00 PM

Everyone is in a rush these days to meet this and that criteria in order to join the EU. Granted, having what we need to join EU would be a good thing, but what about simply making it look like that and joining unprepared? It ought to be pretty obvious for anyone here that Romania will not *actually* meet any of the important criteria anytime soon: corruption will not disappear, justice will not simply start working fine, the power will not simply stop the fiscal financing that keeps much of the media alive and working for them and surely no functional market economy will pop out of nowhere and settle here.
So let's think for a moment if all this is worth it. Disguising reality can be dangerous in this case and joining EU in our current condition could generate, besides a lot of controversy and scandals, a small economic disaster here, as local the local industry (e.g. manufacturing) is very inefficient and may simply be swept away in the absence of customs tariffs.
But there could be a bright side to this: the actual ex-communist government would surely hate it. Oh, but really? (I almost heard you ask.) Yes, really, because it would mean the end of much of their lucrative governing business. And today, as I'm getting more and more tired of the above mentioned ex-communists, I feel a bit radical. I say let's do it. I can ignore all those laid off people with four children to feed. I can ignore the poor starving bastards caught in a game without chances. Why should I be so merciful when it was probably them who cast the votes which brought us where we are right now? Let's do it.

Posted by TM : 10/13/2004 10:01:00 AM

Romania is for the first time holding a Holocaust commemoration day for the hundreds of thousands of Romanian Jews who were murdered during World War II.

The Romanian government denied that a Holocaust took place on its territory until last year, when its stand led to a diplomatic row with Israel.

The commemorations included a special session of parliament and a ceremony at Bucharest's main synagogue.

Many of Romania's Jews and members of other minorities, including gypsies, died in death camps located in the Transdniester region, now part of neighbouring Moldova. Others were killed in pogroms - in Bucharest and other towns - or in death trains.

The Encyclopaedia of the Holocaust says that about 420,000 of Romania's 750,000-strong Jewish community died - including 100,000 deported to Auschwitz from areas of the country then under Hungarian rule.

The deportations were ordered by Romania's wartime leader, Marshal Ion Antonescu, on 9 October 1941.

Holocaust Day would have been marked this year on 9 October, but it was moved to the 12th, to avoid clashing with a Jewish holiday.

During Romania's communist era, the public was told that Germans were the sole perpetrators of the Holocaust.

Antonescu was regarded as a war criminal who merely followed Hitler's orders.

However, he was held up as a hero by some Romanian nationalists after the country gained independence, because he fought a Soviet invasion in 1940.

Last year's row with Israel came after the government suggested there was no Holocaust within Romania's borders.

It later backed down, saying that administrations between 1940 and 1945 were "guilty of serious war crimes".

A committee, headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, was set up to study the Romanian Holocaust and publish its conclusions. Its report is expected soon.

About 6,000 Jews now live in the country.


Posted by Iulia Rasoiu : 10/13/2004 09:27:00 AM

GMail Drive is a Shell Namespace Extension that creates a virtual filesystem around your Google GMail account, allowing you to use GMail as a storage medium.

GMail Drive creates a virtual filesystem on top of your Google GMail account and enables you to save and retrieve files stored on your GMail account directly from inside Windows Explorer. GMail Drive literally adds a new drive to your computer under the My Computer folder, where you can create new folders, copy and drag'n'drop files to.

Ever since Google started to offer users a GMail e-mail account, which includes storage space of a 1000 megabytes, you have had plenty of storage space but not a lot to fill it up with. With GMail Drive you can easily copy files to your GMail account and retrieve them again. When you create a new file using GMail Drive, it generates an e-mail and posts it to your account. The e-mail appears in your normal Inbox folder, and the file is attached as an e-mail attachment. GMail Drive periodically checks your mail account (using the GMail search function) to see if new files have arrived and to rebuild the directory structures. But basically GMail Drive acts as any other hard-drive installed on your computer. You can copy files to and from the GMail Drive folder simply by using drag'n'drop like you're used to with the normal Explorer folders.
Because the GMail files will clutter up your Inbox folder, you may wish to create a filter in GMail to automatically move the files (prefixed with the GMAILFS letters) to your archived mail folder.

Please note that GMail Drive is still an experimental tool. There's still a number of limitations of the file-system (such as total filename size must be less than 40 characters), and it doesn't make full use of the secure internet protocols available.

Posted by Cristian C. Francu : 10/13/2004 03:50:00 AM

Tuesday, October 12, 2004

-A reduction in the use of emergency ordinances.

-The laws on the freedom of information and transparency in the legislative process should still be fully implemented.

-Efforts to improve the policy -making and legislative process should continue.

-Further efforts are needed to strengthen local and regional governance with a view to ensuring proper implementation of the acquis.

-The management of court cases and the quality of judgments needs to improve, and implementation on the ground is a matter of priority for organisational and legislative changes introduced in Romania's judicial system.

- The ability to curb continuing serious and widespread corruption will depend on the effective implementation of the anti-corruption law. In particular, additional efforts are required to ensure the independence, effectiveness and accountability of the National Anti-Corruption Prosecution, which should concentrate its resources on investigating high-level corruption.

-The economic situation of many mass media organisations remains precarious and further efforts are necessary to guarantee media independence.

-A more speedy and transparent approach is needed to further the restitution of buildings and religious property.

-Efforts to address the problems of ill-treatment in custody, trafficking in human beings and prison overcrowding should be sustained.

-De facto discrimination against the Roma minority remains widespread.

-Romania complies with the criterion of being a functioning market economy, and vigorous implementation of its structural reform programme should enable it to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union.

-Improvements can be made in sustaining macroeconomic stability and in deepening structural reforms. Priority should be given to preserve the momentum in disinflation and safeguard the sustainability of the external position by maintaining a prudent policy mix and by further reducing the deficit of the broader public sector. To achieve this, significant improvements in enforcing financial discipline, continuous adjustments of energy prices towards cost recovery levels and improved financial performance of public enterprises are vital. Fiscal sustainability needs to be strengthened by advancing expenditure reform and further improving tax compliance.

-The privatisation process should be accomplished, post-privatisation disputes be settled and non-viable enterprises more actively dismantled. In key sectors, such as energy, mining and transport, perseverance in restructuring and a more manifest strive for privatisation should go hand in hand.

-Substantial progress in the functioning of the judiciary and the public administration, including an even and predictable application of law, is required to create an enabling business environment with a level playing field.

-Due attention should be given to the full and timely implementation of the strategies and action plans for the reinforcement of administrative capacity.

-In the internal market, transposition of public procurement legislation must be completed, and practices which put Romania's commitment to open and transparent procurement procedures into question should be discontinued. Alignment needs to be completed on free movement of persons as regards citizens' rights, and administrative and training capacities should be enhanced in general. In freedom to provide services, Romania should continue to pay attention to the removal of identified barriers against the right of establishment and the freedom to provide services and to the development of the insurance and financial securities markets. Outstanding restrictions to capital movements and payments should be removed and the enforcement record of the National Office for the Prevention and Control of Money Laundering needs to be improved.

-On the protection of intellectual and industrial property rights, enforcement has not kept pace with legislation.

-Legislative alignment on accounting and auditing should be completed.

-On competition, alignment of the state aid legislation is needed; the enforcement record of the competition authority needs to be improved in state aid matters, and restructuring aid may be given to steel companies only in line with the Europe Agreement.

-On agriculture, overall administrative and enforcement capacities should be enhanced, including reinforcing the SAPARD Agency and establishing the necessary control elements. Upgrading plans for non-compliant establishments in the veterinary sector should be introduced with no delay.

-On fisheries, sustained efforts are needed to recruit sufficient staff in the Fisheries Inspectorate and provide it with adequate inspection tools. The fishing database should be established.

