RADOR: News from Romania, 99-05-05

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From: RADOR Press Agency <http://indis.ici.ro/romania/news/rador.html>

MAy 5, 1999

CONTENTS

[01] Debates of the Chamber of Deputies The Chamber of Deputies resumed debates on Tuesday on the draft law regarding the organization and work of the Government and of the ministries. According to RADIO ROMANIA ACTUALITATI the law regulates the general framework of organization and work of the executive and of the ministries, their structure, setting up, leadership and management as well as general aspects.At the same time the drafvt law separates politics from administration. Working personnel as part of the executive are civil servants while cabinet members, the PM, ministers and secretaries of state are part of the political domain. Deputies also passed an amendment of the Commission for local administration according to which members of the Government can also be other ministers entrusted with special tasks working with the PM as stipulated on the list of the Government for granting vote of confidence. RADOR Long debate took place on the Article refering to the dismissal of a Cabinet member. Following a proposal of the Chairman of the Plenary session, Mr. Paula Ivanescu,the Plenum passed the provision according to which a member of the Chamber of Deputies can take the floor only once during the debate of an Article of a law.The Chairman of the plenary session refused to give the floor to the PDSR MP Axinte Gaspar who already had taken the floor on the same Article before;the PDSR Parliamentary group withdrew from the debates and the session was suspended as there was no quorum. The session is to be resumed on Wednesday starting o8.3o, RADIO ROMANIA ACTUALITATI reports.

[02] Restrictions for the Account Court. The Account Court will no longer have the right to inspect companies to whose capital and assets the State has not contributed, according to RADIO ROMANIA ACTUALITATI. The decision was passed by the Constitutional Court whose President Lucian Mihai issued a communique reading that the decision is to be released in the Monitorul Oficial: companies, associations and foundations whose capital or patrimony has no State contribution will be inspected by the Ministry of Finance according to Law. RADOR

[03] Meeting of the Leaders of the Coalition Leaders at the Parliament Palace The leaders of the ruling coalition met on Tuesday at the Parliament Palace to analyse complaints of UDMR-Union of Democratic Magyars of Romania- linked to the Law on Education, the Law of local administration and the statute of civil servants.According to RADIO ROMANIA ACTUALITATI President of UDMR Marko Bela told media at the end of the meeting that UDMR asked and obtained promise of observance of understandings reached among the Coalition members.President of PNTCD- Christian Democratic National Peasants Party- Ion Diaconescu said said the meeting was in a way an arbitration connected to issues raised by UDMR and that evnetually wording acceptable to all parties concerned was agreed upon of the Laws under dispute.PNL-National Liberal Party-leader Mircea Ionescu Quintus said in his turn that we no longer speak of Universities but of Multicultural Education Institutes. RADOR

[04] Issues debated at the Democratic Party - PD- Press Conference The leader of the PD Parliamentary group of the Chamber of Deputies Bogdan Niculescu Duvaz said on Tuesday at a press conference that PD wishes to participate in a debate with all Parliamentary parties on the initiative of PDSR-Party of Social Democracy of Romania-regarding the completion and amending of Romanian Electoral Law.PD leader says that this initiative providing for raising electoral ceiling from 3 to 5 per cent leads to non representation of important segments of the population in the Parliament of the country.The PD leader also criticised the stand of PNTCD that voted alongside PDSR against debating the Law of access to files of former Securitate on second position on the Agenda of the Chamber. In the opinion of Mr. Duvaz the Law on access to files of former Securitate should be a priority according to RADIO ROMANIA ACTUALITATI. RADOR

[05] PDSR Press Conference PDSR appreciates the change of stand of the UK in its foreign policy connected to Romania but is of the opinion that interest shown to our country is strictly linked to circumstances.At the press conference on Tuesday vice president Adrian Nastase said the speech of the British PM was very good rhetoric but that outside words and promises Mr. Blair did not make any concrete pledge.Mr. Nastase is of the opinion that this visit could be a prelude of new requests of NATO members for involving Romania in the conflict in Yugoslavia. The speaker also refered to lack of transparency of the Government and the majority coalition and considers necessary to have consultations in Parliament before the signing of the IMF letter of intention.Mr. Nastase said he was not happy only newspapers in Hungary wrote about the decision made at Poiana Brasov by ruling parties to set up a multicultural University the only issue to be further debated being linked to its location RADIO ROMANIA ACTUALITATI informs. RADOR

