VAT cuts for food, drinks and public services speed to June
Cheaper food, non-alcoholic drinks and services in the field are expected in June as Romania’s government approved a VAT cut to 9 percent from 24 percent for food, non-alcoholic drinks and related public services starting in June. Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta claimed the measure would encourage local producers to perform competitive prices. „Food prices are similar to the rest of Europe while wages are much lower which means that 32 percent of a family budget goes on food. The cut should be mostly reflected in prices”, Prime Minister Ponta told reporters on Tuesday. His government also plans to cut VAT for non-food products to 20 percent in January next year.
European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis on a visit to Romania
European Commission’s Vice-President and Commissioner for the Euro and Social Dialogue Valdis Dombrovskis is due in Romania on Wednesday for talks focused mainly on economic issues. In an interview with Radio Romania, Mr. Dombrovskis praised the country’s economic progress while expecting an economic growth of 3 percent which was well above the European average this year and in 2016. However, Mr. Dombrovskis pointed out that structural reforms were still needed in order to get Romania in line with other emerging economies. Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis is a Latvian politician who served as Prime Minister of Latvia from 2009 until 2014, when he resigned. He served as Minister of Finance from 2002 to 2004 and was a Member of the European Parliament for the New Era Party.
A former Romanian minister appears as witness in a corruption case
Romania’s former Agriculture Minister Dacian Cioloş appears as a witness in a corruption-related case involving Jean-Cătălin Sandu, a former head of the country’s State Asset Selling Authority (AVAS), charged for his involvement in the fraudulent privatisation of Romania’s Food Research Institute. Mr. Sandu is accused of abuse in office. In the Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu cabinet, Dacian Cioloş was Agriculture Minister from October 2007 to December 2008. In November 2009, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso nominated him to be the next Agriculture Commissioner, a job he assumed in February 2010 and held until his term expired in November 2014.
International Roma Day
The International Roma Day is celebrated in Romania and around the world on Wednesday. The day was officially declared in 1990 in Serock, Poland, the site of the fourth World Roma Congress of the International Roma Union (IRU), in honour of the first major international meeting of Roma representatives, 7-12 April 1971 in Chelsfield near London. The event is also seen as a tribute to Roma people killed by the Nazis during WWII. Conferences, festivals and humanitarian events are organised on the occasion in Romania and countries around the world. „The marginalisation and exclusion of Europe’s Roma needs to be addressed head-on. Change will not happen overnight, but the European institutions and Member States are committed to fighting discrimination and improving integration. We will work hand-in-hand with the EU’s Member States to improve the lives of the EU’s Roma citizens. We will work hard to ensure that their fundamental rights are respected and to advance their integration in Europe”, EU officials said in a statement issued on April 7 and signed by UE First Vice-President Frans Timmermans and Commissioners Marianne Tyssen, Vera Jourova and Corina Creţu.
Alexandru Danga – Agenţia de Presă RADOR
