National Press Review April 23

“Russians start to cheapen the gas”, we read in Adevărul.

The Russian gas price, one of the major scarecrows of European consumers, gives signs of decreasing, after it reached at the beginning of the year record values.

In February has decreased below 500 dollars, and until summer it is expected that the price further decrease.

Our country pays, after Italy, the most from Europe for Russian gas. It is false, though, that the price is politically set up, writes Adevărul.

Russians could decrease the price if we offered something in exchange. This year there could be chances for a good bargain.

Gazprom haunts for some time Romgaz actions and a 10 percent package will be auctioned this year.

From Evenimentul Zilei we find that “harsh supervisions in order to stop the frauds at pensions” will begin.

The Labour Minister has announced that he supplements the departments which are in charge with supervisions, after in a locality, in Sibiu, were discovered 900 handicap certificates illegally attributed.

The loss overcomes only in this case 8 million Euros.

“Russia’s offensive against Europe starts in Transnistria”, writes România Liberă.

There are important signals that Putin moves into some form of recognition a republic in Transnistria.

Russia needs enclaves for his new strategies and Transnistria has to remain an obstacle so that the Occident does not swallow Moldavia and Ukraine.

Anyway, neither European Union, nor NATO will ever complicate with states that have not solved the frontier problem and Russia will take care it does not happen, we read in România Liberă.

“Cupru Min can be profitable even without privatization”, we read in Jurnalul Naţional.

The state can operate without problems and profitably the company in the next 15 years, using the actual infrastructure, sustains Nicolae Dicu, the ex-minister of Mines.

Cupru Min has to keep its capital for modernization and to benefit from cheap energy from Hidroelectrica.

For foreign firms, our state has found hydro energy, but for his own company did not, given that until 20 percent from the company’s outgoings are spent on energy, outlines the ex-minister.

From Adevărul we find who is “the landlord of illegal grants from European Union”.

The owner of Agrofarm holding, the billionaire Ştefan Poienaru, one of the major landowners of Romania, has taken European funds of 43 million Euros using contrivance at law limit.

Why is spectacular the way in which Poienaru has acted, we find from the newspaper: he is the owner when it comes to charge the grants from the extended lands, but he is not anymore when he has to pay his debts.

Translated by Alexandra-Diana Mircea
MTTLC, Bucharest University