Romanian press review
Mar 2, 2010

Romanian press review.
Bucharest, March 2 /Agerpres/ - President Traian Basescu is paying a state visit to Kazakhstan, the future party of the independents is preparing to form territorial structures, the number of unemployed people in Romania has increased alarmingly compared with the average of the European Union, the crisis has hit life insurance too, but it will also hit disability retirement, which the Government wants to control rigorously, these are only some of the headlines catching reader's eye in the Romanian newspapers that appeared on Tuesday.

President Traian Basescu will be on a state visit to Kazakhstan on Tuesday and Wednesday, at the invitation of his Kazakh counterpart, Jurnalul National daily quotes the Presidential Administration as saying.

During his visit the Head of State will meet President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayer, Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Ural Mukhamedjanov and the representatives of some Kazakh and Romanian companies working in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Gabriel Oprea, leader of the independents' group in Parliament, says he is sure that Neculai Ontanu will be elected head of the Bucharest organization of his future party.

Ontanu said that the independents' policy developed in the national interest, not in the political one and that their number one priority is to get out of the economic crisis. Oprea answered his comrade in a statement too appreciating his qualities as a good manager and organizer, informs Gandul newspaper.

The new left-wing party is no longer satisfied with only attracting remarkable members of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), it has also started sketching its territorial structures, reads Romania libera daily.

Ludovic Orban, first vice-chairman of the National Liberal Party, told a private TV station on Monday evening that he would suggest the permanent delegation on Thursday that Antonescu be declared official candidate for presidency and Tariceanu, candidate for the position of premier. This latter one should be empowered to create a shadow government, informs daily Jurnalul National.

A new scandal broke out in PSD after Victor Ponta took over as chairman because, concurrently with the above-mentioned position, he also took over the troubles to go with it, namely the ones caused by the payment of bills. PSD leader Victor Ponta asked for a financial check to be made on the expenses his predecessor Mircea Geoana incurred in the past five years. PSD has 0 (zero) lei in its accounts and huge debts following the mandate of the former leadership, says daily Jurnalul National.

No branch leader will be beheaded after the installation of the new PSD leadership. This was the decision of the PSD executive committee that convened yesterday for the first time after the election of the new PSD chairman Victor Ponta, adds Evenimentul zilei newspaper.

The Democratic Liberal Party yesterday forced the Chamber of Deputies to debate and adopt a draft law on changing the status of the public servant, which should save the appointments made by the Boc Government to the management of the deconcentrated institutions that were operated on the basis of two ordinances already declared as unconstitutional, reads Jurnalul National daily.

The Democrat Liberals did their best to find a legal justification for the Premier's appointing the managers of the deconcentrated institutions by breaking down the microphone of the opposition, added Evenimentul zilei daily.

The local and central Social Democrat leaders yesterday, during the national executive committee, voted on a resolution PSD chairman Victor Ponta proposed by which the party pledges to go on supporting Mircea Geoana for the Senate's Presidency.

'I do not want us, as long as I am chairman of this party, and all my colleagues agreed to it, to repeat the mistake we made in 2006 when we missed the position of Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, which had been obtained by the votes people had cast for our parliamentarians,' Gandul daily quotes Ponta as explaining.

One thousand hectares were sown with genetically modified maize last year in the Great Brăila Island by businessman Culita Tarata, former PSD deputy, who joined the independents' group of Romania's Parliament. The Counties of Braila (eastern Romania), Calarasi (southern Romania), Arad (western Romania), Teleorman and Giurgiu (both in southern Romania) are among the areas growing genetically modified organisms. Of the 3,000 hectares that were sown with genetically modified maize in Romania in 2009, more than 1,000 are the property of businessman Culita Tarata.

In a Romania affected by the crisis, frightened by unemployment and looking for immediate sources of income, many people who have made life assurance cancelled or bought back their contracts last year, even if they lost much by doing so. And there were not too many people interested in getting new policies either, reads daily Jurnalul National.

In 2009 the segment of life assurance decreased by 13 percent following the contracts that were bought back. It is the economic crisis, namely unemployment, that is to blame, says Cotidianul newspaper.

Unemployment has increased almost three times as fast as in the European Union in the last one and a half years, Curentul daily informs by quoting the data supplied by Eurostat and the National Employment Agency.

Romania is the eighth in the Union as regards the unemployment growth pace, informs newspaper Cotidianul.

The Romanians living in places where there are many invalids will be thoroughly examined for getting a disability pension.The employees living in the counties where there already is a large number of invalids will be thoroughly examined before being allowed to get a disability pension. Practically the medical records issued locally will be no longer valid, the future pensioners having first to pass the tests of the specialists in Bucharest, says daily Evenimentul zilei.

The Romanian actor Andi Vasluianu won the prize for the part he played in the film 'The Other Irene,' directed by Andrei Gruzsniczki, at the International Love Film Festival in Mons (February 19-26), informs the site of the above-mentioned festival. AGERPRES
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