[06] PNR-Romanian National Party-says UDMR has wrong attitude at international meetings Leadership of PNR say representatives of UDMR at meetings of international bodies and organizations have an attitude that casts unfavourable light upon Romania. In the press conference on Tuesday vice president of PNR Mr.Dorin Iacob said that UDMR makes public real intentions taking advantage of the situation in Kosovo and that the Government does not take any measure, RADIO ROMANIA ACTUALITATI reports. RADOR. SOCIAL LIFE

[07] President Emil Constantinescu received Vasile Stoica who made the tour of the world in a handicapped persons wheel chair President Emil Constantinescu received Vasile Stoica, a handicapped person that made a world tour in a wheel chair at the Cotroceni Palace on Tuesday. Mr. Stoica was quoted by RADIO ROMANIA ACTUALITATI saying that he enjoyed support of Romanian communities in the countries he traveled and that he intented to write a book about handicapped persons he met in the countries visited.President Constantinescu said the performance put out by young Vasile Stoica is a victory of morale and a demonstration of will power. The President also said that aid to handicapped persons is not a gift but an obligation of the State and added he would ask the Minister of Public Construction to abide by the Law on access of handicapped persons to public buildings. RADOR

[08] Decision of the Trade Unions Leaders of the four main Trade Union Federations of Romania decided to give Government some more time by 7 May to continue negociations on speeding up reform as there are two drafts of the Law on speeding economic reform in this country; one of the drafts is worked out by the Romanian Development Agency and the other is a Romanian-English version of the World Bank.Final talks on the draft law regarding speeding up reform will take place on Friday. Secretary General of ALFA Cartel, Ioan Homos said a new round of negociations takes place today with the representatives of CONEL and Romgaz for costs of electric and thermal power, RADIO ROMANIA ACTUALITATI informs its listeners. RADOR

[09] General Strike at the National Radiocommunications Corporation Operational Bureau of the Trade Union Radio Communications Federation announced in a communique received by RADIO ROMANIA ACTUALITATI that it officially announces start of the general strike after lo May as Trade Union Federation of Radio Communications notice total lack of cooperation and perpetual adjournment of start of real negociations on the part of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation and the Romanian Television Corporation with a view to signing contracts for services. RADOR After having received the communique one of the reporters of RADIO ROMANIA ACTUALITATI had a telephone talk with Mr. Stefan Molinaru, Director General of the Romanian National Corporation of Radio Communications who said he was surprised at the release of this document and that on Wednesday at the latest the management of the Corporation issues its own communique which should put things in correct order as resulted from the negociations which were started by Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation and Romanian Television Corporation with representatives of Corporation of Radio Communications. RADOR

[10] Employees of CLUJANA started protest strike 5000 employees of CLUJANA state owned company started general strike demanding that State Ownership Fund gives thirty billion lei loan to CLUJANA for relaunch of production and protection of labour. The president of the State Ownership Fund -FPS- Mr. Radu Sirbu said no loan will be given to CLUJANA whose employees he told the best solution for that company is liquidation of assets, according to RADIO CLUJ RADOR.

