Romania: Press review

January 29, 2010

Romania: Press review - January 29

Bucharest, Jan 29 /Agerpres/ - Romania's national dailies of Friday give main coverage to the emergence of an idea for a project for a Social-Liberal alliance; Government dismissing information about one million Romanians becoming unemployed in 2010 allegedly mentioned by the IMF Mission Chief for Romania Jeffery Franks; the costs of furlough measures and a film by Romanian-born director Radu Maihaileanu getting nominated for the French Cesar Awards.

The papers report that Dan Voiculescu, founding chairman of the Conservative Party (PC), currently in the opposition in an alliance with the Social Democratic Party (PSD), is suggesting PSD chief Mircea Geoana and chief of the opposition National Liberal Party (PNL) Crin Antonescu that the Opposition gets organised and act unitarily as a Social Liberal Alliance, as the only chance for efficient action against the current parties in power.

Jurnalul National carries the open letter of Voiculescu, in which he proposes the alliance. Voiculescu says: 'I am wondering whether it would not be more useful for, instead of political pantomime, the Opposition to start existing? And the Opposition, the opposition facing the current regime, can only exist if it mounts unitary actions. A Social Liberal Alliance is needed now, not in two years' time.'

Romania libera remarks that on a recent visit to Moldova, Romania's President Traian Basescu confessed to having been naïve to believe former Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin will do what he said he would.

Asked about the reasons for a bad relationship with Moldova over the past two years, Basescu said the main reason was his naïveté, which he displayed when not doubting the words of Voronin.

Gandul remarks that Basescu has made mea culpa in the relation with Moldova, blaming his naïveté, and that the President says he will never sign what Hitler and Stalin did.

Curierul National quotes Finance Minister Sebastian Vladescu as saying he does not believe the 2010 unemployment figures will be higher than in 2009, arguing that the 1-million-unemployed and the 100,000 public employees laid off do not exist in any of the Finance Ministry's analyses.

Less than two weeks after stating during the budgetary talks in Parliament that he is not commenting on job cuts, but there is a programme for nearly 100,000 job cuts and each public institution will carry this through, Vladescu on Thursday argued there is no talk of either one million unemployed or 100,000 public redundancies.

The topic of the one million unemployed was also approached two days ago by International Monetary Fund (IMF) Mission Chief for Romania Jeffrey Franks, who told Pro TV commercial channel in an interview that unemployment will continue to rise in Romania throughout the first half of the year and it might reach one million.

Romania libera quotes Government sources as saying the Government will lose nearly 110 million euros in 2010 on furlough as a job protection measure agreed upon with trade unions and employers. Specialists are quoted as saying this is a small loss against what the usual unemployment measures would entail.

The paper also quotes company managers from four large economic sectors as estimating a drop in employment by between 17 and 39 percent in the first three months of the year. Furlough measures to be extended this year to troubled companies are expected to cost nearly 110 million euros, just some millions more than in 2009.

Adevarul reports that the Romanian Government has doubled its loans taken over the past two years, but it has to slow down the pace in the period immediately ahead, as warned by Romania's representative with the IMF. Although public debt is now half the 60-percent reference level, the pace at which the Government has borrowed money is worrying and the Government should stop at 35 percent.

Romania, the paper says, has managed to double its public debt from 15 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2007. Although the current 30 percent level is not big when compared with the 60-percent reference, economists are warning that the growth pace carries risks.

Romania libera carries an interview with Romanian-born French film director Radu Mihaileanu, which latest production 'Concertul' (The Concert), has been nominated to run in six categories of the French Cesar Awards.

'We have reached 2 million spectators at the end of 13 weeks of screening in 280 halls, which is quite exceptional. The reaction of the public is extraordinary; there are some people who have watched the film 4-6 times. Some of the spectators' opinions are posted on the allocine.fr website, the best-known cinema website in France, as well as on the film's Facebook page. Each day, the people having watched the film log in to comment and they say the film has made them happy and restored their confidence in people. This is the most beautiful, the best pay I have received over the past three years,' says Mihaileanu.

The sport papers report that Romanian athlete Reka Ferencz on Thursday won gold in the 12.5-km event of the World Junior Biathlon Championships in Torsby, Sweden. AGERPRES

[www.romaniapress.com]

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