Search Results for: Romanian

BY DAVID HAWORTH

EFFORTS to boost food producers in their frequent quarrels with big-time retail chains have been promised by the European Union’s (EU) agriculture Commissioner-designate Dacian Ciolo? when he appeared before European Parliament lawmakers.

Speaking in a confirmation hearing in Brussels, he said he wanted "to improve the negotiating position" of food producers when dealing with large retailers: "I want to see a better dialogue between the various actors in the food chain.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank (EIB) has now approved a Euro 400 million loan to Ford Romania to help it expand and modernise its Craiova assembly plant, tooling it for building a small car model. Ford is already assembling Transit Connect vans at Craiova, and production is expected to increase this year thanks to the expansion.…

BY ANCA GURZU

THE ROMANIAN government has promised to introduce a special levy on soft drinks, in what it hails as the world’s first junk food tax. A communiqué from the country’s health ministry on Tuesday (5/1) said: "The new tax will represent 1% from all fast-food sales, and the funds we will collect will help contribute to the country’s health programmes…" It said health minister Attila Czeke had told the ministry’s nutrition commission "to establish the exact details of this concept", and officials will be consulting with drinks producers, importers and retailers.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has demonstrated its wholehearted backing for the development of Ford’s Craiova car plant in Romania, approving a Euro 57 million subsidy from the Romanian government for training. Acting as the European Union’s (EU) national handout regulator, the Commission has allowed the grant, on condition it is released in installments, which matches Ford’s training expenses.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

FRANCE’S nominee to the new European Commission has publicly declared he will try to influence the Romanian proposed as the new agriculture Commissioner. Speaking at a press conference in Paris, Michel Barnier, who has been allotted the powerful internal market brief, said: "He will be independent but I will give him my opinion," a potentially undiplomatic statement given the concerns aired about French influence over nominee Dacian Ciolo?.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

ROMANIA has been awarded the powerful agriculture portfolio in a proposed new European Commission, with former agriculture minister Dacian Ciolo?, 40, being formally proposed to take over from Mariann Fischer Boel. The announcement today by reappointed Commission president José Manuel Barroso is sure to worry supporters of a leaner Common Agricultural Policy.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

WHAT a difference a year makes. The changed face of European Union (EU) controls over public subsidies to its automakers has been illustrated clearly by Friday’s (13-11) decision by the European Commission to allow government guarantees backing a Euro 400 million loan to Ford Romania SA.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPOL’s Organised Crime Threat Assessments have not always contained a wealth of detailed useful information – but its 2009 report shows how crime groups are adopting innovative technology and organisational skills: international business should take note. Keith Nuthall reports.…

BY BRENDAN DE BEER and CARRIE-MARIE BRATLEY

"THIS is one of the most serious situations we have ever been faced with," admitted António Mousinho, chairman of Portugal’s National Haulage Association (ANTRAM) at the beginning of October.

As with other industries in these economically turbulent times, the haulage industry in Portugal and its trade unions and professional associations are becoming increasingly obsessed with simple economic survival.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE SIZE of the planned international investment in Ukraine’s gas distribution system has been revealed in a European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD) memorandum: up to US$3 billion maybe pumped in. Money would start flowing with a US$300 million working capital loan from the EBRD for purchasing gas, repayable after this winter heating season.…