Mike Holmes, who has been running Pepsi's business in Romania for the last four years, will leave the company and will be replaced by Pavlos Katsivelis, who used to run Pepsi in Greece. Katsivelis will lead both the beverages and the snacks divisions in Romania.

Romania ranks 52nd in a worldwide freedom of the press ranking published by Reporters sans Frontières organization, down two places on last year. Romania's ranking is similar to the Maldive Islands' but better than the Republic of Moldova's, Croatia's or Greece's.

Romanian state-owned subway company Metrorex wants to organize a bid for pref-easibility and feasibility studies for works on a new subway mainline which will link southwestern Bucharest neighborhood Rahova to northeastern Colentina, the company has announced.

Ronald Binkofski (in picture) is the new general manager of Microsoft Romania, replacing Calin Tatomir, who has recently resigned after two years at the helm of the company.

A Sibiu-based company will start producing in 2011 the isomalt-made sugar-free sweets for people suffering from diabetes, Carmen Socaciu, PhD, of the Cluj-Napoca University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine (USMV) told newswire Agrepres. The Isomalt hard candy is the result of a research project awarded under the National Program ''Innovation''.

Romania is the most pessimistic country in Eastern Europe when it comes to consumer confidence and financial expectations, with the two indicators dropping from 120 points to less than 40 in the past two years, a survey from the International Monetary Fund showed. In its latest regional outlook report on Europe, the Washington-based institution noted the Romanians are also most gloomy regarding unemployment projections for the next 12 months.

Real estate developer Alinso Group will build an inter-modal railway terminal in Ploiesti, connecting the Eastern and Western areas of Romania, a private investment of EUR 7 million. The terminal, called Euro Gate Terminal Ploiesti, will be ready in 2011. It will be built on 10 hectares of land and it will include three railway lines with a total length of 2,200 meters.

Several Romanians inspired the audience with their stories at the recent TEDx Bucharest event last week. They're brilliant people who either stayed in Romania to achieve performances in their home country or chose to go abroad to test their limits and achieve their potential.

Romania ranks seventh among world countries which are ready for the applications of tomorrow and 16th out of 72 countries in terms of mobile broadband connection speed in a recent top released by Cisco. Romania managed to outrank countries like Lithuania, Holland, Germany, Portugal, Denmark and Ireland in terms of readiness to use the applications of tomorrow.

(Update adds details about the ruling party's declaration about the vote on the VAT reduction in the last paragraph.) Romania’s Chamber of Deputies adopted Tuesday a bill setting the value added tax on basic foods, such as bread, milk, meat, sugar and vegetable oil, at 5% instead of 24%.

The charity Light into Europe will organize The Highland Dinner and the Bucharest Caledonian Ball on November 20 at the InterContinental Hotel and at the Cercul Militar in the capital city. The ticket price is of EUR 99 (or RON 430) for the evening.

A national online Price Navigator will be developed by the Romanian Government with a EUR 2 million budget, allowing customers to check and compare weekly prices for certain products in stores across the country. The project should be ready in a year and will include items on the daily basket.