National Press Review, 24 August

Two important topics were highlighted by today’s press: the possible initiation of gold exploitation in Roşia Montană (given the increased gold quotes worldwide) and the possible circulation restriction for vehicles registered in Bulgaria.

Both subjects ‘aroused’ opinions for and against in the newspapers.

Where will the gold fever stop? Its price reached a new record yesterday, over $ 1,900 an ounce.

Economists said, for the Curierul Naţional, that the price would continue to grow, given the global economic situation.

By the end of the year, the gold quotes could reach $ 2,000 an ounce.

Under these circumstances, the new Roşia Montană mining project has become a hot topic on the public agenda in the past days: even the media in Bucharest are now divided over the question of whether to start the operation or not.

According to the Evenimentul Zilei, the president said on Monday evening that the project is more necessary than ever: it adds to the gold reserve held by the National Bank of Romania (BNR) and it creates jobs.

The Roşia Montană gold - the Evenimentul Zilei adds - could bring Romania billions of dollars.

The BNR gold reserves, nothing but an alibi for Roşia Montană – the Adevărul considers.

The need to supplement the gold reserve does not justify the urgency of the project. The newspaper talked to many analysts: they argued that the record price of gold now is speculative, so these quotes will fall later on.

Another popular topic in today’s press: cars registered in other countries (especially in Bulgaria) that circulate on our roads.

The România Liberă lists three reasons why the cars lose the ‘Bulgarian passport’: the drivers do not pay the environment tax, the cars don’t have insurance in Romania and are often used for committing crimes because they are difficult to verify, the police said.

‘“Ghost cars” from Bulgaria will not dodge taxes from now on’ – the Evenimentul Zilei headlined.

Romanian owners of vehicles with Bulgarian registration numbers who have cancelled their car registration in the neighbouring country will be allowed to circulate for only 90 days a year, after which they will have to legalise their status and pay their taxes.

And yet – Lucian Davidescu, columnist for the România Liberă, considers – the alleged time restriction to three months in which a car can stay in Romania has two problems: there is no record to prove that the car has not left the country in this interval, and even if there was, the threat contradicts the principles of free circulation within the EU.

Consequently, the threat coming from the Romanian authorities could, at most, discourage naïve taxpayers from registering their cars in Bulgaria.

Only that – Lucian Davidescu added – those naïve enough to still be influenced by the state are fewer and fewer.


Translated by: Iulia Florescu and Ruxandra Câmpeanu
MA Students, MTTLC, Bucharest University