Our monthly overview for Romania Insider members brings you the main topics of the month, to make sure you don't miss the bigger picture, no matter how often you choose to read the news. If you choose to stay away from much of the media frenzy, this monthly bulletin brings the essentials without wasting a lot of time, in a basic visual version, so you can focus on the text alone. 

Opening photo: Pop concert in Bucharest open only for vaccinated people, on July 29, 2021 - Photo source: Inquam Photos / Ilona Andrei

July was a hot month in Romania this year, both in terms of air temperatures as well as action on the political and business scenes.

While vaccination continues to advance very slowly and Romania faces the risk of a significant fourth pandemic wave in autumn, local politicians turned their full attention to other matters last month.

High on the agenda are the internal elections in the senior ruling party – PNL – where prime minister Florin Citu challenges the party leadership of Chamber of Deputies speaker Ludovic Orban. Citu’s decision to dismiss finance minister Alexandru Nazare, an Orban supporter, was just one of the moves in this match.

Meanwhile, justice remains a hot potato for the ruling coalition as the reform initiatives launched by reformist (USR-PLUS) justice minister Stelian Ion have met resistance from coalition partners.

Another pressing issue is Romania’s Relaunch and Resilience Plan (PNRR), which is still regarded with skepticism by the European Commission. Unlike other member states, Romania hasn’t received the EC’s approval for the investments included in this plan. On the bright side, Romania has gathered some support for its Schengen membership bid.

On the economic front, Romania’s macro indicators continue to point to growth and the forecasts for 2021 GDP growth have been raised.

On the business scene, the Bucharest Stock Exchange has taken a more central role in recent months. July was a busy month for new listings on BVB while the blue-chip BET index climbed to a new all-time high. Financing through the capital market has gained some traction lately.

Start-up financing continues to run hot in Romania with both new projects and follow-up rounds by existing ones. The mergers & acquisitions activity remains strong and Romanian firms are keener on expanding abroad through acquisitions.

Industry, energy and healthcare are among the sectors where new investments were announced in July. Meanwhile, agricultural production will recover this year and likely contribute to the strong GDP recovery.

Statistics show the COVID-19 pandemic has increased social imbalances in Romania. The population drop continued in 2020 while the number of people at risk of poverty increased.

However, the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions over the summer has unblocked the large music, film and theater festivals in Romania. In sports, Romanian athletes have won several Olympic medals in epee and rowing competitions.

Below, you can browse through the most important topics in June, grouped by relevance. By clicking on a title, you can read the whole article on the Romania-Insider.com website.

COVID-19 - Low progress with vaccination

• COVID-19 travel: Romania adds Spain to the yellow list, UK remains on the red list
• COVID-19 travel: Romania adds Greece, Ireland to the red list
• Medlife: Fourth Covid wave is closer than we thought
• Head of Romania's Covid vaccination campaign sees 1,500 daily cases by mid-Sept
• About 44% of Romania’s population gained immunity to COVID-19, health official says
• EU health commissioner urges Romania to accelerate vaccination effort
• Health official: RO to focus on increasing number of those vaccinated rather than administer Covid-19 booster shot
• RO local health official: "There are villages where nobody would accept the Covid-19 vaccine"
• Covid-19: Deputy PM suggests partnership with RO Orthodox Church for vaccination campaign
• COVID-19: Drive-through vaccination centre to open on Romania’s Transalpina road this month
• Romania to donate over 100,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses to Vietnam
• Survey: Romanians are more worried about a possible economic crisis than health issues

