National Press Review, December 16

The Gândul reads: ‘The banks that broke the law are winning the appropriation ordinance game’.

The appropriation ordinance for the population is getting closer and closer to the requirements of the IMF and the officials in the European Commission, who did not agree with its infliction on old loans.

Consequently, deputies of the Budget, Finance and Banking Commission have decided yesterday that the appropriation ordinance will only apply for new loans.

The law remains to be debated in plenary session.

‘Banks have defeated the clients in Parliament’ - the Adevărul also headlines.

‘For old loans the early repayment charges will continue to apply. Moreover, the addenda signed back in autumn remain in force ‘, the newspaper reads.

The Jurnalul Naţional outlines the advantages and disadvantages of loans refinancing.

‘There is no perfect offer, but for choosing the best suited one you need to compare the amount that needs to be paid to the bank to the value of the new loan, adding the cost of refinancing’- the newspaper advises.

Also in the Jurnalul Naţional we learn that ‘last night the deputies have modified the legislation regarding procurement and have increased the maximum amount settled to facilitate the granting of public contracts: thus, the heads of public institutions could be allowed to make contracts of up to 4.8 million euros worth of investments, without an auction.

The value of contracts that can be granted through the tender procedure and not by auction has increased almost five times.

The Evenimentul Zilei shows ‘how we are being robbed at the maintenance costs’.

‘With the consent of the authorities, Romanians who live in buildings ‘equipped’ with heat cost allocators are required to pay bills higher by up to 50 percent this winter’– the newspaper argues.

The reason: the President of the National Regulatory Authority for Community Services, Mircea Matei, enabled the companies which have installed the meters to determine the percentage shares to be paid by tenants for the joint heat consumption, through a simple order.

‘Even if an apartment has all its heat cost allocators closed, the temperature is still around 14-15 degrees Celsius.’

‘Consequently, they benefit from some heat and they have to pay for it’- is the absurd explanation of the head of the Authority.

One thing is certain: ‘The ones who do not have heat cost allocators are paying less. It`s a rip-off, daylight robbery, it`s just good business for companies that manufacture heat meters’ - the President of the Federation of Homeowners Associations, Radu Opaina, states.

And it is also a certainty that we will pay for overcharged bills all winter long – the newspaper guarantees.

In almost all the newspapers today we can find the results of a study by Gallup at a European level, according to which Romanians come second after the British in terms of the intention to emigrate nex year.

A third of the Romanians want to leave the country within the next 12 months, most of them, namely 37 percent, dreaming to go to the United States.

And, in the end, a story which might seem incredible anywhere in the world.

We read in the Adevărul: ‘in Targoviste, a blind, eighty-eight-year old lady was lifted along with her car’.

A police officer assessed that the vehicle was illegally parked, so he called for the lifting company.

‘The carriers’ did as they were told, but, as they say, because of the thick layer of snow on the car, they did not realize there was still someone inside.

The old woman`s daughter recovered her mother along with her car, only after she paid the 250 lei fine.

The children of the eighty-eight-year old woman are determined to sue the lifting company, which they accuse of deprivation of liberty.

Translated by Manuela Stancu
MA Student, MTTLC, Bucharest University