-On transport, the technical state of the inland waterway fleet should be improved.

-On taxation, attention should be paid to completing alignment and strengthening administrative capacity.

-On social policy and employment, efforts should focus on completing legislative alignment in the area of labour law and on strengthening the Labour Inspectorate to ensure proper implementation in the area of health and safety at work. Due attention should be paid to the promotion of social dialogue and to the improvement of the health status of the population, which is well below the EU average. Administrative capacity with regards to European Social Fund management should be strengthened as a matter of priority.

-On energy, full implementation and increased administrative capacity are needed on the internal energy market structures; and the restructuring of energy markets needs to be completed.

-On industrial policy, the key challenge is implementation, as structural weaknesses limit the capacity for enforcement. Transparency of the privatisation process should be fully ensured.

-On regional policy and co-ordination of structural instruments, efforts need to be continued to bring the administrative capacity up to the level required in order for Romania to reap full benefits of the structural instruments.

-On environment, implementation is lagging behind legislation: further transposition should concentrate on completing the alignment in the areas of horizontal legislation, air quality, waste management, water quality, and nature protection. Implementation of the transposed acquis remains a key challenge and requires enhanced efforts. It is of utmost importance that the environmental administration at all levels obtains sufficient resources in order to cope with the increasing recruitment, training and equipment needs. Strategic planning, adequate investment and financing plans also have to remain in the focus of the public services in the field of environment.

-On consumer and health protection, the consumer movement should be strengthened.

-On justice and home affairs, implementation capacity should be significantly strengthened in almost all areas, as should inter-agency co-operation. Many agencies and institutions involved in law enforcement are still affected by staff shortages, which will also require enhanced training capacity. The independence of the judiciary must be ensured on the ground. As regards the fight against corruption, implementation capacity should also be significantly strengthened and the existing legislation should be rigorously enforced. Romania should implement its current plans to fully address the above issues of concern and in particular increase its administrative capacity in the relevant institutions, implement an effective reform of the judicial system, recruit and train the necessary staff and take measures that have a significant impact on corruption.

-On custom, legislative alignment should be completed, and internal co-ordination improved; and any customs duties and charges having equivalent effect with regard to export and import to and from the Community will have to be abolished.

-On financial control, the legislative framework should be completed in external audit and protection of the Community's financial interests. Administrative capacity should be strengthened to implement sound financial system.

-The capacity of the public administration to implement and enforce the newly adopted legislation should be enhanced. These concerns extend beyond the adoption of the acquis and also apply to the management of EU financial assistance. Further efforts will be needed to complete the work in company law, competition policy, environment and justice and home affairs, customs and financial control.


Posted by Iulia Rasoiu : 10/12/2004 05:33:00 PM

Source: BusinessRomania.com

Internet services provider ARtelecom could merge by absorption with RomTelecom, the operation being a first step in consolidating RomTelecom’s strategy on data transfers and Internet access, sources with ARtelecom were quoted as saying. ARtelecom was founded in June 2001 and communication services and solutions based on IP technology have been available since June 2002. The main shareholder is RomTelecom with over 99 percent of the share capital. The company’s infrastructure was developed by Intracom Bucharest and it is based on Cisco, HP, Sun Systems and MIND CTI equipment.

Posted by Mihai : 10/12/2004 05:25:00 PM

Following the international trend in petrol prices going up, Rompetrol, the second-largest Romanian Oil Company raises the price for Oil by 15 USD / 1 ton of oil. This way, the Euro3 diesel fuel price had advanced from USD459/ton to USD442/ton.

The company said that no retail price hikes would occur at Rompetrol gas stations yet. But other private operators who acquire fuels from Rompetrol would probably adjust higher their retail prices.

Petrom announced that they wouldn't raise the price for their petroleum, but if the international pressure will continue they will have to follow.




Posted by Mihai Botea : 10/12/2004 03:02:00 PM

Fast Company just opened the 2005 Fast 50 readers' challenge, where they are looking for remarkable people, leaders of their communities, people with great ideas and innovations and so on.

If you are one or if you know someone I suggest you visit the Fast 50 web-page.

Good luck !
Posted by Mihai Botea : 10/12/2004 09:16:00 AM

Monday, October 11, 2004

Police are examining hundreds of cases of foreigners claiming to be the fathers of babies born into poverty

At least three British couples are among scores of would-be parents who are under investigation for allegedly buying babies from Romania, according to Michael Leidig reporting from Bucharest for News Telegraph.

Foreign men from across Europe are believed to be exploiting a loophole in the law and falsely claiming paternity of Romanian children, and with it the right to take the babies out of the country, circumventing a ban on international adoptions.

The ban was passed in 2001 under pressure from the European Union and is now rigorously enforced.

Families who accept money or other goods for their child face up to seven years in jail.

But Romania's prime minister, Adrian Nastase, said that police were investigating dozens of cases involving "parents" from Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Greece, in addition to Britain.

Other men claiming paternity have come forward from Turkey, Hungary and even Iran.

The police believe that there could be hundreds of similar cases, in which large sums of money change hands to help childless couples to bypass the ban, find suitable children and smuggle them out of Romania.
Many of the paternity cases are suspicious because foreign citizens have come forward to declare paternity of babies a long time after they were born.

A spokesman for Romania's organised crime department said: "We are looking at three cases involving UK families, but we cannot reveal any names or details while investigations are continuing." We are looking at cases where the man claimed to be the father of a child where no father was named on the birth certificate. In each case, these children are now living abroad."

The spokesman said that paternity deals may also have been arranged "to order". The authorities suspected that intermediaries have paid pregnant women to hand over their babies having written the name of the foreign father on the birth certificate to avoid suspicion when the baby is officially registered.

"We have been investigating these cases since June this year, and maternity wards and city halls have been carefully checked," the spokesman said.

The Romanian authorities are also considering DNA tests to confirm paternity claims.

Contraception and abortion were banned in Romania by the dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.

When his regime fell in 1989, almost 100,000 abandoned children were left neglected in homes and institutions across the country.

Many couples in the West offered to adopt children after programmes about their plight were broadcast on television.

Up to a third of the 100,000 children eventually found new homes but many of the others ended up living on the streets.

An estimated 40,000 children are still living in state care.
There are many babies born into poverty in Romania and their parents cannot afford to keep them.

The government has now authorised a further strengthening of the ban passed in 2001, and in so doing has removed another obstacle to Romania's hopes of gaining European Union membership in 2007.

The new policy will make foreign adoptions of Romanian babies almost impossible from January 2005.

The only circumstances in which children can be adopted by a family living abroad is if one of the adoptive parents is the grandmother or grandfather of the child.

The rule has also prompted a rush of claims by foreign fathers seeking paternity issues to be settled before the January deadline.

Gabriela Coman, the head of Romania's National Authority for Adoption and Child Protection, said the scam was an attempt to skirt the existing ban before the new regulations came into effect.

Other children's welfare groups point out that foreign couples keen to take on unwanted Romanian children can offer them the only chance of a new life.
They believe that the children's plight will worsen after the regulations come into force.

Roberto Zambrenti, the president of the Italian group Amici dei Bambini, said: "We doubt that Romania will have the capacity to absorb all its children and give them a family."

The Romanian government has launched a study into why so many children are abandoned by their mothers.

Monica Nedef, the head of a state child protection department in Bucharest, said mothers arriving at hospitals in labour were now being monitored to find out what happened to their new-born babies.

A spokesman for the country's Organised Crime Department added that prospective adoptive fathers had frequently been regular visitors to Romania, carrying out charity work for example, before claiming to have had a relationship with the child's mother.