POLITICS & JUSTICE: Power struggles

• EU’s 2021 Rule of Law Report: Justice laws amended in 2017-2019 are still in force in Romania
• Romania's justice minister blames junior ruling partner UDMR for blocking justice reforms
• RO ruling coalition at risk due to Special Section for prosecutors
• Romania's dismissed Ombudsman back in the seat after Constitutional Court ruling
• Romania's Constitutional Court keeps at 10 years the required seniority of anticorruption magistrates
• Social Democrat opposition asks PM Citu to explain public debt management
• Romania’s PM dismisses finance minister
• Romanian PM Citu to manage public finances over next 45 days
• Romanian PM Citu under pressure from own party to appoint new finance minister
• Romanian PM Citu kicks back: Public budget is not a party business
• Romanian PM Citu wins party elections in Bucharest
• Romania’s former Social Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea released on parole
• Romania's Social Democrats consolidate leading position in poll
• President Iohannis decorates the Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church
• Romania’s Roșia Montană mining landscape added to UNESCO’s world heritage list
• EC pushes for higher green target for Romania under accelerated decarbonization plan
• Romania takes controversial energy projects out of Resilience Plan
• Romanian minister promises first Resilience money in Oct-Nov
• Romanian PM assures Resilience Plan "is 95% cleared by the EC"
• Romania's absorption rate for 2014-2020 EU's budget: 47.8%
• European Parliament recommends Romania, Bulgaria for full Schengen membership
• European Commissioner for Home Affairs says Romania should join the Schengen area
• Hungary confirms support for Romania's Schengen membership
• Romania relaunches strategic partnership with Moldova
• RO President Iohannis among potential candidates for NATO top seat
• Presidential adviser nominated as Romania's ambassador in Washington
• Mercer Street: Romania condemns tanker attack that left one national dead, asks Iran for explanations

MACROECONOMY & PUBLIC FINANCE: Bound to grow 

• EC ups from 5.1% to 7.4% its forecast for Romania’s 2021 GDP growth
• Erste Group revises Romania's 2021 growth outlook to 6.7%
• WIIW expects moderate growth and fiscal consolidation performances from Romania
• RO central bank: GDP to grow in Q2, Q3 ‘faster than expected’
• Romania confirms strong Q1 GDP growth
• Romanians’ appetite for consumption remains intact in May
• ‘Revenge spending’ pushes up Romania’s trade gap
• Romania’s CA deficit widens by 85% in Jan-May, and it wasn’t only the net imports
• Real wages keep rising in Romania: Up 4.8% YoY in Jan-May
• Industrial prices up by 10.4% YoY in May
• Romania’s inflation begins ‘transitory’ episode in June
• Average spot electricity price in Romania up 158% YoY in June
• Romania’s industry undergoes slowdown driven by car manufacturing in May
• Eurostat: Romania uses most natural resources per unit of GDP in Europe
• What was behind the tripling of Romania's FDI in Jan-May
• BNR: bank debtors may default on 5.2% of bank loans in Romania by Dec 2021
• Romania's media market to rise by 7% above pre-crisis 2019 level
• BestJobs report: Romania’s labour market shows signs of recovery
• Prices of new apartments in Bucharest up 9.6% y/y in June
• Romanian PM wants no more foreign investors seeking cheap workforce
• Romania sells EUR 3.5 bln Eurobonds and nears full-year foreign borrowing target
• Romania’s public deficit nears 3% of GDP in Jan-Jun
• Romania's central bank maintains refinancing rate

