Two thirds of business leaders in Romania do not expect a significant economic recovery in 2011, while one third believe there are no clear prospects regarding the end of the crisis at all, found a recent AT Kearney survey. While the crisis has a clear impact on all industries, only 10 percent of the CEOs interviewed see a low effect of the crisis on their own industry compared to the other ones, according to AT Kearney.

Hewlett-Packard (HP) has chosen Romania to open its first mono-brand store in Europe. The HP Brand Store was opened in Plaza Romania shopping center in Bucharest and will be operated by Altex Romania.

InterAgro group, owned by Romanian businessman Ioan Niculae, will invest EUR 72 million in building co-generation power plants on industrial platforms across Romania and hopes to recover the investment in five years.

*Head of GTC: people come to the mall but don't buy anything. If we don't do something to make them buy, the market will crash – in Ziarul Financiar
*Romanian architect Dorin Stefan will design a 300-meter tower in Taiwan – in Ziarul Financiar
*Only 10,000 farmers in Romania are under 30 – in Ziarul Financiar
*Highway construction will have a new standard price per kilometer: EUR 5-6 million – in Ziarul Financiar
*Romania during the communist period had twice as much foreign tourists than it has today – in Gandul
*Isarescu – VAT will not be changed for a couple of years – in Adevarul

The Romanian Central Bank (BNR) governor Mugur Isarescu (in picture) said the value added tax, set at 24 percent, will remain unchanged “at least for a few years”. Isarescu stressed out that the country will face fiscal instability unless the sales tax is kept at the current level, he said in a TV interview on Sunday.

Romania will have to return EUR 41.7 million of EU funds to the European Commission for failure to use the money correctly under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Romania will be charged EUR 41.7 million for weaknesses in the Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS-GIS), in the administrative procedure for controls and cross checks and for incorrect calculation of payments and sanctions.

The Romanian Transport Ministry will hold an auction at the end of November to award construction contracts for four highway sectors totaling 270 kilometers.

French group Lafarge, the largest cement producer in the world, posted an 18 percent drop in sales on the Romanian market in the first nine months of this year, according to its quarterly report.

ArcelorMittal Galati, the largest steel producer in Romania, will close for at least two months one of its two blast furnaces still active, according to company representatives quoted by Mediafax newswire. Also, all 9,300 of the company's employees will receive a 20-day mandatory holiday in the next three months.

The Romanian industrial output grew by 10.8 percent in the first nine months of the year, according to data from the Romanian Statistics Institute (INS). The manufacturing industry drove growth with 11.7 percent, compensating for the 7.3 percent drop in the mining industry.

Two thirds of business leaders in Romania do not expect a significant economic recovery in 2011, while one third believe there are no clear prospects regarding the end of the crisis at all, found a recent AT Kearney survey. While the crisis has a clear impact on all industries, only 10 percent of the CEOs interviewed see a low effect of the crisis on their own industry compared to the other ones, according to AT Kearney.

Hewlett-Packard (HP) has chosen Romania to open its first mono-brand store in Europe. The HP Brand Store was opened in Plaza Romania shopping center in Bucharest and will be operated by Altex Romania.

InterAgro group, owned by Romanian businessman Ioan Niculae, will invest EUR 72 million in building co-generation power plants on industrial platforms across Romania and hopes to recover the investment in five years.

*Head of GTC: people come to the mall but don't buy anything. If we don't do something to make them buy, the market will crash – in Ziarul Financiar
*Romanian architect Dorin Stefan will design a 300-meter tower in Taiwan – in Ziarul Financiar
*Only 10,000 farmers in Romania are under 30 – in Ziarul Financiar
*Highway construction will have a new standard price per kilometer: EUR 5-6 million – in Ziarul Financiar
*Romania during the communist period had twice as much foreign tourists than it has today – in Gandul
*Isarescu – VAT will not be changed for a couple of years – in Adevarul

The Romanian Central Bank (BNR) governor Mugur Isarescu (in picture) said the value added tax, set at 24 percent, will remain unchanged “at least for a few years”. Isarescu stressed out that the country will face fiscal instability unless the sales tax is kept at the current level, he said in a TV interview on Sunday.

Romania will have to return EUR 41.7 million of EU funds to the European Commission for failure to use the money correctly under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Romania will be charged EUR 41.7 million for weaknesses in the Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS-GIS), in the administrative procedure for controls and cross checks and for incorrect calculation of payments and sanctions.

The Romanian Transport Ministry will hold an auction at the end of November to award construction contracts for four highway sectors totaling 270 kilometers.

French group Lafarge, the largest cement producer in the world, posted an 18 percent drop in sales on the Romanian market in the first nine months of this year, according to its quarterly report.

ArcelorMittal Galati, the largest steel producer in Romania, will close for at least two months one of its two blast furnaces still active, according to company representatives quoted by Mediafax newswire. Also, all 9,300 of the company's employees will receive a 20-day mandatory holiday in the next three months.

The Romanian industrial output grew by 10.8 percent in the first nine months of the year, according to data from the Romanian Statistics Institute (INS). The manufacturing industry drove growth with 11.7 percent, compensating for the 7.3 percent drop in the mining industry.