Retailer Kaufland Romania will open a second hypermarket in Bistrita on a land plot three times larger than the one which hosts the existing Kaufland store in the city, according to Agerpress newswire.

Two investment funds, including a U.S.-based one, are interested in buying stakes in Romanian chemical company Oltchim Ramnicu-Valcea, should it be privatized, according to Karoly Borbely, state secretary within the local Economy Ministry, quoted by Mediafax newswire.

Romania may receive by the end of the year another tranche out of the EUR 13 billion stand-by loan from the International Monetary Fund, a fund official said Monday, quoted by Mediafax. The money will enter the central bank's reserves, said Jeffrey Franks, head of the IMF mission to Bucharest (in picture, right).

The American Chamber of Commerce in Romania (AmCham Romania), which represents 300 member companies, has called for maintaining the flat tax in Romania, along with capping social insurance contributions. These should become the central element for the country’s regional competitiveness, especially as Romania competes with countries having more favorable, stable and predictable fiscal regimes.

(Update adds details about the management contract and about the measures planned by Asesoft group in the last paragraph)

Romanian company Asesoft group has taken over the management of Realitatea Media group and plans to invest EUR 75 million in the group in the following five years, according to Asesoft. Realitatea Media was controlled by media mogul Sorin Ovidiu Vantu. Realitatea Media runs Realitatea TV, The Money Channel TV station, as well as several media products in print.

The airline traffic in Romania reached a volume of 4.57 million passengers for the first six months of the year, according to data from the Transport and Infrastructure Minister. Only 715,000 of these passengers used internal flights, while the rest went on international routes.

*Bank deposits will be guaranteed up to EUR 100,000 – in Ziarul Financiar
*US Ambassador to Romania: “Americans are sitting on billion so of dollars they could invest here, but you have to take the country out of the crisis” – in Ziarul Financiar
*IMF expects Basescu's decision on the VAT drop and tax exemption for pensions – in Ziarul Financiar
*Google looks for Romanians with marketing background for its Ireland headquarters – in Ziarul Financiar
*Romanian – German investment (HD Automotive International) close to Ford in Craiova – in Ziarul Financiar
*Bicycle producer with EUR 23 million business wants to float on Sibex – in Ziarul Financiar

The EU structural funds absorption represents an opportunity to sustain economic growth and to reduce the development gap, which under the circumstances of international financial crisis becomes a new challenge for Romania. Romania-insider.com takes a look at the operational programs designed to improve the economic and social conditions in Romania.

*IMF asking for Oltchim and Cuprumin privatization in the new agreement, which also includes EU funding – in Ziarul Financiar
*Provident makes half a million euro in nine months – in Ziarul Financiar
*Goodyear Dunlop will open five Premio franchises by the end of the year – in Ziarul Financiar
*Patriciu's stores on wheels start selling in Bucharest – in Ziarul Financiar
*EC grants EUR 124 million for Arad- Timisoara highway – in Gandul

A Chinese – Romanian public- private partnership will fuel the development of a EUR 500 million production units for cellulose and paper at the Somes Dej factory in Cluj – Napoca county. Chinese company Avic International Holding will partner SCR Romania, the majority shareholder in Somes SA Dej. The Romanian company will have to invest EUR 150 million into the project.

Retailer Kaufland Romania will open a second hypermarket in Bistrita on a land plot three times larger than the one which hosts the existing Kaufland store in the city, according to Agerpress newswire.

Two investment funds, including a U.S.-based one, are interested in buying stakes in Romanian chemical company Oltchim Ramnicu-Valcea, should it be privatized, according to Karoly Borbely, state secretary within the local Economy Ministry, quoted by Mediafax newswire.

Romania may receive by the end of the year another tranche out of the EUR 13 billion stand-by loan from the International Monetary Fund, a fund official said Monday, quoted by Mediafax. The money will enter the central bank's reserves, said Jeffrey Franks, head of the IMF mission to Bucharest (in picture, right).

The American Chamber of Commerce in Romania (AmCham Romania), which represents 300 member companies, has called for maintaining the flat tax in Romania, along with capping social insurance contributions. These should become the central element for the country’s regional competitiveness, especially as Romania competes with countries having more favorable, stable and predictable fiscal regimes.

(Update adds details about the management contract and about the measures planned by Asesoft group in the last paragraph)

Romanian company Asesoft group has taken over the management of Realitatea Media group and plans to invest EUR 75 million in the group in the following five years, according to Asesoft. Realitatea Media was controlled by media mogul Sorin Ovidiu Vantu. Realitatea Media runs Realitatea TV, The Money Channel TV station, as well as several media products in print.

The airline traffic in Romania reached a volume of 4.57 million passengers for the first six months of the year, according to data from the Transport and Infrastructure Minister. Only 715,000 of these passengers used internal flights, while the rest went on international routes.

*Bank deposits will be guaranteed up to EUR 100,000 – in Ziarul Financiar
*US Ambassador to Romania: “Americans are sitting on billion so of dollars they could invest here, but you have to take the country out of the crisis” – in Ziarul Financiar
*IMF expects Basescu's decision on the VAT drop and tax exemption for pensions – in Ziarul Financiar
*Google looks for Romanians with marketing background for its Ireland headquarters – in Ziarul Financiar
*Romanian – German investment (HD Automotive International) close to Ford in Craiova – in Ziarul Financiar
*Bicycle producer with EUR 23 million business wants to float on Sibex – in Ziarul Financiar

The EU structural funds absorption represents an opportunity to sustain economic growth and to reduce the development gap, which under the circumstances of international financial crisis becomes a new challenge for Romania. Romania-insider.com takes a look at the operational programs designed to improve the economic and social conditions in Romania.

*IMF asking for Oltchim and Cuprumin privatization in the new agreement, which also includes EU funding – in Ziarul Financiar
*Provident makes half a million euro in nine months – in Ziarul Financiar
*Goodyear Dunlop will open five Premio franchises by the end of the year – in Ziarul Financiar
*Patriciu's stores on wheels start selling in Bucharest – in Ziarul Financiar
*EC grants EUR 124 million for Arad- Timisoara highway – in Gandul

A Chinese – Romanian public- private partnership will fuel the development of a EUR 500 million production units for cellulose and paper at the Somes Dej factory in Cluj – Napoca county. Chinese company Avic International Holding will partner SCR Romania, the majority shareholder in Somes SA Dej. The Romanian company will have to invest EUR 150 million into the project.