Financial Press Review, February 10

Under the title ‘Customs Scandal’, the Bursa writes that ‘the impeachment of the head of customs is a premiere in a scandal in which ,so far, have only been investigated ordinary policemen and customs officials’.

The Ziarul Financial asks: ‘Is Mărginean the top of the pyramid or tip of the iceberg? Mărginean (...) is the most important character from the customs who got the attention of the prosecutors agency. But is not the most important system’. Marginean was also vice president of NATA, recalls the mentioned daily.

‘If prosecutors had reached the head of customs, what happens with the Border Police?’ wonders the Ziarul Financiar. ‘Customs are linked to the NAFA, which also means a part of the Ministry of Finance.

The Border Police is a structure under the Ministry of Interior. However, most of the detainees or prisoners for bribery are border guards' (...) What happens to their boses?’

Under the heading ‘Another perspective’, the Bursa writes that ‘in our country, in the counties near the border with Hungary (hence the Schengen area), and not only, there would already exist cross-border criminal groups within the European Union.

The Italian Mafia would be just a notorious example of this. For these networks, to which they also may be connected - according to the newspaper sources - some local politicians and some businessmen, the country's accession to the Schengen area would be a flow of illicit affairs.

‘If the ongoing investigations do not touch the heads of pyramid networks, then the hypothesis that these raids mean simply a rotation of personnel with the sacrifice of “pawns” increasingly takes shape’, the paper says. ‘If the case cited is confirmed, it is possible that recent events to combine in a triple blow: it would increase the authorities credibility in the eyes of public opinion in the pre-election year, which would eventually result in our country's joining the Schengen area, but it would also strengthen an already existing series of illegal business’, the Bursa concludes.

Under the heading ‘Banks will not be able to cover the costs of regional networks, if they do not finance the companies’, the Ziarul Financiar quoted NBR governor Mugur Isarescu who has said yesterday at a seminar that ‘banks should give more importance to the corporate and SME sector sites, because if they continue to rely solely on public credit, they will not grow’.

The Curierul Naţional also headlines that ‘banks have to change their target’. ‘Commercial banks will have to involve their efforts to change the model of the Romanian economy to one based on consumption, to one focused on production and activity in sectors with high added value by lending corporations and small and medium enterprises.’

The Ziarul Financiar also publishes the opinion of the commercial bankers that ‘the SMEs by their nature carry a higher risk compared with the corporate sector. (...) In the banking sector, bad loans were four times higher than in the SMEs large companies. ‘

Under the heading ‘Exports, plus 28 percent. What will happen in 2011?’ the same newspaper notes that ‘September, October and November have brought even historical records to the monthly value of exports, which fluctuated around 3.5 to 3, 6 billion euros.

‘Article notes and ‘high growth potential of Romanian exports to countries outside the EU, which was registered in 2010 a growth rate of 38.7 percent compared with 24.4 percent in EU countries.

However, ‘although they fared better in 2010, exports have failed to lead the economic recovery which has continued to struggle in the recession, in the absence of recovery of the domestic demand’, the Ziarul Financiar writes.

Translated by: Iulia Florescu
MA Student, MTTLC, Bucharest University