DEFENSE – Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă held talks earlier today with Defense Minister Vasile Dîncu. The meeting focused on the NATO Defense Ministers meeting held in Brussels and communication policies at Defense Ministry level. Last week, the Prime Minister was unhappy with Minister Dîncu’s statement regarding the war in Ukraine, according to which peace in Ukraine can only be achieved by negotiating with Russia. Subsequently, Klaus Iohannis pointed out that only Kyiv can decide when, how and what is being negotiated, and that this is the official position of Romania and the EU. Defense Minister Vasile Dîncu will today appear before the Chamber of Deputies to provide clarifications over his statements. His presence was requested by USR in opposition, a party that believes Minister Dîncu is reiterating Kremlin rhetoric and endangering Romania’s partnerships with EU and NATO states.
GAS – Romania’s gas storage capacity reached 90.9% on Sunday, the equivalent of some 2.8 billion cub meters, the national company Transgaz announced. Romania met the 80% minimum level of gas reserves imposed by the European Union ahead of the cold season on September 17. Back then, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, announced that the EU’s total gas reserves stood at 84%.
FAC – Romania’s Foreign Minister, Bogdan Aurescu, is today attending the Foreign Affairs Council meeting held in Luxembourg. EU Foreign Ministers will exchange views over the effects of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, will also attend the proceedings in videoconference. The agenda of the meeting also includes EU-China relations and other hot topics on the international agenda, such as the developments in Iran, Lebanon, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso and the effects of climate change.
On Sunday morning Romania had 2.8 billion cubic meters of gas in storage, an amount that corresponds to 90.9% of the country’s storage capacity.
Consistent with the objective of ending its dependence on Moscow’s fossil fuels, established in the context of the situation generated by Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine, the European Union continues to apply the necessary measures decided in Brussels. These relate, among other things, to the establishment of common gas storage sites. And the process, launched a few months ago, is progressing well, at a better pace than the one envisaged. The common European gas storage sites have already been filled to 84% of their capacity, which means more than the set objective, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced in September. „Our friends in the Baltics have worked hard to end their dependency on Russia. They have invested in renewable energy, in LNG terminals, and in interconnectors. This costs a lot. But dependency on Russian fossil fuels comes at a much higher price. We have to get rid of this dependency all over Europe” Ursula von der Leyen said.
At the time of the announcement, gas storage sites in Romania had reached the minimum filling threshold of 80%, provided for in the new regulation of the European Commission as part of the preparation measures for the cold season. And in the month that has passed since then, the filling level increased by another 11%. On Sunday, Romania had more than 2.8 billion cubic meters of natural gas in storage, which means almost 91% of the country’s storage capacity, announced Transgaz, which stated that gas storage would continue until October 30. Meanwhile, Romania’s gas imports fell by over 20% in the first eight months of 2022, compared to the same period of last year. And the National Strategy and Forecast Commission estimates that the trend will be maintained for the entire year.
In addition, domestic natural gas production, which in the first eight months was by 4.6% lower as compared to the same period of 2021, will increase by almost 2% as against last year. The figures published by the National Institute of Statistics show, on the other hand, a decrease in electricity consumption in Romania by 5.3% in the first eight months of this year, as compared to the same period of 2021. This reduction led to an increase of electricity export by almost 85 million kWh. The figures also reveal that, while public lighting registered an increase of almost 4%, population consumption decreased by 7.7%. The data announced on Friday showed that Romania exported 1,100 MW, mainly due to the high production obtained by the wind farms. The total energy production was 6,300 MW, and the consumption of approximately 5,200 MW. (Corina Cristea, Radio Romania International)
More than 5 million tons of grains from Ukraine have transited Romania since February.
In the context of growing concerns about global food security, foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu announced that Romania had been facilitating, since February, the transit of over 5 million tons of grain from Ukraine. On Sunday, when World Food Day was celebrated, Aurescu reaffirmed Bucharest’s commitment to reducing the impact of the war in Ukraine on global food security. The Romanian official called for the extension of the grain export agreement through the Black Sea ports, forged this summer by Ukraine and Russia with Turkey and the UN, which expires in about one month.
Romania did even more to support Ukraine. In September, Romania and France signed an accord in the field of transport, which will further facilitate the export of Ukrainian grain. In his turn, President Klaus Iohannis said before the UN General Assembly in New York that the capacity of the Black Sea port of Constanta, the largest port for grain exports from Ukraine, must be enhanced or at least adjusted to the current conditions. The head of state voiced hope that the Black Sea grain deal would be maintained. The accord, brokered by the UN and Turkey in July, paved the way for Kyiv to resume grain exports though its Black Sea ports which had been closed down since the start of the Russian invasion. On the other hand, Moscow received guarantees for its own export of grain and fertilizers.
According to Reuters, the agreement helped avoid a global food crisis, given that Ukraine and Russia are the world’s top grain exporters while Russia is the world’ biggest producer of fertilizers. Based on the agreement, all ships that left Ukrainian ports were first checked in Istanbul before heading for their final destination. Russia however, has repeatedly voiced discontent with the way in which the agreement is being implemented, arguing it has difficulties in selling its fertilizers and food products. In an interview with Reuters, Russia’s Geneva UN ambassador said Moscow had sent a letter with its concerns to the UN General Secretary.
Meanwhile, Russia and the UN are holding talks on extending the agreement on the Black sea grain exports. According to Kyiv, based on the agreement signed this summer, Ukraine has so far exported almost 8 million tons of grain. Nevertheless, in the context of the war started by Russia, the price of grain has increased by almost one fifth this year, and the number of people affected by severe hunger due to the higher price of food is estimated at almost 50 million worldwide. (Daniela Budu, Radio Romania International)
