What the newspapers say: May 6, 2011 

Romania’s National Central Bank governor Mugur Isarescu does not endorse a price freeze for petrol and gasoline even though the measure will benefit Romanian drivers. Vasile Blaga fears that if re-elected, incumbent Boc will crash the party in surveys. Romania is pressured to reopen the program for adoptions by foreign citizens. Almost half of the seaside resorts in Romania are a wreck. Theater festivals at Sibiu, Central Romania and at Timisoara, West Romania start.

Gandul reads on Friday that the possible decision of the Romanian government to freeze prices for petrol and gasoline does not breach any EU competition policy a EU official said. Nonetheless, the National Central Bank governor Mugur Isarescu opposes the measure even though in the short term it would benefit Romanian drivers.

His explanation is that after the measure will be eliminated the economic consequences will be even more serious with very high prices and risks of having investors withdraw from Romania. If the government will decide to limit prices for a period of time, oil companies will thereafter increase their prices to recover their previous losses.

Any state intervention in the market is a bad sign for investors and there are chances that oil companies might relocate their investments in other countries, in a favorable economic climate. The governor said that the price of fuel will not increase significantly this year but the advance will be felt in the inflation with a percentage point.

Evenimentul Zilei reads that Vasile Blaga, the main counter candidate against incumbent PDL president Emil Boc fears that Emil Boc will crash the party in surveys if re-elected. Blaga said that the party needs a new beginning like it was always the case, every 10 years.

He said that there are 20 branches that endorse him but each man will vote in secret and it all depends on his/her conscience. Blaga feels sure that he will receive votes from the organization that sustained Boc, in Cluj central Romania.

Romania is pressured to reopen adoptions for foreign citizens, Romania libera reads following a decision of Romanian authorities in 2005 to block the process. President Basescu gave plenty of assurances that the situation will not change in his mandate.

Meanwhile, Romania is under a lot of pressure from US and EU officials to reopen the adoptions program for foreign citizens. In an interview for the newspaper US General Consul James Gray talks about the issues that stand between cooperation of the two countries in this sector.

Gray said that things have changed since 2005 and now authorities have tougher measures that imply real responsibilities to satisfy the state of origin of the children. In his opinion, Romania needs to change legislation and there was a proposal for a limited reopening of adoptions but the incumbent PM Emil Boc refused it.

With the summer season only a month away, Romania libera informs that almost half of the seaside resorts in Romania are a wreck. In Mangalia, a seaside city and resort, local council created a new tax, the tax on wreck. Local authorities claim that 40% of the public locations are under the incidence of this tax.

The tax is applied to all seaside resorts that pertain to Mangalia including Olimp, Neptun, Jupiter, Saturn.

Romania libera announces the start of two important theater festivals in Romania: the one at Sibiu, central Romania and at Timisoara West Romania. This time, the festival at Timisoara also hosts some foreign troops: among them a British theater company Forced Entertainment that opens the festival on May 7. The troop is considered the best experimental theater troop by British journalists.

At Sibiu the festival this year comes with representations down town in the 18th edition of the festival, built around the idea of community where 300 artists from 70 countries will entertain the public from May 27 to June 5.