He said it was easy for would-be adoptive couples to make contact via casual enquiries at orphanages, or over the internet, with intermediaries prepared to help them circumvent the adoption laws.

Many staff saw nothing wrong with passing information to foreigners that might help a child to a new life.
The spokesman said that with bribery a common part of daily life, couples were prepared to offer up to £5,000 for help.

Posted by Iulia Rasoiu : 10/11/2004 11:11:00 AM

The Romanian Commercial Bank will have a new chairman of The Supervisory Board as of October 29th, when The Shareholder Assembly will convene to appoint one, as the current chairman, Florin Georgescu, has been appointed first vice-governor of The National Bank.

Banking sources have said the new chairman will be Horia Neamtu, a member of the Chamber of Deputies on behalf of the ruling Social Democrat Party (PSD) and also a member of The Budget – Finance Committee of that chamber.

Posted by Iulia Rasoiu : 10/11/2004 11:05:00 AM

The latest major loans for romanian business:
(source: BusinessRomania.com)

---------------------------
$105 Mln Loan For Alro

According to banking market sources, the consortium including the aluminum manufacturer Alro Slatina and its main shareholder Marco International will soon benefit of a $105 million syndicated loan from the international market. Alro will use the money to expand its production capacity and its environment protection facilities, while Marco will refinance the debt connected to the acquisition of Alro. The loan's lead manager will be the German bank HVB. If completed, it will be the biggest credit contracted by a private Romanian company from the international market this year after the $200 million one attracted by BCR.

---------------------------
ING Bank Grants $70 Mln Loan To RCS

Romania Cable Systems (RCS) has received a $70 million loan from ING Bank Romania, the funds being needed for financing the acquisitions, increasing work capital and future equity increases, said the deputy general manager of ING Bank, Misu Negritoiu. Besides the branch in Romania, the operation also includes ING Bank NV Amsterdam and The Royal Bank of Scotland. RCS is one of the most important telecommunications operators in Romania. Services for transmission of data, Internet, cable TV and fixed telephony are provided by Romania Data Systems (RDS), through RCS infrastructure.

---------------------------
EBRD EUR 15 Mln Loan For Banc Post

Banc Post might receive from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a EUR 15 million credit line enabling the bank grant mortgage financing to individuals in order to help them purchase or restore dwellings. The project could get the approval of EBRD’s management after the exanimation procedure scheduled for October 19. Banc Post will grant denominated loans in different currencies, according to customers requests. Last year in May EBRD also granted Banc Post a EUR 20 million credit for a period of 11 years for the financing of the program based on mortgage credits.


Hopefully, more to come :)



Posted by Mihai Botea : 10/11/2004 10:48:00 AM

Friday, October 08, 2004

Yesterday, Andrei Plesu and Mircea Dinescu resigned from CNSAS due to the CNSAS vote that stated that Corneliu Vadim Tudor did not cooperated with political police before 1989.

Andrei Plesu, Mircea Dinescu, HR Patapievici and Claudiu Secasiu declared yesterday that this is the final confirmation of the useless eforts of CNSAS to put some light on what happened with today's politicians before the 1989 Revolution.

It seems that the entire political class backs up on one another, as PSD, PRM, UDMR and other parties voted that CV Tudor is clean and his files should not be made public.

Some time ago, The Romanian Information Service (SRI) stated that CV Tudor does not have any public-police files. After a while, they addmited and released 19 files for his name !!! (Is zero so close to 19??)

Despite of this, a large number of the CNSAS voted pro-Vadim, which I believe is the clear evidence that you cannot clean corruption with corrupted people.

And all this comes just 2 days after the EU addmited that the biggest problem in Romania is ... corruption.
Posted by Mihai Botea : 10/08/2004 01:26:00 PM

Ex-Im Bank $180 Million Guarantee Backs U.S. Exports to Build Romanian Highway

Thursday October 7, 4:45 pm ET
Source: Press Release, Export-Import Bank of the United States


WASHINGTON, Oct. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- A four-lane highway linking Romania westward to Hungary and the rest of Central Europe and eastward to the Black Sea will be built with the assistance of a $180 million loan guarantee from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) to support U.S. exports. The transaction will help sustain U.S. jobs and promote Romanian trade and tourism.

The Ex-Im Bank guarantee will support a loan by RZB Finance LLC, New York, N.Y. to Romania's Ministry of Transport, Construction and Tourism. It will finance a motorway project involving the export by Bechtel Overseas Corp., San Francisco, Cal., of engineering and project management services, and the export of construction and other equipment from U.S. suppliers including Caterpillar Inc., Peoria, Ill.; PACCAR INC., Kirkland, Wash.; Link-Belt Construction Equipment Co., Lexington, Ken.; and Bukkenhave Inc., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

"This transaction will support high-quality jobs in both of our countries and help to build a vital trade and transportation artery for Romania," said Ex-Im Bank Chairman Philip Merrill. "We are eager to do more business with the growing Romanian market."

The U.S. exports under the Ex-Im Bank transaction will be used to build a 117-kilometer segment of the 415-kilometer Brasov-Cluj-Bors Motorway that will link the city of Brasov in central Romania with the Hungarian border in the northwest. The motorway will be part of an existing larger network linking Romania to the Black Sea. The 117-kilometer segment will take will four years to build. It will take nine years to complete the entire four-lane highway.

The Ex-Im Bank-guaranteed loan will be denominated in Euros in accordance with Ex-Im Bank's Foreign Currency Guarantee Program. The financing will be guaranteed by Romania's Ministry of Public Finance, carrying the full faith and credit of the Romanian government.

Ex-Im Bank this year marks its 71st year of helping finance the sale of U.S. exports, primarily to emerging markets throughout the world, by providing loan guarantees, export credit insurance, and direct loans. In fiscal year 2003, Ex-Im Bank, an independent federal agency, authorized financing to support $14.3 billion of U.S. exports worldwide. For more information on Ex- Im Bank visit http://www.exim.gov.
Posted by Mihai : 10/08/2004 11:50:00 AM

Thursday, October 07, 2004

BUCHAREST -(Dow Jones)- The Romanian government said Tuesday it has selected J.P. Morgan (JPM) to act as its adviser in the privatization of state-owned savings bank Casa de Economii si Consemnatiuni SA.

JP Morgan beat Citigroup Global Markets Ltd. (C) and Credit Suisse First Boston Europe (CSF.YY) to get the contract.

The adviser has to decide with the government how much of CEC to sell and will set the terms of the privatization contract. According to CEC Chairman Enache Jiru the government will set by March 2005 a privatization strategy and invite interested investors to bid. The selloff is expected to be concluded by the end of next year.

CEC is the last bank in which the government still holds a majority stake, and the only bank in which deposits are fully guaranteed by the state. After privatization, CEC would lose the state guarantee.

CEC has a network of about 1,400 branches and offices, the largest in Romania. At the end of July, CEC assets totaled 46.05 trillion lei ($1=ROL33,449). It reported a net profit of ROL499.8 billion for the first seven months of this year, more than double the ROL232.29 billion reported in the same period of 2003.

-By Cristi Cretzan, Dow Jones Newswires; (4021) 210-8197; cristi.cretzan@dowjones.com



Posted by Mihai Botea : 10/07/2004 02:04:00 PM

Wednesday, October 06, 2004

Finally, it is official...we are on our way to EU, but the Commmission pointed out major problems in Romania and proposed a clause that could delay the entrance if certain commitments will fail.

Read the official news below, in a BBC Article

---------------------------


(source: BBC)

The European Commission has confirmed that Bulgaria and Romania are on track to join the EU in 2007 - provided they continue key reforms. But the commission proposes a clause that could delay their entry by a year if they fail to keep their commitments.

