Renault Group has recently opened near Pitesti the largest car parts center outside France, which will distribute spare parts and accessories for Dacia, Renault and Nissan brands in Romania. The center is located in Oarja village, nearby Pitesti, north-west of Bucharest.

Romania's international reserves went up by EUR 227 million – 0.65 percent in August compared to July, reaching EUR 34.7 billion, according to the Romanian Central Bank (BNR). The reserves include gold and foreign currency. The foreign currency reserves reached EUR 31.55 billion at the end of August this year, slightly down on the EUR 31.58 billion at the end of July.

Christophe De Korver has been appointed Managing Director of Gefco Romania, replacing Denis Renard, who has been at the helm of the company in Romania for the last six years. Denis Renard will take the helm of Gefco in Slovakia.

Romania's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) dropped in the first half of 2010 by 2.4 percent, compared with the first half of 2009, but registered a 0.3 percent increase in the second quarter of 2010 on this year's first quarter, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INS).

Household consumption of consumer goods dropped by 4 percent in Romanian currency in the first six months of the year, compared to the same period of last year, which is the first decline in the last ten years, found a study by GfK Romania. “This is the first decline in the last ten years, during which the year-on-year growth rates varied between 7 and 25 percent. In a less friendly economic and political context, consumers paid fewer visits to stores, supermarket being among most affected,” said Raluca Raschip, consumer tracking director with GfK Romania.

Romanian telecoms regulator ANCOM (The National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications of Romania) has stopped the tender to award the country’s first two digital TV operation licenses, the state body has announced.

Labor contracts are often not respected by employers in Romania and the penalties for such acts are minor and rarely enforced, but the rights of employees are, for the most part, respected, says a Freedom House report on workers’ rights around the world.

Elisabeta Lipa is a famous Romanian rower that has a pile of sport records. In her rowing career she competed in six Olympics and she won at least one medal in each of them. She holds the rowing record for most Olympic medals won (eight, five of them gold) and at the Sydney Summer Olympics she became the oldest oarswoman to win a gold medal.

Several concerts will keep you busy this autumn and long into winter. Big names like Ozzy Osbourne, Guns N'Roses, Cesaria Evora, among others, will come to Bucharest by the end of the year. Take your pick, as there's plenty of choice!

Romanian media

Head of euro zone, Trichet, to attend Romanian central Bank's 130th anniversary on

The Manchester City soccer team, which has recently played in Romania against FC Timisoara, has met several children, former patients of the Louis Turcanu hospital in Timisoara, who were treated for leukemia.

The payment of the contribution to the National Sole Social Health Insurance Fund (FNUASS) is mandatory and failure to pay is deemed a crime and shall be punished accordingly, according to Romania’s National Health Insurance House.