National Press Review, April 27

Evenimentul Zilei throws the die: "Will it or will it not produce a favourable outcome?"

The tension becomes almost unbearable.

The fate of the Ungureanu government is hanging by the thread of a few votes, and, according to the predictions of both sides, the match will be tied until the very last minute.

Evenimentul Zilei analyses potential scenarios.

România Liberă asks the same question: "What will happen after the motion of the Liberal Social Union? Ponta believes he can round up a government in thirty seconds.

Iliescu advises him to wait until after the parliamentary elections".

The opposition has collected enough votes and claims this will be the first and last motion of the Ungureanu government.

Some of the members of opposition are already thinking about the new position they would work in.

According to the publication, not all of them share the same optimism as its leaders, or believe that becoming part of the governing party would be to the advantage of the Union, because they may lose their campaign ammunition and the new ministries may find themselves trapped between campaign promises and budgetary hard facts.

In Adevărul , we read about the businessman from Sibiu, Ilie Carabulea, who has been convicted to one year and a half imprisonment: "The first rich guy to feature in Forbes and be convicted for good." With a fortune worth 150 million euro, Carabulea’s businesses ranged from transport and the banking system (he is one of the main shareholders of Banca Carpatica) to insurance and real estate.

"Carabulea, the richest convict in Romania", Evenimentul Zilei also notes.

The tycoon will have a "vacation behind bars", "booked at the Rahova resort, V.I.P section".

There, he will have a well-supplied supermarket, a fitness gym and a library. For a wealthy man, keeping a cell-phone under his pillow is going to be a piece of cake", Evenimentul states.

From the pages of the same newspaper, we learn that the High Court’s decision could still be challenged by an appeal for annulment or a request for revision, but the chances are slight.

In Jurnalul Naţional : "Chevron could extract shale gas for another forty-five years".

The declassification of the agreements concluded by the energy giant is partial, and only covers the three perimeters from Dobrogea.

The agreement concerning the region of Bârlad is still classified, even though it will be enforced in the following months.

We are left with many mysteries, including the one regarding the chemical mix which will be used in the mining process.

Meanwhile, eight thousand locals from Bârlad gathered yesterday in the Civic Centre and prayed for the mining to stop, and in Constanţa, several hundred locals also protested accompanied by folk music.

România Liberă tackles a security matter: "Is Russia spying on us from Serbia?"

The authorities from Washington are worried about Moscow’s activities in the Balkans, and suspect that a Russian logistics centre for humanitarian purposes, opened in the neighbouring country last fall, may actually be a spy base against NATO.

The front page of Ziarul Financiar deals with the difficulties encountered in absorbing European funds: "In Bulgaria, the President of the European Council, Van Rompuy, has opened a subway line and in Romania, he discussed with Traian Băsescu.

If he wanted to inaugurate an investment with money from the European Union, where would we have taken him?".

For Ziarul Financiar, Herman Van Rompuy’s visit from the day before yesterday is the clearest proof of Romania’s delay in attracting European funds: he was greeted by the President, held a speech at the Parliament and that’s about it.

Translated by:

Cristina Baciu,
MA Student, MTTLC,
Bucharest University