The report must still be endorsed by EU governments in December.

Bulgaria and Romania, the poorest countries in the former communist bloc, missed the first big wave of eastwards expansion last May.

Now the European Commission says they should be able to sign a joint accession treaty early next year and fulfil the criteria for membership by January 2007.

Strict conditions

For the first time, Romania is described as a "functioning market economy". But the commission says much remains to be done in both countries.

Among areas for concern are corruption, ethnic minority rights, trafficking of women for prostitution, illegal state aid to industry, media freedom, inadequate food hygiene standards and environmental pollution.

The report said Romania "remains the country of origin, transit and destination for victims of trafficking in human beings".

"The main targets of traffickers are young women and girls who are sexually exploited in destination countries," it said.

Bulgaria is seen as much better prepared than its larger neighbour, but the EU is still insisting on the unprecedented safeguard clause which could delay accession by a year, to 2008, if either Bulgaria or Romania prove manifestly unprepared for EU membership.

The entry of Romania and Bulgaria will give Greece, which joined in 1981, a land frontier with another member of the European bloc for the first time.

Entry conditions for the next in line will be even stricter.

Croatia will start negotiations early next year, but their pace will no longer depend on mere commitments on paper.

They will be driven by real reforms on the ground, which may take much longer to prove.

The EU also reserves the right to suspend negotiations in case of what the commission calls a serious and persistent breach of the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.



Posted by Mihai Botea : 10/06/2004 07:09:00 PM

A very tough article about Romania's struggle to join the EU in 2007. Knowing also that Mr. Nastase and Mr. Geoana went to Brussels to discuss with the EU leaders before the country report will be issued, it makes me believe that some part of the article below might be true.

----------------

(SOURCE: EUpolitix.com)

Romania is a "rotten apple" and Bucharest's EU membership will be opposed in the European Parliament, Liberal MEPs warned on Tuesday.

The European Commission is set to give Romania the go-ahead for EU entry by 2007 but MEPs in the parliament's third largest political group are urging a halt.

Bucharest is struggling to implement EU required justice reforms on time – changes UK Liberal Democrat Chris Davies argues are fundamental.

"Decision day is drawing near and everyone is starting to realise that the issues can no longer be swept under the carpet," he said.

"Values must be maintained, and there is a risk that we could tip the balance by letting in a still rotten apple."

Davies suggests that unfinished business to clean-up Romania's judicial system and public administration may even make Bucharest more unsuitable than Turkey to join the EU's exclusive club.

"The pressure for reform must be maintained, and the EU negotiating process is the only effective means by which this can be achieved. If a political agreement allows Romania to join the EU in 2007 the fundamental problems of that country may never be properly addressed," he said.

"It's ironic, but Turkey may even now be in a better state to join the EU than Romania is at the end of the negotiating process."

Ankara has yet to be given the green light to even begin EU entry talks, with Turkey's membership still decades away and highly controversial in Germany, Austria and France.

Liberal MEPs will move to block Romania's EU membership in a non-binding parliament vote later this year.

Corruption, human rights abuses and infringements of press freedom will top the charge sheet.

"Romania suffers from endemic problems of corruption, lacks an independent judiciary, has an inadequate free press, and has not halted torture carried out by police officers," said Liberal justice spokesman Sarah Ludford.

"Laws are being changed but the country has no mechanism to make them work in practice. The country does not yet comply with the EU's criteria for human rights and democracy, and does not appear likely to do so within the next three years."

Posted by Mihai Botea : 10/06/2004 11:04:00 AM

According to BBC, The European Commission has signalled that it may suspend membership negotiations with candidate countries if they fail to meet tough EU criteria.

The new conditions are set out in an EU strategy document as the Commission prepares to recommend the start of membership talks with Turkey.

The keenly awaited reports on Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania will be released on Wednesday.

According to the strategy paper - seen by the BBC - benchmarks for the implementation of reforms will have to be met.

And for the first time, the EU will introduce a brake clause - the possibility to suspend negotiations in the case of a serious and persistent breach of the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Mr Rehn, who will take over as European enlargement commissioner on 1 November, told the European Parliament he would also insist on a permanent safeguard clause for Turkey.

It will allow the EU to close its borders to large numbers of labour migrants at any point in the future - not just for seven years, as is the case for Poland and the other former communist countries that joined the EU in May.
This has never been done before and it may fuel Turkey's suspicion that it is treated like no other candidate.

But Mr Rehn said it was needed to calm public concerns. This, he concluded, will not be an easy decision - it is a question that divides European public opinion.
Tighter controls Bulgaria and Romania, which are far advanced on the road to membership, will be affected to a certain degree, but not as much as the other outstanding candidates.

The strategy paper concludes that while Bulgaria and Romania continue to fulfil the political criteria for EU membership, "improvements need to be made in particular in the reform of their public administration, the functioning of their judicial system and the fight against corruption".

The paper says that both Bulgaria and Romania fulfil the criterion of being a functioning market economy and the "continuation of Bulgaria's reform path and the vigorous implementation of Romania's structural reform programme should enable them to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union.

" Both countries also need to develop "sufficient administrative and judicial capacity to implement and enforce" EU laws.

The European Commission says the objective is to sign a joint accession treaty with both countries as early as possible in 2005, which should enter into force on 1 January, 2007.

But Mr Rehn warned that, under the new safeguard clause, if either of the two countries failed to come up to European standards, their entry could be delayed by one year to 2008. "This clause is not included in the accession treaty just for fun," Mr Rehn said. "It's a serious clause and we would not hesitate to use it."


Posted by Iulia Rasoiu : 10/06/2004 09:53:00 AM

(source: ZF)

The Finance Ministry has no plans to modify the taxation of incomes of individuals until 2007 nor is there pressure from the European Union to take such steps.

"The idea mentioned last year about the inclusion of income derived from interest payments among those subject to global income tax is not applicable, at least not until EU accession, and the talks we've had with the European Commission on this issue did not reveal any requirements in this respect," Maria Manolescu, state secretary with the Finance Ministry, told Ziarul Financiar.

She says at the moment Romania cannot afford to make any move that would discourage saving, which is essential to supplying the banking system with resources to sustain the constant growth in demand for credit.

In other words, income derived from interest payment will be subject to the same 1% tax, at least until January 2007, the target accession date, with the tax being deducted by the bank directly.

Early in 2003, the authorities discussed the possibility of including this stream of income among those subject to global income tax.

The same was to happen to dividend-related incomes of individuals, however the Exchequer eventually gave up on those plans. On the other hand, the tax levied on the dividends received by individuals will double as of January 1, 2005, to 10%, so as to match the similar tax paid by legal entities.

After fourteen years of inflationary surges to over 100% and shock-depreciation episodes that shook people's confidence in the benefits of saving in ROL, deposits in ROL by individuals this summer successfully reverted to the levels they saw before the collapse that began in December 1990, the equivalent of 5.2bn euro.

The highest increase was seen recently, between December 2003 and July 2004, when savings increased by around 17% after fluctuating at a level of slightly more than 4bn euros for three years, a threshold crossed as late as 2001. Savings capacity held its ground and even consolidated despite the large amounts of cash used for loan repayments, a trend that became more visible last autumn. Savings looked to be losing ground in the spring of 2003, precisely when a major lending boom was about to happen.

Why did ROL keep on flowing into banks? Three successive interest rate increases by the NBR in the autumn of 2003 mirrored in the interest rates of commercial banks for deposits, as well the unprecedented flattening of foreign currency investment yields, turned saving in ROL into one of the most profitable ways to invest money.

As a result, the people retained the comfortable position of net lender to the banking system, with deposits reaching 5.5bn euros and outstanding loans of 2.3bn euros.


