National Press Review, February 2

‘The IMF is requesting us to increase the price of natural gas’ - we read in the Evenimentul Zilei.

The liberalization of price has been requested repeatedly in the last years by the European Commission, but the authorities have pledged to develop a timetable for gradual price increase.

The average domestic gas production provides almost 75 percent of the total consumption, and doubling their price would lead to the explosion of bills, unbearable for the population.

In addition, the increase of prices will have a chain reaction throughout all economy.

‘71 hospitals are turning into nursing homes and night clinics’ - headlines the Adevărul.

In this context, the newspaper reveals that the Romanian state lost over 22 million euros last year due to the fact that about 2.800 doctors immigrated.

The statement was made yesterday at the launching of several European projects for professional training of the Research Institute ‘Victor Babeş’ and the Romanian Immunology Society.

‘Hospitals merged chaotically’ - the Evenimentul Zilei concludes.

The main cause of doctors’ riots was the merger of advanced medical units.

For instance, the Institute of Pneumology ‘Marius Nasta’ has been merged with the Institute for Infectious Diseases ‘Matei Balş’.

‘Basically, a monster is being merged with another monster. At the Institute of pulmonary diseases we develop health programmes (STOP SMOKING, TB surveillance, control of pulmonary hypertension).

‘The merger implies that all these will not be accomplished. A much better option would have been the merger with Tunari or some other pneumology institute’, believes Dr. Nicolae Galie, chief of the thoracic surgery unit.

The merger of two institutes of different specialization, namely the Institute of Complementary Medicine and the Institute of Recovery, seems just as absurd – the newspaper adds.

The Gândul asks: ’What happens when the masked confuse the addresses? Who’s paying for failed raids?’

The questions are justified after yesterday, when a family in Ilfoveni woke up in the morning with the masked at their door, who only after smashed the gate and broke a few windows, realized they had the wrong address.

‘Udrea is buying publicity of 5 million euros for foreign televisions, to promote the leaf in the brand’- the Jurnalul Naţional headlines.

Two years ago, Elena Udrea used a similar method for running the promotion campaign ‘Romania, Land of Choice’, for which she allocated a budget of 1.3 million euros.

Bucharest authorities paid at that point one million euros for 1.025 advertising spots on the Eurosport TV channel, while Croatia paid only 400 thousand euros for the same TV channel, amount which included 805 spots.

‘What are the impressions that foreign tourists leave Romania with? - the Gândul shares with us.

Some are left with a good impression and even recommend others to come visit soon.

‘It is one of the most beautiful countries in Europe. The people are always willing to help, and anywhere you go you meet English speakers’ - state those who liked it here.

Others, for a change, feel so bad here, that their opinions, expressed on specialized travelling websites, maintaining the general negative impression that Romania leaves abroad: ‘the unsafe status of pedestrian in the capital, the traffic is terrible, and the drivers are crazy and dangerous, Bucharest is a tired, dirty city, some say, ugly and strange, others believe, the city looks abandoned, forgotten and dusty, at the hotel’s reception the woman was rude, bad roads and taxi drivers overcharging’ - are the most common complaints of foreign tourists visiting Romania.

Translated by: Manuela Stancu
MA Student, MTTLC, Bucharest University