What the newspapers say: July 8, 2010

Romanian newspapers on Thursday discuss extensively the comments made by President Traian Basescu on Wednesday on government plans to deal with the economic crisis. One paper looks into the rush for the Black Sea resources, another is interested about the Romanian smartest students’ plans to continue their studies, while yet another reports on suspicions that a Romanian TV star and his TV station were involved in an organised crime ring.

Romania’s President Traian Basescu took one step away from a decision of the government to rise VAT to 24%, Evenimentul Zilei reports, related to an interview the President made to the public radio on Wednesday in which he said the government move was a mistake. The paper says that Basescu and PM Emil Boc had rather different perspectives on how to bring more money to the budget, as the head of state put forward the idea that taxing pensions would have been an alternative to increased VAT.

The same issue is discussed by Adevarul, which focuses on the fact that a recent decision by the Constitutional Court to declare plans to cut pensions as unconstitutional is seen by Traian Basescu as a political approach to the problem, not a constitutional one.

Gandul reads that Basescu leaves Emil Boc alone with his move to rise VAT and tries to identify what the costs would be for President’s idea to tax pensions instead. And the paper quotes sources from the governing Democratic Liberal Party (PDL) who had told the paper that the prime minister had explained the president that no party in the governmental coalition would have accepted taxes on pensions and that the move might have been declared unconstitutional.

Elsewhere in the news, the same Gandul reads that Economy minister Adriean Videanu has told its reporters that a possible cut of the flat tax down to 10% was being discussed. But several hours later, PM Emil Boc said about that issue that people should quit making scenarios and that „all there is is what’s in place already”.

Meanwhile, Adevarul tries to identify what are the plans of the students who reported the highest degree in this year’s Bacalaureate. Most of them are interested in continuing their studies abroad, according to the paper, which quotes many of them. The paper points out that the Bacalaureate this year had a lot of both negative and positive records: 2010 is the year with the highest number of high school students who failed to pass the Bacalaureate, but also the one with the largest number of 10-mark students – 131, and none of them from Bucharest.

For its part, Evenimentul Zilei is trying to identify who is rushing to get a grip on Black Sea resources. Four oil areas which were won by Romania in Hague have been subject to cession, and two of them will see Lukoil look for crude oil and natural gas, along with a US company involved in a political scandal in Kiev, according to the paper. Two other perimeters lure a Romanian company owned by a former manager of two firms associated with Romanian businessman Sorin Ovidiu Vintu, the paper reads.

Last but not least, Romania libera reports that the Bucharest Tribunal says the owner of OTV TV channel, Dan Diaconescu – best known for the mass-audience, tabloid-style shows he runs on his channel – should have been indicted for a much more serious crime than blackmail, for which he was retained recently and later released on restrictive terms. The paper reads that the anti-graft prosecutor in charge with the Diaconescu file whould have opened penal inquiry for organised crime activities, as the court believes there was enough evidence to support such a charge.