Posted by Mihai Botea : 10/06/2004 09:33:00 AM

European Commission Delegation in Romania launched a special webpage dedicated to the Regular Report on the progress towards accession of Romania for 2004.

http://www.infoeuropa.ro/ieweb/jsp/page.jsp?lid=2&cid=3067#3553

The 2004 Report, will be released on October, 6. This page also includes the complete set of Regular Reports released by the European Commission between 1998-2003, accompanied by Strategy Papers and other related documents.

Also, the European Commission Delegation in Romania will launch a chat on Regular Report 2004 with Jonathan Scheele, Head of EC Delegation in Romania - on Thursday, October 7, between 14.15 - 15.30.

http://chat.infoeuropa.ro/


Posted by Iulia Rasoiu : 10/06/2004 09:30:00 AM

Tuesday, October 05, 2004

EU to Applaud Romania's Economy, Criticize Rights
Mon Oct 4, 2004 02:51 PM ET

By Dina Kyriakidou and Marcin Grajewski
BUCHAREST/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A keenly awaited European Union report will reaffirm the aim of Romania joining the bloc in 2007 but will express concern over media freedom and graft in the poor Balkan country, officials said on Monday.

The EU executive Commission's report will be critical and will propose a "safeguard clause" that could delay Romania's entry by one year if it falls behind the schedule of overhauling its corruption-plagued economy and weak administration.

Incoming Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn warned Romania against complacency even if it wraps up entry talks this year and signs the accession treaty next year along with neighboring Bulgaria, which is seen as better prepared for membership.

"The safeguard clause is a very serious instrument and we will not hesitate to use it," Rehn said during his confirmation hearing at the European Parliament.

EU criticisms were backed up by an opinion poll showing that 55 percent of Romanians think corruption in the Balkan country has worsened over the past year.

Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Nastase and his foreign minister, Mircea Geoana, visited Brussels in a last-ditch effort to minimize the criticism in the report, the exact wording of which could still be changed before publication on Wednesday.

"From what I heard in Brussels the report should contain a positive evaluation for us, although clearly a lot remains to be done," Nastase told a news conference in the EU Parliament.


ECONOMIC PROGRESS
Geoana, who is the ruling Socialists' candidate for prime minister after Nov. 28 general elections, vowed to fight graft, strengthen the country's weak administration and courts and pursue responsible fiscal policies.

"We want to join the EU in 2007 and I would like to be the guarantor that this will happen," he told Reuters.

The Commission paper on Romania's progress toward joining the 25-member bloc will praise the country for stabilizing the economy -- cutting inflation and boosting growth -- while expressing concern over news media rights and corruption.

"I do not hide that we have problems with corruption ... I commit myself to strengthening our administration as we need public service that is motivated and less corruptible," said Geoana, a 56-year-old former ambassador to Washington.

EU officials expect the report on Bulgaria, also due to be published on Wednesday, to be more positive as Sofia had already concluded accession talks.

Geoana said he was confident Romania would sign the accession treaty next year at the same time as Bulgaria, but the EU's Rehn warned there was no such guarantee.

"We will judge every country on its own merits," he said.

Geoana said Romania should finally receive the "functioning market economy" tag, a key economic criterion for membership, though the report will fall short of declaring the country fit to compete in the EU market.

About 20 journalists, mostly investigating corruption cases, have been physically attacked in Romania in the last 18 months but no culprits have been brought to justice.

The watchdog Transparency International has rated Romania as one of the most corrupt ex-communist countries almost 15 years after the 1989 collapse of communism.

The new political and business elite flaunts its wealth, driving luxury cars and building mansions while about 30 percent of the people live in poverty, according to World Bank data.

Posted by Mihai Botea : 10/05/2004 04:13:00 PM

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices set a new record above $50 a barrel on Tuesday as a prolonged U.S. production outage following Hurricane Ivan attracted fresh speculative buying.

U.S. light crude rose 58 cents to $50.49 a barrel, beating by two cents last week's all-time record. London Brent crude rose 60 cents to $46.79 a barrel.

Supply anxiety is building ahead of the northern hemisphere winter, when demand for heating oil surges. Inventories of crude and distillates in the world's top energy user, the United States, are running up to 4 percent below last year.

"U.S. production has been slow to recover from Hurricane Ivan and people are worried by the low level crude and distillate inventories ahead of winter," said Tetsu Emori, chief commodities strategist at Mitsui Bussan Futures in Tokyo.

"People are still watching Nigeria and Iraq. With OPEC producing almost at full capacity, any stoppage in Iraq's or Nigeria's exports would upset the supply-demand balance. It's a very dangerous situation."

In the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, nearly 29 percent, or about 480,000 barrels per day (bpd), of oil output remained shut, three weeks after Hurricane Ivan first hit the region, the U.S. Minerals Management Service said on Monday.

Dealers will now look to U.S. oil inventory data, due out on Wednesday, to gauge how comfortable oil supplies are in the weeks ahead of winter.

A Reuters poll of eight analysts predicted on average a fall in distillate stocks -- including heating oil, the main winter fuel in the northeast of the country -- by 800,000 barrels and a drop in gasoline stocks by 600,000 barrels.

The weekly report by the Energy Information Administration due was expected to show crude stocks rising in the week to Oct. 1 by 1.1 million barrels from the week earlier.

NIGERIA, IRAQ ON RADAR

Oil prices had eased on Monday after Nigerian rebels withdrew a threat to target the country's over 2.3 million bpd of oil production facilities, but concerns lingered over the OPEC member's stability in the near term.

Iraq also remains volatile, with saboteurs regularly attacking pipelines. On Monday an internal line linking the country's north and south fields was hit, although this did not affect exports.

Together the two countries produce over 4.5 million bpd -- more than twice the amount of spare production capacity held by members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), most of that in Saudi Arabia.

OPEC President Purnomo Yusgiantoro said on Tuesday he expected oil prices to fall in the first part of next year if supply fears in the Middle East -- and particularly the disruptive turmoil in Iraq -- were to fade.

But market bulls are encouraged by signs that speculative funds, a major factor in this year's steep oil price rally, continue to buy into the market, despite the highest prices on record.

Speculators on crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange increased net long positions in the week ended Sept. 28 in a bet prices would rise, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said.

Posted by Mihai Botea : 10/05/2004 02:32:00 PM

I have been working in the HR field for more than 3 years now and as you probably all know, there is a constant bispute about the use or the misuse of personality tests in hiring and evaluation interviews.

On the same topic, I found an article by Dr. Kerry J. Sulkowicz, the "Fast Company Corporate Shrink", in which he explains why he is against this kind of tests.

As I am pretty much on his side in this matter, I invite you to head the full article HERE.
Posted by Mihai Botea : 10/05/2004 01:04:00 PM

Monday, October 04, 2004

"I want to be a success of European integration not only a member. I want to be the new Spain of Europe in the next ten, 15, 20 years." said Geoana.

Key to the success of Romania's political transition is the European Commission's October 6, report on the country's progress to EU membership.

Bucharest has made advances to adopt all 31 'chapters' of EU laws but vital work remains unfinished as Romania is given the all-clear for entry.

"The report is absolutely fundamental, it is the key, a green light from the commission is a must," Geoana stresses. "We anticipate a report which will lead in that direction."

Does Romania have a functional market economy or not?

The answer to this question is the best kept secret in Brussels.

The officials of the European Committee are trying to find a formula which, on one hand, should reconcile the reality - the existence of some clues in the economy showing that it is still far from perfect - and, on the other hand, it should be convenient enough so that the possibility of concluding negotiations this year should not compromised by the country report.

Jean Cristophe Filori, the spokesman for the European Committee, said for the BBC that Romania was likely to be declared a functional market economy.

