Tuesday, July 18 2023

Training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16 aircraft could begin in Romania at the end of August, President Iohannis says

Training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16 aircraft could begin in Romania at the end of August, President Klaus Iohannis has said on Monday, during the „European Union – Community of Latin American and Caribbean States” summit in Brussels, which continues on Tuesday. The president has emphasized the importance of this project for the Romanian army, saying that it is intended to be long-lasting.
Klaus Iohannis: It is a process that is important to us and it is important to be maintained. We do not train pilots from August to September, we will start at the end of this summer and it will be a project that will last a long time. My interest is to have a well-prepared, solid project with very efficient instructors and to have a successful project for the Romanian Army here.

Romanian firefighters are supporting efforts to contain a fire in the Kouvaras area, southeast of the Greek capital Athens

A detachment of Romanian firefighters is in Greece, in the Kouvaras area, southeast of the capital Athens, helping to extinguish a dry vegetation fire. During their first intervention in the current season, the Romanian crew brought four fire trucks, a 30-ton water tanker and two field trucks to the scene. 31 firefighters from Romania, stationed not far from the affected area, were present at the operations. Their help is really valuable because they are very well trained. They were in Greece last year too and had a substantial and valuable contribution that was highly appreciated, which is why they were again invited to take part in operations to contain the fires this year, in order to share the knowledge they have in the field.

Romania’s gas imports have declined in 2023

Romania’s gas imports have declined by more than 36 percent in the first five months of this year, compared to the same period of last year. At the same time, domestic natural gas production was 6.6 percent higher than in the first five months of last year, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics. Estimates show that gas production should grow at an average annual rate of 3.6 percent over the next three years, after a decline of about 1 percent last year. As far as imports are concerned, a sharp drop of 23 percent is forecast for this year, a trend that will be maintained in the next three years.

Mădălina Brotăcel, RADOR