[11] Meeting for development of rural areas of Romania MLPAT in the Councili Hall hosts the meeting of all concerned in the development of rural areas of Romania.The meeting unfolds between 11.00 and 13.00 chairman being Minister Nicolae Noica. Main issues to be broached are conservation of villages and towns in the countryside which for a better layout of the territory must be included in plans of development, reads a note received from MLPAT. RADOR

[12] Valea Jiului to become tourist area Valea Jiului could become a popular and succesful tourist area as it offers conditions for skiing in the winter and for extreme sports while some of the coal mines could be turned into museums. According to ANTENNA ONE TV several Italian tourism companies are interested in bringing tourists to Valea Jiului as this area has become notorious in Europe due to recent miners actions. The National Tourist Authority might facilitate financing from regional development funds of the European Union if the Government passes a decision which sanctions the turning of Valea Jiului into a tourist and recreation area. RADOR

[13] Dutch and German humanitarian aid for Resita According to RADIO RESITA two transports have arrived at this town,one coming from the Dutch-Romanian Foundation ROMANET which is chaired by a doctor who now lives in this country and teaches at the Universities of Oradea and Arad,and the other orginating from Bielefeld based RUMANIEN HILFE Foundation. Hospital equipment is the main bulk of the first transport that goes to the town Hospital and it is worth more than one hundred thousand DM while the second one is made up of materials for schools and children homes of the same town of Resita. RADOR

[14] Concentration of noxious elements is not above admitted level in county Timis Following measurement conducted by the Agency of Environmental Protection of Timisoara in the Moraviata area which is near the border with Yugoslavia no noxious substance is above admitted levels according to RADIO ROMANIA ACTUALITATI which adds that measurement is made every day at Moravita and Jimbolia. RADOR INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

[15] The speech of PM Tony Blair before the Parliament of Romania Mr.Blair is confident in the fact that Romania will be a full member of the North Atlantic Alliance says RADIO ROMANIA ACTUALITATI. The British PM that made a visit to Bucharest and delivered a speech before the Parliament of this country also said the largest defense cooperation project of the UK is unfolding in Romania adding that Romania already is engaged actively on the way of NATO joining so that it should actively participate in European security projects.The British PM said among others that nobody is questioning the borders of Romania and that nobody will have the right to do so in the future stressing the exemplary solution on the part of Romania of some historic difficulties with its neighbours, especially with Hungary and the Ukraine. Mr. Blair also mentioned he was confident in the fact that when Romania will join the Alliance it will ensure besides its own security also action meant to guarantee security of the entire continent. Refering to the costs of the Yugoslav crisis for Romania the British PM said the UK will support all proposals at the EU and at the IMF to help the Romanian people continue economic restructure in the process of joining the European community. More than this the Helsinki European Council session the following December will witness British invitation to Romania to start negociations necessary to European Union joining, underlined the British PM. RADOR

[16] The President of Romania had talks with the British PM in Bucharest During the talks at Cotroceni of President Emil Constantinescu with the British PM Tony Blair the first mentioned the damage caused to Romania by the Yugoslav conflict said spokesman of the Presidency Rasvan Popescu. The Romanian President added that our country will not overvaluate damage as it did during the former embargo against Yugoslavia after which nothing was ever recovered.Now hope is nurtured that this time Romania will receive compensations for losses of about 700 million USD to date and which in the main are a result of traffic on the rivver Danube being suspended while Romanian exports to the EU members are affected, transmits RADIO ROMANIA ACTUALITATI. RADOR

[17] Valeriu Stoica to attend the anniversary of 50 years since the setting up of the European Council Minister of Justice, State Minister Valeriu Stoica goes to London to attend the official anniversary of 5o years since the creation of the Council of Europe. Before taking off for London Mr. Stoica told the following to RADIO ROMANIA ACTUALITATI: "Also attending will be the Queen. Significant is the fact that after 50 years the festivities take place in London as it was London that hosted the signing of the statutes of the European Council. There were only six members in the beginning and now there are 41; if we speak of a triumph then it is a triumph of human rights in Europe. What was only a shy attempt in 1950 is now a great success". RADOR

[18] The Romanian national defense minister attends the Paris annual strategic Conference RADIO ROMANIA ACTUALITATI reports that Victor Babiuc, Romanian defense minister, spoke at the fourth annual strategic Conference in Paris mainly refering to security in the South Eastern area of Europe in the context of NATO's expansion. RADOR

[19] Victor Babiuc meets with Alain Richard Romanian defense minister meets French defense minister Alain Richard that predicts our country could join NATO earlier than 2002. Mr. Babiuc recalled support and compensations for damage caused to Romania by the Yugoslav conflict, RADIO ROMANIA ACTUALITATI reports. ECONOMIC NEWS