Obtaining this status is extremely important for Romania as without it negotiations will be impossible to be finalized. Unfortunately, nobody can say for sure what the report on Romania will comprise as the words are carefully chosen and introduced into the text at the last minute.

The most difficult area for Romania is also the most politically sensitive - both domestically and internationally.

Bucharest is likely to sign up to an EU membership treaty with required justice reforms still "work in progress".

"Corruption and bureaucracy is, I would say, the underlying political problem of this chapter," the foreign minister says. "It is technically difficult because it copes with the two major liabilities of our system: a weak public administration and a judiciary which is under huge stress and in transformation. This is something where we have to show enough progress in order to close [negotiations] but also [to show] enough credible steps that will be taken by Romania between now and 2007."

Reform has meant taking on institutional change at the highest levels of Romanian society.

A new "Spanish-style" National Anti-Corruption Prosecutors office - set up in 2002 - has acted on 3500 cases.

Legislation passed this June is rebuilding the Romanian judiciary - again with outside advice, especially from the UK. Increased salaries, judicial independence from the government and fast-track specialised courts are all planned for the next two years.

Romania has closed negotiations on two out five outstanding areas of European legislation ahead of an expected all-clear for Bucharest's EU membership on October 6.
EU-hopefuls must show progress on implementing 31 policy 'chapters' of Europe's 97,000 page rulebook of laws ahead of joining the European club.



Posted by Iulia Rasoiu : 10/04/2004 04:41:00 PM

For the past 3 days, the hottest subject in Romania is Mr. Stolojan's withdrawl from the presidential race.

The announcement came on Saturday afternoon and was very shocking to everybody. The announcement then stated that the withdrawl was mostly motivated by the poor health of Mr. Stolojan, leader of the Liberal Party and one of the leaders of the D.A. Alliance.

On Sunday, Mr. Basescu, one of the leaders of the D.A. Alliance and one of Mr. Stolojan's closest partners, stated that Mr. Stolojan was also under a high pressure from the current ruling party with a lot of media scandals and that this aggravated his health.

With Mr. Stolojan out of the country, Mr. Basescu (currenly mayor of Bucharest) announced that he is going to be the Alliance's new candidate for the presidency.

In the meanwhile, leader of the Liberal Party will be Mr. Tariceanu.

A lot of annalysts commentated this withdrawl in various ways, but I would like only to give you some links to some articles on this subject:

REUTERS - Romania Presidential Challenger Stolojan Quits Race

BBC Romania - Why did Stolojan quit (romanian version)

WIKIPEDIA - About Theodor Stolojan

Boston.com - Stolojan withdraws from Romania election

ZIARUL FINANCIAR - Theodor Stolojan leaves politics, Democrat leader Traian Băsescu to run for president

Looking forward for your comments on this subject.
Posted by Mihai Botea : 10/04/2004 10:53:00 AM

Friday, October 01, 2004

Sept. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Eurocopter SA, the world's biggest
maker of civil helicopters, may set up an assembly plant in Romania
to win more business in Central Europe.

Eurocopter, a unit of European Aeronautic Defense & Space Co.,
will probably assemble EC135 helicopters at Brasov, north of
Bucharest, where the company maintains and overhauls helicopters
for Romania and other countries, said Christoph Mueller, a
Eurocopter spokesman, in an interview in Munich. He declined to
give the timing or the size of the investment.

``It is our long-term goal to set up an assembly line once
there is sufficient demand,'' Mueller said. ``One of the most
promising markets is Eastern Europe.''

EADS says the EC135 can help countries offer better border
control and emergency medical services. Romania is seeking to join
the European Union in 2007 along with neighbor Bulgaria. It has
borders with other two non-EU countries, Ukraine and Moldova.

Aerospace and defense companies often offer to hire workers
and assemble products locally to help win business. The company in
August signed a contract with Romania worth as much as 650 million
euros ($800 million) to supply border-control systems that meet EU
standards.

Eurocopter has delivered five EC135 helicopters to the
Romanian Ministry of Defense and eight to the Czech Republic. The
list price for the EC135 is 2.5 million euros. The company has had
a licensing agreement with the Romanian government since the 1970s.
Eurocopter's military sales will account for more than half of
all sales by 2007 as the company delivers Tiger attack helicopters
and NH-90 search and rescue craft, compared with 49 percent
currently, Mueller said.

Eurocopter has 354 orders and 86 options for NH-90 helicopters
from 11 countries and has orders for 206 Tiger helicopters from
four countries, he said.
Posted by Mihai Botea : 10/01/2004 04:27:00 PM

BUCHAREST (AP)--One of Romania 's most influential journalists unexpectedly
quit as chief editor of the daily Evenimentul Zilei Tuesday, shortly after
dozens of journalists accused the newspaper's Swiss owners of meddling in
editorial policy.

The departure of Cornel Nistorescu caused alarm among advocates of press
freedom and some Western diplomats who said it pointed to diminishing press
freedoms before closely contested elections in November.
"Cornel Nistorescu is one of the main founders of an independent press after
1990," said a statement from the Romanian Academic Society, which supports
press freedom and democracy.

The group said there was "unprecedented pressure put by foreign owners on
Evenimentul Zilei and (another daily) Romania Libera to stop their vigorous
criticisms and investigations" to instead focus on entertainment.

The owner, the Swiss group Ringier AG (RGR.YY), has strongly denied meddling
in editorial policy. In a statement, it said Nistorescu departure was on
amicable terms due to differences about how to modernize the newspaper, adding that
he would continue to write twice-weekly columns.

Nistorescu, known for his pro-Western stance and harsh criticism of the
ruling party, other politicians and widespread corruption, used to write daily
columns. He has not been replaced. He was not available for immediate comment.
Western diplomats speculated that he had been forced to quit because of his
biting daily editorials and the newspaper's criticism of corruption, which
angered officials here - many of whom are used to the communist era, when
journalists didn't criticize government.

The newspaper, one of the few publications to criticize the ruling Social
Democratic Party, receives practically no government advertising, which is a main
source of income for many media outlets.

Two weeks ago, Evenimentul Zilei journalists signed a protest that accused
Ringier of meddling in editorial policy. Nistorescu did not sign the protest,
but he also did not distance himself from it.

Dozens of journalists working for Romania Liberia, another newspaper that is
critical of the government, have accused their German owners, Westdeutsche
Allgemeine Zeitung, of trying to pressure them to write less critically about the
government.
Posted by Mihai Botea : 10/01/2004 04:25:00 PM

Brandient has completed the first Brand Valuation project in Romania. They evaluated the CAPITAL Brand at 5.4 million Euro's.

You can read more about this on KIT's BLOG or in CAPITAL(romanian only).


Posted by Mihai Botea : 10/01/2004 03:13:00 PM

(source: ZF)

Porsche Bank Romania, the first Romanian bank to specialise in service packages that include funding, insurance, maintenance and management of client vehicles, is ready to begin operations at the end of this autumn after having recently received an operating licence from the National Bank of Romania - NBR.

With a share capital of 370bn ROL, the bank will be officially inaugurated at the end of October. Its core business will focus on granting funds to customers buying vehicles imported by Porsche Romania.

Porche Romania's majority shareholder is Austrian Porsche Bank, which is based in Salzburg. Austrian Porsche Bank owns 99% of the share capital, the remaining 1% being evenly distributed between Porsche Bank Hungary, Porsche Kredit in Leasing Slovakia, Porsche Biztositasi and Porsche Versicherung Salzburg. The Porsche Bank Group has branches in Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia and Slovakia. One of its most successful businesses in recent years has been in car rental.

