Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski (in picture) will be on an official visit to Romania Monday and Tuesday, at the invitation of Romanian President Traian Basescu. Basescu and Komorowski will hold official talks, followed by a joint press conference.

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.

Thousands of pilgrims from across Romania and abroad have queued to pray at the Patriarchal Cathedral in Bucharest, at the Venerated Wood of the Holy Cross, brought from Greece and at the Holy Relics of Saint Dimitrie the New, protector of Bucharest. Romanians celebrate Saint Dimitrie on October 27 but the pilgrimage goes on during the entire week.

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).

Nouvelle Vague, the French band that conquered the world with bossa nova covers of punk and new wave classics will return for a third concert in Romania, on November 22 at Sala Palatului. The event is, along with Herbie Hancock's concert, part of the Fusion Nights events staged at the Sala Palatului in Bucharest. MAP

British electro pop group 'We have band' will perform in Bucharest on November 5 in Control Club in the capital city (19 Academiei St., Victoriei Passage). MAP

Medical group Romgermed has appointed Razvan Stefanescu general manager, who joins the company after spending 17 years in management positions of multinational companies. Stefanescu will oversee the implementation of the company's EUR 5 million investment plan and continue expanding the company's chain of laboratories.

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 Romanian Central Bank (BNR) has issued two metallic coins to celebrate the centennial

The planned Samantha Fox and Sabrina concert due for November 26 in Bucharest was canceled due to changes in the two singers' schedules. Those who have already bought tickets for the Bucharest gig will be able to recover the money from the point of sales where tickets were acquired.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Romania has resumed its training programs with several events planned for the autumn. The next RICS Romania continuous professional development event will be held on Wednesday, October 27, when Bryan Jardine, the managing partner of the Bucharest office of international law firm Wolf Theiss & Associates, will speak on “Legal aspects of Project loan financing, Insolvency, Enforcement, Recovery and Restructuring”.