May 2 – Romania’s National Youth Day
Romania celebrates its National Youth Day on May 2, following a law issued in 2004. Romania’s north-western town of Baia Mare becomes the country’s Youth Capital in 2018 on the occasion. The first Romanian city with the title was Timişoara, in western Romania, between 2 May 2016 and 1 May 2017, followed by Bacău, a Moldavian eastern town holding the title until May 1 this year. Baia Mare is expected to receive a €50,000 prize from the country’s National Bank (BNR), co-founder of the programme. Baia Mare is the capital of Maramureș County. The city is about 600 kilometres (373 miles) far from the capital Bucharest, 70 km (43 miles) from the border with Hungary, and 50 km (31 miles) from the border with Ukraine. Baia Mare is the largest city in the Maramureş region and faced a revival in recent years. The main attractions in the region around Baia Mare are some of UNESCO World Heritage wooden churches, which are 20 km far from the city.
Alleged new changes to Romania’s criminal codes
A special parliamentary committee is expected to start debates concerning alleged changes to Romania’s criminal codes on Wednesday. The committee is the same body who approved the controversial changes to the judiciary with prosecutors and the political opposition warning that proposed amendments would weaken the fight against corruption and other crimes. The new changes come following proposals put forward by MPs of the governing left-wing Social Democratic Party (PSD). The debates include changes to the country’s Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes as well as the Civil Procedure Code. The move already sparked fierce debates between PSD and opposition MPs. The opposition complains that representatives of the country’s Justice Ministry are not involved in the talks while the institution is actually supposed to supervise such legislation according to law.
Verdict expected in a corruption-related case
Romania’s High Court of Cassation ad Justice (ICCJ) is expected to rule its verdict in a corruption-related case on Wednesday. The case involves a former senator and judge of the country’s Constitutional Court. Defendant Toni Greblă faces charges of influence peddling, illegal financial operations, forming a criminal group and forged statement. However, ICCJ ruling is not final. Romania’s anti-corruption watchdog, the DNA, asked the court for a prison sentence in its appeal on March 27. Mr. Greblă allegedly received a luxury car, large amounts of money and electoral ads in exchange of his support of contracts awarded to a local businessman.
EBRD invests in Romanian agribusiness enterprise
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is lending the local currency equivalent of €10mn to boost Romania’s agricultural sector.
The borrower is domestic agri-financier Agricover Credit IFN, which will use the Romanian lei to allow access to finance for the country’s farmers. Agricover Credit IFN serves over 15% of the country’s professional farmers and its parent company Agricover Holdings provides agri finance to upwards of 4,500 Romanian farmers. The EBRD announced in October 2017 that it had bought a 13% stake in Agricover Holdings. To date, EBRD has disbursed €7bn in Romania./adanga
Alexandru Danga
