The oil painting the Ox Cart ('Carul cu Boi') by the Romanian painter Nicolae Grigorescu (1838-1907) was sold for EUR 155,000, at the auction organized by Artmark at the Bucharest Opera House. The painting's start price was EUR 100,000.

Sergiu Celibidache was a famous Romanian conductor and composer who is best known for his high artistic standards as well as his meticulous rehearsal style. He always conducted from memory and he only made a couple of studio recordings, believing that recordings represented “the negation of music”.

Calendar of events during the period October 1-3 in Bucharest: Ozzy Osbourne and Fatboy Slim concerts, autumn fair, Toulouse Lautrec concert, harvest festival, Christian Staymaer concert

*Central Bank governor warns: populism is the road to hell for Romania – in Ziarul Financiar
*Kazachs take Romanian state on board in Petromidia shareholding structure – in Ziarul Financiar
*Ford: local production helps us in the image department. We stay at 10% of the market – in Ziarul Financiar
*Fiscal authority eyes those whose wealth grows by more than EUR 50,000 a year – in Ziarul Financiar
*Horia Manda wants acquisitions between EUR 5 and EUR 20 million with a new fund he brings to Romania – in Ziarul Financiar

The Romanian authorities Thursday rejoined the shareholder structure of oil refinery Rompetrol Rafinare (RRC.RO on the Bucharest Stock Exchange) with a 44.69 percent stake, after the latter failed to redeem in cash a EUR 540 million convertible hybrid held by the government on account of a historic debt. Rompetrol Rafinare decided to convert most of the hybrid into shares instead, the oil company said in a statement.

Axxess Capital has launched the Emerging Europe Accession Fund (EEAF), with a targeted capitalization of EUR 150 million, which will invest in Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey. The fund, managed by the same team which runs the Balkan Accession Fund (BAF), had a first close at EUR 94 million.

ShortsUP, the short movies marathon will take place in Bucharest on October 9 at Atelierul de Productie. This is a monthly themed event in Bucharest created by the founders of Future Shorts Romania together with the founders of Transylvania International Film Festival (TIFF). The event consists in two hours of high quality short films of all times, that make together a certain theme and are being projected on screen for the short movie lovers.

Romania will have a book stand at the Frankfurt International Book Fair which takes place between October 6 and 10 in Germany. The Romanian stand at the fair is organized by the Ministry of Culture and National Patrimony.

Romania’s public road authority CNADNR will introduce the electronic road toll system on October 1 and drivers without proof of its payment will be charged compensation between EUR 28 and EUR1,210, depending on the type of vehicle, and will be fined. CNADNR will also introduce a road toll sticker valid for three months, according to a Transport Ministry press release on Thursday.

The Romanian Government will re-organize a bid for the concession of the Comarnic – Brasov highway segment in 2011, after the contract that was supposed to be signed with the Vinci – Aktor consortium was canceled. The Transport Ministry will change the documentation in order to avoid the issues it faced the first time, said Eusebiu Pistru, state secretary with the ministry.

British band Morcheeba will return to Romania for a concert on October 5 at the Sala Palatului in Bucharest. The concert will start at 20,30 hours and ticket prices will vary from RON 90 to RON 200. Tickets can be bought from eventim.ro.

Fatboy Slim returns to Romania for a gig in Studio Martin on Friday, October 1, from 22,00 hours. Entry tickets will cost RON 100 and can be bought from bilete.ro. FatBoy Slim first came to Romania to mix in 2006 and returned for two other gigs – one in 2008 and the third this summer. This is his fourth concert in Romania.