BUSINESS: Stock market and start-up financing runs hot, new investments

• RO real estate developer One United completes 10% IPO
• Romanian air carrier Blue Air to break even and list its shares in London next year
• Blue Air targets GBP 500 mln ex-post valuation upon LSE listing
• Procedures for listing Romanian salt company Salrom begin
• RO minister says Hidroelectrica IPO scheduled for H2 next year
• Producer of Romanian smartphones Allview enters listing at BVB
• Romanian IT solutions provider raises EUR 2 mln, will list its shares at BVB
• Romanian IT company makes strong debut on Bucharest Stock Exchange
• RO start-up Air Claim lists its shares at BVB and announces plans for cryptocurrency
• Romania’s stock exchange index BET crosses 12,000 points threshold
• Romanian stocks, twice more profitable than UK stocks in first half
• Capitalization of BVB’s alternative market AeRO up 46% YoY in June
• Romanian telemedicine start-up raises EUR 700,000 in new financing round
• Romanian startup Archbee raises USD 1 mln in investment round
• Romanian entrepreneurs raise USD 1 mln with tourism application Framey
• Catalyst Romania II invests EUR 1.2 mln in SeedBlink crowdfunding platform
• RO startup Bright Spaces raises EUR 1.5 mln seed funding for end-to-end digital leasing platform
• Romania’s Digital Nation selected for the Google.org Impact Challenge funding
• Deloitte: Romania's M&A market looks "promising" after EUR 1.2 bln in H1
• RO gambling operator Superbet takes over Belgium peer in EUR 350-400 mln deal
• "Big global investor" buys 220MW wind farm projects in Romania
• I3CP invited to lend EUR 150 mln to troubled RO insurer City before taking it over
• Belgium's Atenor to cash EUR 200 mln for two office buildings in Romania
• Israeli investor in Romania shifts back to real estate sector
• Polish Scallier takes over commercial project in Timisoara from local group Oasis
• EBRD sells stake in major Romania office owner Globalworth
• OMV Petrom sells EUR 20 mln land in northern Bucharest to local entrepreneurs
• EC allows DT to sell Romanian fixed-line division to Orange, but conditionally
• Beltrame Group ponders EUR 300 mln ‘green’ rebar plant in Romania
• Bosch expands its Romanian engineering centre under EUR 21 mln project
• Makita plans to double output of hand tools plant in Romania
• Medicover invests EUR 20 mln in new hospital in Bucharest
• EIB lends EUR 120 mln to Romanian Electrica Group to upgrade electricity distribution networks
• Romania's Transgaz triples capacity of gas interconnector to Moldova
• Romania expects natural gas from Azerbaijan in 2022
• Cognizant Softvision plans to hire 500 more in Romania
• RO IT group Bittnet envisages M&A deals worth EUR 40 mln
• Romanian jewellery retail chain Teilor to expand in Hungary after Bulgaria and Poland
• EC begins in-depth investigation on EUR 190 mln state aid for RO airline Tarom
• Lufthansa links Romania's Iasi to Frankfurt four times a week
• Bucharest airport curbs workforce despite intense traffic expected
• Dacia to launch a new seven-seater
• Study: Seven out of ten Romanian tech startups affected by COVID-19
• USDA: Romania's wheat crop to rise by 58% in 2021
• Romanian Ministry announces biggest wheat, barley, rapeseed yields in the past decade
• Artmark: Romania’s art market continues slight upward trend in H1
• Biggest retailer in Romania changes CEO
• New director Frederico Monteiro will lead BAT’s operations in Central Europe South Area from Bucharest

SOCIAL & LIFE:  Imbalances grow, return of the festivals

• Romania’s population drops by another 0.7% in 2020
• WB: More Romanians at poverty risk since the Covid pandemic
• Romania has one of the highest shares of youth not in education, employment in Europe
• Report: Romania remains a primary source country for sex and labor trafficking victims in Europe
• Several injured, one missing after explosion at largest oil refinery in Romania
• Romania, late in banning single-use plastics
• Bucharest public transport fares increase, additional ticket & pass options announced
• New heatwave hits Romania this week
• Romania’s Neversea music festival postponed to 2022
• Romania’s Electric Castle festival reveals lineup for special 10-day edition next month
• Artists from 37 countries join Romania’s Sibiu International Theater Festival
• Romania events: 20th edition of Transilvania Film Festival kicks off
• George Enescu Festival: Romanian Athenaeum concerts held at full capacity
• Four RO film professionals invited to join the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts
• RO director Alexander Nanau, part of 2021 Venice film festival jury
• Romanian mezzo-soprano awarded France's Legion of Honor
• Bucharest mural honors Romania’s last surviving World War II pilot
• Madrid exhibition highlights traditions of Romania’s Maramureş region
• Tokyo Olympic Games: Team Romania includes 100 athletes
• Tokyo Olympics: Romanian fencer Ana Maria Popescu wins silver in épée
• Olympic rowing: Romanian athletes win gold and silver medals in Tokyo
• Esports could be recognized officially in Romania
• Bucharest to host The International 10 esports tournament in October

RI+ (Exclusive Content for MEMBERS published in July)

R-Create: Romanian-born startup aims to conquer Europe with returnable packaging solution

Unusual times, unusual buildings: The upside down house in Romania

Online shopping: Romanian startup uses technology & stylists to pick the perfect outfits for customers

Refreshing destinations: Five salt mines to visit in Romania to escape the summer heat

Romania travel: Five Instagrammable cities to visit this summer

andrei@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Inquam Photos)