Latest News from Romania

Octavian Morariu receives the French National Order of Merit in rank of Knight

The former President of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee, Octavian Morariu, on Tuesday received a decoration from the French State, namely the National Order of Merit in rank of Knight, from the hands of the French Ambassador in Bucharest, who said that the former Romanian athlete has celebrated 'the Olympic values' all throughout his career.

Belgium's bpost Interested in Buying Romanian Post

Romania's Ministry of Communications on Tuesday said it had accepted the non-binding offer from the Belgian postal operator bpost for a majority stake in state-owned Posta Romania (Romanian Post).

Blue Air to launch Athens-Larnaca route on January 19

Romanian low-cost airline Blue Air has announced that it will launch an Athens-Larnaca route on January 19. The airline will operate the new service seven times per week, with the intention of expanding the schedule to ten flights for the summer season.

ForMin Aurescu tells Ukraine Romania expects mobilization to not be 'selective'

Romanian Foreign Affairs Minister Bogdan Aurescu met Ukrainian ambassador in Bucharest Teofil Bauer on Tuesday, on which occasion he communicated the Romanian side's expectation that the partial mobilization carried out amid the conflict in eastern Ukraine should not have a 'selective' character and should avoid 'discriminatory approaches that might target ethnic grounds as well'.

Romania Media Mogul Held on Tax Dodging Charges

Adrian Sarbu, owner of the Mediafax Group, one of the largest media groups in Romania, was detained late on Monday by prosecutors for alleged involvement in a $3.4 million US tax evasion case.

Udrea: I do not expect to be arrested, there is no reason at this time for it

Deputy Elena Udrea has stated, on Tuesday, upon exiting the 2nd Police Precinct Bucharest, where she went in accordance to the schedule set down after she was placed under judiciary control in the Microsoft case, that she does not expect to be arrested, because there are no reasons for it.

Photo credit: (c) Silviu MATEI / AGERPRES PHOTO

Romania Jails Four Judges and Mogul for Corruption

The Bucharest Appeals Court on Monday jailed Judge Mircea Moldovan for 22 years for having taken bribes to deliver favourable rulings in cases involving Dan Adamescu, one of the richest businessmen in Romania.

It was one of the toughest sentences ever pronounced in a corruption case in Romania. Three other judges were also sentenced to lesser prison terms.

ForMin Aurescu says surprised at allegations of Romanian weapons having been delivered to ISIL

Romanian Foreign Affairs Minister Bogdan Aurescu welcomed Iraqi ambassador to Romania Omer Berzinji on Monday, with the minister voicing 'the Romanian side's surprise' at the allegations made by an Iraqi lawmaker and recently circulated in the news media that Romania were involved in an alleged transfer of weapons to ISIL.

Photo credit: (c) ILIE BUMBAC/ AGERPRES FLOW

Journalist cooks using Apicius's recipes at Roman Festival

Targu Mures-based journalist Botond Gaspar became famous after succeeding in cooking several ancient Roman recipes inspired from Apicius's 'De re coquinaria' at the latest two editions of the Roman Festival in Calugareni (southern Romania).

Photo credit: (c) Dorina MATIS / AGERPRES

Central bank foreign exchange reserves down after payments to EC, IMF

The foreign currencies reserves of the National Bank of Romania (BNR, the central bank) stood at 30.6 billion euros on January 31, down 1.6 billion from 32.2 billion euros at end-December, according to data released on Monday by BNR. The outflow included payments to the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Anti-corruption prosecutors indict ex-Minister Elena Udrea for abuse of power and graft

Head of the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) Laura Codruta Kovesi sent Romania's Prosecutor-general the papers needed for the notification of the Chamber of Deputies in connection with the request for the start of the prosecution of deputy Elena Udrea, who, at the time when the suspected crimes were perpetrated, was filling the position of Minister of Regional Development and Tourism.

Converting Franc Loans Will Cost Romania, Bank Says

The governor of the Romanian national bank, BNR, Mugur Isarescu, on Friday warned against trying to convert loans in Swiss francs into loans in the national currency.

"Such conversion would cause a loss of 5.7 billion lei (some 1.3 billion euro) to banks with CHF loans on their balance sheet, which represent around 0.8 per cent of Romania's GDP," Isarescu told a press conference.

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