The new institution will provide specialised financial services to complement the services already available from the other members of the Austrian financial group in Romania, Porsche Leasing (started in 1999) and Porsche Broker Asigurari (2002). Porsche, the importer in Romania of Volkswagen, Audi, Seat, Skoda and Porsche, estimates sales of more than 16,000 units this year.

Given the underdeveloped nature of the Romanian banking market, there has been a delay in the emergence of specialised credit institutions. It was not until this year that a bank was established that specialised in funding for the buying or building of a home.

Similarly, there now exists a so-called electronic currency issuer company offering credits cards based on partnerships with certain retail chains. Currently there are 40 players on the market. No more new players are expected to enter the Romanian banking market before the end of 2004.

Posted by Mihai Botea : 10/01/2004 03:08:00 PM

If you are interested in great pictures from Romania, I suggest visiting the http://www.etrip.ro/ website. The website is developed by a friend of mine who is a professional photographer, so I can guarantee that the quality of the pictures is excelent.

You can find pictures from Iasi, Constanta and Suceava. Also, you can buy great pictures on CD-ROM for a very reasonable price.

A must-see !

P.S. Check also this one. Thanks, Catalin!


Posted by Mihai Botea : 10/01/2004 01:09:00 PM

(SOURCE: TEKRATI, FULL REPORT: IDC)

According to a new IDC study, the Romanian IT services market rose by 107 percent to $109.27 million in 2003. The analysts expect continued Romanian economic expansion and the uptake of more complex IT services to nearly double the growth rate in 2004.


Accounting for over 17% of all IT spending in Romania last year, services are expected to represent more and more of the overall IT market as Romanian companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, invest in the systems and infrastructure needed to do business in the increasingly technology-dependent economy.
More than thirty IT services providers fought for share in Romania in 2003, with the top twenty providers capturing just over three-quarters of revenue. The competitive nature of the marketplace was underscored by the fact that fifteen of the top twenty vendors shifted places in the rankings last year. Leveraging their installed base, many IT vendors have already added IT services to their portfolios in an attempt to generate business from both new and existing customers.

"The increased competition will force IT services providers to go beyond their current clients to secure sufficient numbers of lucrative projects, especially in the long term," says Laurentiu Popescu, Senior Analyst, IDC Romania. "Specialization will also help, and companies should consider developing expertise in selected services areas."

Hardware support and installation once again accounted for the single largest share of IT services revenue in Romania last year. It was followed by systems integration and software support and installation. Altogether, these three areas represented more than 60% of IT services revenue last year. Although still small parts of the market, software as a service and IT education and training were the fastest expanding segments, with revenue jumping by more than 44.4% and 42.0%, respectively. "But over the next few years we expect growth to be fairly evenly divided between the different service areas," says Popescu. "This means support and installation and systems integration are likely to remain the sweet spots of the Romanian IT services market."

In terms of vertical sectors, utilities spent the most on IT services in Romania in 2003. Banking was second and the central government third. Telecommunications and transportation were also in the top five. As with service areas, no two or three vertical sectors dominated the market, with the top five accounting for a little less than half of value in 2003. "The telecommunications, manufacturing, and finance verticals will be the ones to watch," says Popescu. "All three are healthy and expected to invest heavily in IT upgrades as privatization and EU preparations continue apace."

IDC expects the Romanian IT services market to maintain a healthy speed over the next few years. "The right combination of economic growth, technological advancement, and EU-inspired liberalization and privatizations have created a solid foundation for IT services growth," says Popescu. "This doesn't mean tapping the market will be easy. If anything, the ripe environment will foster intensified competition in the IT services arena."

IDC's Romania IT Services 2004-2008 Forecast and 2003 Vendor Shares (IDC# ES06L) presents the IT services industry in Romania and forecasts expenditure on IT services through 2008. The study contains market size, vendor market shares, and forecasts for thirteen foundation market categories. The study ranks the top 85 IT services providers by their 2003 revenue, and presents profiles of the top ten vendors, including their IT services portfolio, their presence in individual vertical markets, and examples of IT services involving contracts. The top ten services providers for each of IDC’s foundation market categories are also provided. The study answers the following questions: What are IDC's predictions for spending on IT services and what are the assumptions for forecast numbers, and what impact will these have on the market forecasts? What are the new trends in IT services delivery, such as outsourcing and business services? Who are the market leaders based on services revenue and what are their strengths, weaknesses, and strategies for the future?


Posted by Mihai Botea : 10/01/2004 10:37:00 AM

Thursday, September 30, 2004

For the past 2-3 weeks I've been wondering if Google is sick or something. This is because it started to act very strange.

First of all, I began finding things harder over the web....it just seemed that the info I was looking for just wasn't available over the web...and this is hard to believe.

After this, I found out that some websites have gone off-Google for almost no reason at all. When asked about this, Google just sends you an e-mail where it says they can't tell you the reasons why YOUR site has dissapeared from Google, but that usually the reasons are: bla-bla-bla....

Today, I found that this blog has gone off Google. You can search for "business romania blog" on Google, but it won't appear. While on Yahoo appears on 2nd place and on MSN on 3rd place.

It seams to me that strange things are happening and even though I tried to find out what was going on, I couldn't find any explanation, exept for Google's new bots and for Yahoo's facelift. Even more, I only found more people that couldn't explain what happened....

If any of you has any explanation....I would love to hear it.




Posted by Mihai Botea : 9/30/2004 04:20:00 PM

FAST COMPANY is one of the most reputated business magazines in the world....and is a great site, with a lot of available resources.

Also, they have a lot of innovative and interesting ideas, such as the one I am writing about right now. They wanted to make a compilation of the best songs that drive their readers towards success. Like the kind of songs you listen before meeting a prospect customer, or the songs you listen before a very important deadline.

The results are available HERE.

My personal list of success songs (no particular order):

- Eminem - Till I Collapse
- Usher - Yeah
- Scooter - We Are The Greatest
- Pink Floyd - Money
- Nelly - Number One
- Machine Head - lot of songs
- U2 - Beautiful Day





Posted by Mihai Botea : 9/30/2004 12:19:00 PM

Wednesday, September 29, 2004

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

I am not very sure if they are better than the old ones or not, but we'll live and see. All I can tell you is that I saw them work on a couple of weblogs and I liked them.


Posted by Mihai Botea : 9/29/2004 02:22:00 PM

Financial Times writes about ongoing conflicts between Romanian journalists and the media corporations controlling them:

Fears for press freedom on the rise in Romania
By Christopher Condon, Published: September 28 2004

Fifteen years after the fall of the repressive Ceausçescu regime, press freedom is again a concern for some journalists in Romania.

In recent weeks journalists at two of the country's biggest daily newspapers have accused their foreign owners of trying to suppress negative coverage of the Romanian government.

The accusations come at a sensitive time, before parliamentary and presidential elections in November and while the European Union is monitoring press freedom ahead of a decision on Romania's entry into the bloc.

Employees at Evenimentul Zilei and Romania Libera claim their owners, Switzerland's Ringier and Germany's Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (WAZ) respectively, have buckled under government pressure to smother criticism before the elections.

Adrian Nastase, Romania's prime minister, is running for president against Theodor Stolojan, leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance.
Both groups of journalists have said their owners have told them to lessen political coverage and tone down their negative reporting of the government.

Journalists at Romania Libera said in a statement that their owners "began in an insistent way to tell us what to write in the newspaper, how to write and who not to criticise".
Romania Libera dedicated its entire front page on September 13 to a statement accusing WAZ of pressing staff to write less about the ruling Social Democrat party and refrain from investigative reporting.
WAZ executives denied the allegations, saying they had never interfered with Libera's editorial content since acquiring the paper in 2001.

