US real estate investor Rockefeller Group International has bought the 75 percent stake in Europa Capital, an investment fund manager which has properties in Romania. The company manages Europa Emerging Europe Fund, which focuses on Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Croatia and Serbia. The fund has properties in Bucharest, Timisoara and Cluj Napoca.

The proposal to cut the income tax from 16 to 10 percent has passed the budget commission in the Senate. The proposal to diminish the flat tax was submitted to the Senate in June this year by a group of senators from the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL), among which current Economy Minister Ion Ariton.

*Bankruptcies take a break. Number of insolvencies drop – in Ziarul Financiar
*The car market goes back to plus in September, close to the end of the Clunkers program – in Ziarul Financiar
*Patriciu – Rompetrol's debt has never existed – in Ziarul Financiar
*Texas-based Lufkin make their biggest investments in Ploiesti: “We're going against the tide” – in Ziarul Financiar

Oil and gas company Petrom has externalized its data center to IBM, in a contract worth several million dollars and valid for ten years, the two companies have announced. IBM will provide data center services and run Petrom's data center in Petrom City. “[...] The shared use of the space and the facilities will have a positive impact on our costs,” said Reinhard Pichler, Petrom CFO.

Romanian businessman Dinu Patriciu, who has started to invest in retail earlier this year, plans to reach a total of 3,000 stores under the Mic.ro brand by the end of next year, which will include neighborhood stores as well as mobile kiosks. The investor expects this network to bring a EUR 1.5 billion turnover by the end of next year.

Romania doubled the volume of exports to China in the first half of this year, sending EUR 154 million worth of goods to the country, according to data from the European Statistics Institute (Eurostat). Meanwhile, the country's imports from China grew too, from EUR 826 million in the first half of last year, to EUR 1.17 billion in the same period of this year.

Texas – based oil equipment producer Lufkin Industries, which has started working on its factory in Ploiesti, expects a EUR 30 million turnover in the first year of activity in Romania. It plans to grow the yearly turnover to around USD 70 million after two or three years of activity.

State-owned metro company Metrorex will choose the consultant for the airport metro line next year in spring. The consultant will decide whether the metro line connecting downtown Bucharest to the Otopeni airport will start from 1 Mai or Piata Victoriei existing metro stations.

The European Commission has sent Romanian authorities a letter asking for further details on how a European directive was transposed into local legislation through Government Emergency Ordinance 50/2010 on consumer lending contracts. The document was sent to the local Department for European Affairs, and, according to government sources, it is the first step in a potential infringement procedure.

Romania's unemployment rate fell to 6.8 percent in the second quarter, from 8.1 percent a quarter earlier, the National Statistics Institute said Tuesday. However, the jobless rate was higher compared with a rate of 6.3 percent in the second quarter of 2009, the statistics data showed.

US real estate investor Rockefeller Group International has bought the 75 percent stake in Europa Capital, an investment fund manager which has properties in Romania. The company manages Europa Emerging Europe Fund, which focuses on Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Croatia and Serbia. The fund has properties in Bucharest, Timisoara and Cluj Napoca.

The proposal to cut the income tax from 16 to 10 percent has passed the budget commission in the Senate. The proposal to diminish the flat tax was submitted to the Senate in June this year by a group of senators from the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL), among which current Economy Minister Ion Ariton.

*Bankruptcies take a break. Number of insolvencies drop – in Ziarul Financiar
*The car market goes back to plus in September, close to the end of the Clunkers program – in Ziarul Financiar
*Patriciu – Rompetrol's debt has never existed – in Ziarul Financiar
*Texas-based Lufkin make their biggest investments in Ploiesti: “We're going against the tide” – in Ziarul Financiar

Oil and gas company Petrom has externalized its data center to IBM, in a contract worth several million dollars and valid for ten years, the two companies have announced. IBM will provide data center services and run Petrom's data center in Petrom City. “[...] The shared use of the space and the facilities will have a positive impact on our costs,” said Reinhard Pichler, Petrom CFO.

Romanian businessman Dinu Patriciu, who has started to invest in retail earlier this year, plans to reach a total of 3,000 stores under the Mic.ro brand by the end of next year, which will include neighborhood stores as well as mobile kiosks. The investor expects this network to bring a EUR 1.5 billion turnover by the end of next year.

Romania doubled the volume of exports to China in the first half of this year, sending EUR 154 million worth of goods to the country, according to data from the European Statistics Institute (Eurostat). Meanwhile, the country's imports from China grew too, from EUR 826 million in the first half of last year, to EUR 1.17 billion in the same period of this year.

Texas – based oil equipment producer Lufkin Industries, which has started working on its factory in Ploiesti, expects a EUR 30 million turnover in the first year of activity in Romania. It plans to grow the yearly turnover to around USD 70 million after two or three years of activity.

State-owned metro company Metrorex will choose the consultant for the airport metro line next year in spring. The consultant will decide whether the metro line connecting downtown Bucharest to the Otopeni airport will start from 1 Mai or Piata Victoriei existing metro stations.

The European Commission has sent Romanian authorities a letter asking for further details on how a European directive was transposed into local legislation through Government Emergency Ordinance 50/2010 on consumer lending contracts. The document was sent to the local Department for European Affairs, and, according to government sources, it is the first step in a potential infringement procedure.

Romania's unemployment rate fell to 6.8 percent in the second quarter, from 8.1 percent a quarter earlier, the National Statistics Institute said Tuesday. However, the jobless rate was higher compared with a rate of 6.3 percent in the second quarter of 2009, the statistics data showed.