[20] Eighth Edition of CERF CERF'99 was opened by the President of Romania and by the Ambassador of the United States to our country.Mr. Emil Constantinescu underlined the interest shown by the Government of Romania for one of the most important fields of activity now which is technology of information also recalling the institutional framework for the deelopment of a national policy with a view to building the information society. In his turn the US Ambassador Mr. James Rosapepe said that the US and Romania are linked by strategic partnership and the technology of information is the most dynamic domain of the afore mentioned partnership, says RADIO ROMANIA ACTUALITATI. RADOR

[21] UN Study reads a Marshall plan is needed for countries in South Eastern Europe UN Economic Commission for Europe estimates that a Marshall plan is needed for supporting economies in South Eastern Europe which are directly affected by the war in Yugoslavia.The Commission wrote down its concern for that situation in a study released in Geneva saying that there is a delay of the reform process in the countries in question following the war. The consequences are serious enough especially in commercial exchanges between Western Europe and the Balkan countries in the first place Bulgaria, Macedonia and Romania that are losers in as far as markets and suppliers in Yugoslavia are concerned, reads the UN study mentioned by RADIO ROMANIA ACTUALITATI. RADOR

[22] Romanian-Greek business seminar PHARE Programme paid the costs and the Marea Neagra Business Center of Mangalia is hosting the Romanian-Greek seminar aimed at better and faster ways for setting up Romanian-Greek joint ventures. Various Greek firms and companies in the fields of machine building, metal construction, ship building and consultancy have sent their representatives to the seminar, RADIO ROMANIA ACTUALITATI reports. RADOR

[23] Visit of Minister of Agriculture to COMTIM Timisoara Minister of Agriculture Ioan Muresan visited the COMTIM Timisoara company and said a solution for its being privatized is its redimensiioning by slimming it down. 200 000 pigs could be sold and part of the debt to the Agriculture Bank could be paid back; total debt reads one thousand two hundred million lei.Minister Muresan said he will release money for the preservation of the Padureni pig farm which is the genetic stock of the COMTIM company. RADOR

[24] SIDEX Galati turns off power 8 May is the day when only one third of power goes into the runners feeding SIDEX of Galati and starting l5 May it is turned off the national power grid.RADIO IASI mentions that CONEL said SIDEX did not offer any guarantee that they are able to pay back debts worth 771 thousand million lei. RADOR

[25] ALBINA Bank does not go bankrupt Savings of 33000 are not washed away as ALBINA Bank is saved by Banca Populara Romana which will make a complete assessment by the end of this month.The solution offered is turning of savings with the ALBINA Bank into bonds that mature after a year and bring about an interest of 50 to 7o per cent. RADOR

[26] Ministry of Finance makes new offer of treasury bonds New series of treasury bonds was released starting yesterday to mature in three months and offering an 8o per cent interest per year.These bonds are national currency valued. Next week hard currency bonds will be released to mature in three or six months whose interest is 7.5 per cent in USD and 5 per cent in DM.Nominal value of each bond is of 500 USD or 800 DM. RADOR

[27] CONEL introduces new system of electric power tariffs. TVR 1 informs viewers that starting this month CONEL introduces new tariffs for electric power consumption:standard and social.Households having a consumption of less than 50 kwt\h per month benefit of social tariffs.Companies will go standard and will have to select peak hours and top consumption.On Thursday the Government decides the new tariff for the kilowatt\h according to the 1 USD for 14500 lei ratio as the present one was reached by equalling 1 USD to 11500 lei. RADOR

[28] Yugoslav power system at Portile de Fier has problems RADIO ROMANIA ACTUALITATI reporters say the Yugoslav twin of Romanian power system at Portile de Fier on the river Danube has had problems as a result of allied bombing of their national power network. Yugoslav side had to cut down power to 450 MW and then went up again to normal parameters of 900 MW also because of the very big flow of river water. RADOR

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