What the newspapers say: June 8, 2010

Romania’s Constitutional Court declared the Lustration Law unconstitutional, after being passed 20 later than it should have been. Elsewhere in the news, health insurance authorities have checked GPs to assess how fair medical leaves are granted and passed huge fines. Last but not least, one paper indicates that the Romanian state chooses the most expensive offer to build highways, giving access to new “asphalt kings”.

Adevarul focuses on Romania’s Constitutional Court declaring the Lustration Law dead, after being passed 20 later than it should have been. 87 senators and deputies took the law to RCC after being passed by Parliament. Magistrates saw it unconstitutional to deny ex-communist leaders access to public roles in Romania today. Among those who should have been affected by the Lustration Law was ex-Romanian President Ion Iliescu (who does not hold any public role anymore), Octav Cozmanca, Ioan Rus, Serban Mihailescu and politicians who were given the verdict of having collaborated with the ex-communist Intelligence. The Court’s decision is final.

Evenimentul Zileiinforms health insurance authorities have checked GPs to assess how fair medical leaves are granted and have passed huge fines. GPs accuse a „terror regime” from the county authorities. Many doctors have been fined between 2,500 and 5,000 lei for bureaucratic „details”, like not having the new certificate type from the employer, when the leave was given before the law introduced the new certificate. GPs accuse that the control methodology has not been communicated in advance and that they are being fined for aspects that depend on the patient’s employer. Authorities in one western county say medical leaves have grown unexpectedly, from 12,660 in January to 18,995 in April. They also checked if patients were at home and found they all were.

Romania Libera stresses that the Romanian state is looking for the most expensive offer to build the Deva-Orastie highway, indicating that the old „asphalt kings”, namely Casuneanu, Besciu and Umbrareascu, are replaced with the new ‘generation’, namely Theodor Berna from Tehnologica Radion company, and the Horpos brothers from Straco. The National Motorways and Roads Authority (CNADNR) awards expensive contracts to companies that bottom the auction lists, motivating their offers are more serious than cheaper contracts. Unofficial sources report pressures on the auction commission, while Transport minister Radu Berceanu threatened a Spanish firm, which offered the second price for the project, to end the contract for the Timisoara – Arad highway before completeion due to construction delays.