Thursday, October 13th

IDDR in Romania

Countries around the world are celebrating the International Day for Disaster Reduction (IDDR) on Thursday, October 13. It was in 2009 when the UN General Assembly decided to designate October 13 as the official date and also changed the name to International Day for Disaster Reduction. The year’s IDDR theme is „Live to Tell: Raising Awarness, Reducing Mortality”. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis is expected to attend en event at the Technical University for Civil Engineering in the capital Bucharest later on Thursday.

EU assessment of Romania’s investments

A quarter (25.1%) of the 2007 – 2013 overall government investment in Romania relied on EU’s cohesion policy, according to an independent assessment ordered by the European Commission. Financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), investments of 15.4 billion euros went mainly to areas such as transport, corporate aid, research and environment protection creating some 35,000 jobs including 13,000 in SMEs. „Figures speak for themselves – the cohesion policy is really working. I believe the policy remains most useful and it should be enforced”, EU Regional Policy Commisioner said in a statement issued on Wednesday.

Further arests by Romania’s DIICOT prosecutors

Three people were arrested by prosecutors of Romania’s Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrosism (DIICOT) in the Romanian southern county of Piteşti on Thursday. The defendants are under investgation for crimes including tax evasion and illegal logging. Proescutors say the timber was supposed to reach a factory in the nearby county of Vâlcea and then the Black Sea port of Constantza for export in Arab countries. Damages are expected to hit around 4 million euros.

Flood threats in Romania

Romania’s National Route 25 (DN25) remains closed on Thursday between the villages of Vameşii and Tudor Vladmirescu in eastern Galaţi county. Recent storms and heavy rains across the country made Romanian meteorologists to issue an Orange Code alert in the eastern counties of Vaslui, Iassy, Bacău, Botoşani and Vrance while the mountain regions in the counties of Buzău, Prahova, Argeş and Dâmboviţa (southern Romania) remained under Yellow Code with strong winds of more than 70 km/hour. Heavy snow and strong winds were also reported around the Transfăgărăşan Route near the Bâlea Lake and Bâlea Falls.

Alexandru Danga