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RADOR: News from Romania, 98-10-19
October 19, 1998
CONTENTS
[01] Prime Minister Radu Vasile Is Due in Brussels;
[02] Romanian-Moldovan Intergovernment Meeting;
[03] Government to Start Negotiations with the WB;
[04] Economic Reform Should Be Done Quickly, Former Minister of Reform Ulm
Spineanu Says.
[01] Prime Minister Radu Vasile is due in Brussels
Romania's Prime Minister Radu Vasile is due in Brussels for a two-day visit
(on Monday and Tuesday). It is the first such visit of a Romanian prime
minister to NATO and the EU headquarters. Mr Radu Vasile is to meet NATO
Secretary General Javier Solana and European Commission President Jacques
Santer. The Romanian prime minister and EU commissioner Hans van den Broek
are expected to sign the memorandum on the EU-Phare financing for Romania
in 1998 and an agreement between Romania and the European Commission on
setting up the EU-Phare National Fund. RADOR
[02] Romanian-Moldovan intergovernment meeting
The eighth meeting of the Committees for bilateral relations betweenO
Romania and the Republic of Moldova is due to start in the Moldovan capital
of Kishinev on Monday. Romanian Foreign Minister Andrei Plesu is heading an
over 50-member official delegation including 6 ministers, 16 state
secretaries and experts. Participants are expected to concentrate on
concrete proposals drawn up by the joint working groups on various fields
and seek solutions to problems still waiting to be solved. The meeting in
Kishinev comes two days before the Romanian-Moldovan summit on October 22
and 23. RADOR
[03] Government to start negotiations with the WB
The Romanian Government is due to start negotiations with the World Bank
next month. The WB said it would grant aid to Romania within the two
programmes they started: the ASAL programme for agriculture and the post-
FESAL programme for the industry. After negotiations on Saturday with WB
Director for Romania Andrew Forking, Prime-Minister Radu Vasile said they
agreed upon the main principles in the ASAL programme stOting a new 150
bil. dollar loan starting early next year. The prime-minister said the WB
support was conditioned by the coherent and firm measures the Government
had to take in reform and privatisation fields. RADOR
[04] Economic reform should be done quickly, former Minister of Reform Ulm
Spineanu says
The Deputy Speaker of the Senate Ulm Spineanu told a press conference on
Sunday that Romania was able to overcome the economic crisis it has been to
for 6 or 9 months provided that the reform is done very quickly. The
Christian-Democrat senator said that current situation was caused by a weak
commitment to reform, the fragility of the macroeconomic system, the delays
in restructuring the big enterprises and privatization of big banks along
with a worrying increase in imports and growing undergroud economy. Mr
Spineanu said the poor efficiency in fighting corruption was due to the
lack of cooperation between the justiciary, police and customs office.
According to Mr Spineanu, theOnext year's economy might start swinging up
provided a maximum austherity programme is imposed on everybody. Mr.
Spineanu said he presented the Executive with some of the ecomomic measures
he had in view but there was no response to that until now. RADOR
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