A week earlier the editorial staff at Evenimentul made similar accusations against Ringier.
More than half of Evenimentul's 70-member editorial staff signed a public letter saying Ringier executives had pressed the paper to "sweeten" its coverage of the government.

Thomas Landoldt, general manager of Ringier Romania, rejects the charge, insisting: "We have always guaranteed the staff's editorial independence. "The government has denied allegations of manipulation. The idea that foreign media owners have given in to government pressure is "a demagogic development without any common sense", a statement said.

Evenimentul Zilei and Romania Libera have a combined daily circulation of about 150,000.

They are among a small number of national media outlets that regularly investigate accusations of government corruption.

This episode is only the most recent sign of the long-standing tension between government and parts of the media, according to Cristina Guseth, director of the Bucharest office of Freedom House, a rights monitoring group.
Freedom House and other monitoring groups say national state-owned broadcasters are biased towards the government and give little access to opposition politicians.

Journalists at Evenimentul and Libera accuse the government of using state-controlled advertising budgets and selective enforcement of tax laws to influence the media.

The government controls a significant minority of advertising spending in Romania, particularly in the print sector, according to Mircea Toma, director of Bucharest's Media Monitoring Agency.

In July Evenimentul published a story claiming that Mr Nastase's government had ordered state institutions to approve all advertising spending with the prime minister's office.
According to Dan Turturica, Evenimentul's editor, advertising revenue from state-controlled sources has fallen from €500,000 ($615,200, £340,280) in 2003, 20 per cent of the paper's total advertising take, to almost nothing this year.

In its most recent annual report on Romania last October, the European Commission drew attention to the government's selective enforcement of tax laws.

By letting media companies run up big tax debts, the Commission said the government had made them "dependent on the good will of the Romanian authorities".

The government has also been criticised by a number of human rights groups for not pushing prosecutors to file charges in cases that involve the harassment and beating of journalists.

Mr Landoldt said he believed discontent at Evenimentul stemmed more from Ringier's attempts to make organisational and operational changes since it bought the paper from German media giant Bertelsmann last year."

In the same time, Reuters wrote about the conflict between Evenimentul Zilei journalists and the Swiss-based Ringier owner. “"Romania's most outspoken newspaper editor resigned on Tuesday in what media watchdogs said was a result of government pressure to muzzle the press ahead of elections."



Posted by Iulia Rasoiu : 9/29/2004 01:35:00 PM

Hello there,

We would like to welcome one new member of this special blog:

IULIA STOICESCU

She is a Legal Researcher at CHF Romania. She graduated the “Faculty of Law” - Bucharest in 1998 and she is very interested in the Romanian business and economic environment. She was a 'freelancer' legal consultant and she writes some legal consulting articles in a couple of Romanian magazines.

We are sure that her comments and ideas will add value to our developing ‘business-Romania’ blog.

Our team is getting stronger and our readers are getting more and better informed ;)



Posted by Cristian C. Francu : 9/29/2004 11:57:00 AM

Right now Romania's economy is doing OK. Yes, there are lots of problems, some of them very serious, but the macroeconomic fundamentals look pretty good.

In the first quarter of 2004, Romania's economy grew at an annualized rate of -- wait for it -- 6.1%, and according to the PM Adrian Nastase, Romania will achieve an economic growth of 7.5% this year – the highest in Europe and the country’s 15 year-high. The original target set for this year was 5.5%.

However, the majority of economic analysts believe this growth will not bear any significant effects on individuals and some even believe that for real effects, the growth must be more than 10%. One example backing their belief is that, despite an outstanding wheat crop this year, the price of bread has not decreased at all.

The economic growth was led by the industrial sector (which grew at 6.6%) and construction (7.2%). The service sector grew by 5.7% and agriculture by 5.4%... slow compared to the rest of the economy, but still not bad.

Also the foreign direct investment (FDI) -- both greenfields and equity purchases -- is up, with some 1.8 billion USD in FDI attracted last year; Romania ranks fourth among Central and Eastern European countries and first among South-Eastern European countries.

So, the foreign investment is growing quickly, although from a very small base, but it's expected to double in the next two to three years. In the same time lending is growing like mad, around 50% per year.

According to the National Bank of Romania in the first seven months of this year, the current account deficit reached 1.75 billion euros, 3.2% of the GDP expected for this year
The Government and the National Bank of Romania pledged in negotiations with the International Monetary Fund to contain the current account deficit at 5.5% of GDP for this year, 0.4% lower than in 2003.
From January to July 2003, the current account deficit reached 2.8% of GDP.

The biggest problem is the foreign trade deficit, which is just getting bigger and bigger. Romanian exports are up, but imports are up even more. Unemployment has been falling for the last couple of years. Today it is around 7.5%, which seems high to Americans but is pretty good for Europe.
Still, overall it's good news for Romania.
Which is also good news for the ruling Social Democratic Party, the PSD. PSD faces national elections in November. At this point they're expected to win...

So, good news, right? Well, maybe. Is this for real? And, if it is, how long can it go on? Am I missing something?

One oddity: after three, now going on four years of good economic news, Romanians seem as pessimistic as ever or even more.

Why?


Posted by Iulia Rasoiu : 9/29/2004 11:39:00 AM

Tuesday, September 28, 2004

Bucharest, Romania, Sep. 24 (UPI) -- Romania expects foreign direct investment to reach $2.5 billion in 2004, the Rompres news agency reported Friday.

Alexandru Popa, head of the Romanian Agency for Foreign Investments, was reported as saying foreign direct investment would improve on last year's $1.8 billion because of reforms to the customs code, the taxation system and business registration procedures.

In August the central bank said increased foreign direct investment would inevitably lead to a gradual appreciation of the Romanian currency, the leu. In the January to May period, foreign direct investment inflows were up 38 percent compared to the same period last year.

The Romanian economy grew 6.6 percent in the first half of 2004 over the same period last year and is forecast by the government to grow by 5 percent or more in each of the next four years.

Posted by Mihai Botea : 9/28/2004 04:52:00 PM

Ion Iliescu (currently, president of Romania) has been granted the right to participate in the elections law for the 2004-2008 period. Even if he won't be eligible for Presidency, he will be able to run for parliament on the list of the ruling PSD (Social democratic Party).

This is expected to boost the PSD in their election race in 2004.

This is even more outrageous as the president signed this law on friday himself. So ... its like he voted himself.

Even more, the current constitution clearly says that "the president must be non-partisan, cannot be a party member or hold any other post until he ends his term". But with this move (and with a lot of other recent press-releases he made lately) he is clearly a PSD partisan.

I believe this is meant to create a huge rift in the race for elections and I am amazed of how easily this kind of actions can take place in Romania. One year ago, when the new constitution was proposed, several other moves like this were registered.

As you can remember, thounsands of people were almost obliged to vote for the constitution, even though it was clear that they didn't wanted to. They were stopped on the streets and asked to vote or to sign for the constitution, a lot of votes were falsified, and so on.

Again, I was amazed then by how easily these kind of actions can take place (in a coutry that calls itself democratic) and by how indifferent the international organizations can be when faced with this kind of situations.

While a clear manipulation takes place and while everybody can see that democracy is just a concept in Romania, the IMF, the World Bank and the EU officials talk only about the great progress Romania makes, about our chances to join in 2007 and so on.

I believe joining the EU should be done only when we can compare ourselves to the other members. I don't believe a country where the people can be fooled day-by-day by the politicians, where the civil society is ignored and where the economy is said to be "market economy" while everybody can see it is merely an "10-years-distance-from-a-market-economy" should join the EU. It will just make all the differences act against us.

Posted by Mihai Botea : 9/28/2004 04:09:00 PM

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What to expect in 2006

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