National Press Review, 2 September

"Better crops, but more expensive food" - this is the paradox of 2011, revealed by the Adevărul.

This year brought us crops beyond our expectations and of superior quality.

However, food prices will keep rising, the experts say.

The additions made by subcontractors, tax evasion and the fact that we export at low prices and import expensive goods are the reasons why, this fall as well, food prices will rise.

From the Evenimentul Zilei we learn: "Who gets heating this winter with the mayors' help."

The state has eliminated the subsidy and will cover only a part of the winter heating bill, depending on the income.

According to the framework approved by the government, a family will receive financial assistance only if they have an income of up to RON 786 per family member, while a single person cannot ask the authorities for help unless it makes less than RON 1082 per month.

The elimination of heating subsidies stirred skirmishes among mayors across the country. Some said they would try to help those in need, while others threatened to close the access to the subsidies.

For more details check the newspaper.

Whom else the poor Romanian taxpayer pays, we learn from the cover story in today's issue of the România Liberă.

The article discusses the case of the advisor at the Ministry of Transport, recently exposed as having been previously convicted for corruption.

Petronela Ţone was convicted in 2004 for accepting bribery from a transport company. Besides her ministerial advisor position, Ţone was carrying out, in private, the examination work on professional drivers.

The State Secretary whose advisor was 33-year-old Petronela Ţone provided contradictory explanations – he said that Petronela Ţone was both a mere secretary and a human resources inspector.

He hastily fired the counselor with a criminal record, but the unanswered question remains - how did the person succeed in working within the government structures?

"Another advisor leaves Băsescu" – the Jurnalul Naţional headlines.

The Presidential Adviser on national minorities issues Peter Eckstein Kovacs has resigned from office, and the head of the state has accepted his resignation.

The reason was the dispute over the gold exploitation in Roşia Montană: the advisor repeatedly expressed his disapproval of the mining project, while the president strongly supported it.

Eckstein's resignation is part of a long series of resignations of presidential advisors.

Overall, the president has been left by 25 trustworthy people.

All the newspapers today are bringing a final tribute to Dr. Alexandru Pesamosca, named – after decades in which he saved thousands of lives – "the children's angel."

"To fix a child, a spider that goes on all fours, to make it bipedal, running at you, that is happiness" – the paediatric surgeon once said. He spent his whole life in the hospital, close to his little patients.

The most famous Romanian paediatrician, who operated on nearly 50,000 children in his long career, will be buried in the courtyard of "Marie Curie" Hospital in Bucharest.

Today's guest of the Adevărul is the artist Tudor Gheorghe, who recommends, quote: "The cachalots from politics have to be chased."

He deplored the fact that the current role-models of the younger generation are what the artist called "fakers".

"These are the people who became rich overnight and who have been involved into businesses since 1989. The start was totally unfair, because, after '89, we sat at the table of democracy, some with bags of money, which they already had, and others who had nothing."

Here's how Tudor Gheorghe sees the Romanian political class today, in whose reform he still believes:

"In politics there settled at first a few individuals who afterwards never wanted to leave. It worked all right for them, they knew the tricks and they did not let the young people who really wanted to do politics to get involved.

There are a lot of young passionate people in all the parties.

I think they could make a change, if they had support from the next generation, who should "chase" them, meaning to compete with them."

Tudor Gheorghe considers that the future of Romania lies in the return of those who have left the country to study abroad.

Translated by: Iulia Florescu and Ruxandra Câmpeanu

MA Students, MTTLC, Bucharest University