What the newspapers say: March 5, 2009

President Basescu asks the population to pay the remaining debt to banks, former Prime Minister Adrian Nastase loses his parliamentarian immunity, the government had no idea how to cut the costs to the level it promised and a group formed by a former minister, a journalist and a businessman makes a fortune by buying land on the track of a future highway.

Romania President Traian Basescu warned the citizens to start paying their remaining debt towards banks and even promised that the State will involve to help stimulating the payments. The delayed payments of the general population towards banks increased 46% nationwide, with peaks in the Caras Severin county (a 180% increase), Tulcea county (174%) and Bucharest (91%), Gandul reads

While some fail to pay the bank, others make a fortune by accessing confidential data. A group formed by former Transport Minister Miron Mitrea, businessman Cristian Burci and the father-in-law of a renowned journalist, Sorin Rosca Stanescu, bought land exactly on the spot that became the future track of the Bucharest – Brasov highway. The profit in the deal is over 200%, from an investment of 50,000 Euros to a sale price between 7 and 10 million Euros. The deal was put up while Mitrea was the Transport Minister, Evenimentul Zilei reports, in a wider investigative article.

The deputies approved the demand of the prosecutor general and decided to send former Prime Minister Adrian Nastase to court, to face trial in two corruption cases. The decision was took with 158 votes in favor and 128 against sending Nastase to court, Evenimentul Zilei reads.

Prime Minister Emil Boc was quite lost during the press conference on Wednesday, admitting that he doesn’t know how the Government will cut some 1.6 billion RON out of its expenses, as previously promised as anti-crisis measure. Even more, Boc didn’t deny the rumor about the existence of a governmental ordinance maintaining the incentives for state employees, the same incentives Boc promised to cut a while back. „We can discuss this after March 15, after the negotiations between the Labor Ministry and the unions”, said Boc, according to Gandul.