US micro processors producer Intel will open its first software development center in Romania, which will also be the first such unit in Europe. The company will offer more details in a press conference next week.

*IMF leaves without approved budget, tranche delayed for January – in Ziarul Financiar
*Vodafone brings expat to lead Romanian subsidiary. Liliana Solomon promoted head of 14 markets – in Ziarul Financiar
*Romgaz imports more expensive gas and profits drops 23% – in Ziarul Financiar
*DM Drogerie Markt opens unit on the premises of the former Sherriffs restaurant downtown Bucharest – in Ziarul Financiar
*City Mall owners take cover from banks by asking for insolvency – in Gandul
*Romanian public pensions, the worst in the region. What will happen by 2050 – in Gandul

Carpet company Desso will supply carpet for 40,000 sqm of offices in the new Petrom City office project, Desso has announced. The area which will be covered by carpet is the size of six football courts put together. “It is a significant project for us, as it expresses our commercial performances in Poland and in the Eastern Europe,” said Wojciech Chorobik, director with Desso Romania.

The Bucharest court has approved the insolvency of the Armonia Braila shopping center owner Red Project Three, a company of the Red real estate development group. The shopping center was closed down in August 2009, after only several months from opening, due to unsatisfying results. At the time, the developer was announcing plans to reposition the project and turn into into a discount-oriented one. It was expected to re-open in 2011.

*BCR Group, controlled by Erste, makes RON 6 million profit in third quarter – in Ziarul Financiar
*The stake of the ordinance becomes the stake of the IMF agreement – in Ziarul Financiar
*Americans from Plexus give up on plans to enter China and open a factory in Oradea – in Ziarul Financiar
*Tg Mures airport seeks EUR 40 mln EU financing – in Ziarul Financiar
*Loss in the banking system reaches RON 474 million in the first nine months – in Gandul

BRD-Groupe Societe Generale posted a profit of EUR 113 million in the first nine months of the year, down 28 percent on the level registered at the end of September last year, according to the bank. Its banking revenues were of EUR 634 million, up 5 percent.

Canadian oil and gas company Sterling Resources has ended the agreement with Melrose Resources BV for Sterling's Pelican and Midia blocks, offshore Romania, the company has announced. "The inability to obtain assignment approval has impeded progress on the Ana and Doina discoveries, as well as further exploration and appraisal activities on the blocks," according to the company.

Romania currently has the most unsustainable public pensions system among all the emerging economies in the EU, according to a report issued by international rating agency Standard&Poor’s. The Romanian public pensions system will see an increase in pension expenses by 6.4 percentage points of the GDP in the following decades, from a current 8.4 percent of the GDP, to 14.8 percent of the GDP in 2050.

With its EU accession in 2007, Romania has gained access to much needed financing alternatives in agriculture; the main sources of funding are the direct payments and those through the National Program for Rural Development. The proper use of the financing for the farming sector could trigger a more competitive Romanian agriculture, the increase in the number of jobs in rural areas, as well as the sustainable development of rural areas. Romania-Insider.com looks at the main features of the EU funds for agriculture, an area which could become one of the country's competitive advantages if properly taken care of, as well as at several foreign investments in Romanian agriculture.

Australian investment fund APN/UKA, which owns the City Mall shopping center in Bucharest, has asked for the insolvency of the Romanian company which runs the shopping mall, Victoria Holding.

US micro processors producer Intel will open its first software development center in Romania, which will also be the first such unit in Europe. The company will offer more details in a press conference next week.

*IMF leaves without approved budget, tranche delayed for January – in Ziarul Financiar
*Vodafone brings expat to lead Romanian subsidiary. Liliana Solomon promoted head of 14 markets – in Ziarul Financiar
*Romgaz imports more expensive gas and profits drops 23% – in Ziarul Financiar
*DM Drogerie Markt opens unit on the premises of the former Sherriffs restaurant downtown Bucharest – in Ziarul Financiar
*City Mall owners take cover from banks by asking for insolvency – in Gandul
*Romanian public pensions, the worst in the region. What will happen by 2050 – in Gandul

Carpet company Desso will supply carpet for 40,000 sqm of offices in the new Petrom City office project, Desso has announced. The area which will be covered by carpet is the size of six football courts put together. “It is a significant project for us, as it expresses our commercial performances in Poland and in the Eastern Europe,” said Wojciech Chorobik, director with Desso Romania.

The Bucharest court has approved the insolvency of the Armonia Braila shopping center owner Red Project Three, a company of the Red real estate development group. The shopping center was closed down in August 2009, after only several months from opening, due to unsatisfying results. At the time, the developer was announcing plans to reposition the project and turn into into a discount-oriented one. It was expected to re-open in 2011.

*BCR Group, controlled by Erste, makes RON 6 million profit in third quarter – in Ziarul Financiar
*The stake of the ordinance becomes the stake of the IMF agreement – in Ziarul Financiar
*Americans from Plexus give up on plans to enter China and open a factory in Oradea – in Ziarul Financiar
*Tg Mures airport seeks EUR 40 mln EU financing – in Ziarul Financiar
*Loss in the banking system reaches RON 474 million in the first nine months – in Gandul

BRD-Groupe Societe Generale posted a profit of EUR 113 million in the first nine months of the year, down 28 percent on the level registered at the end of September last year, according to the bank. Its banking revenues were of EUR 634 million, up 5 percent.

Canadian oil and gas company Sterling Resources has ended the agreement with Melrose Resources BV for Sterling's Pelican and Midia blocks, offshore Romania, the company has announced. "The inability to obtain assignment approval has impeded progress on the Ana and Doina discoveries, as well as further exploration and appraisal activities on the blocks," according to the company.

Romania currently has the most unsustainable public pensions system among all the emerging economies in the EU, according to a report issued by international rating agency Standard&Poor’s. The Romanian public pensions system will see an increase in pension expenses by 6.4 percentage points of the GDP in the following decades, from a current 8.4 percent of the GDP, to 14.8 percent of the GDP in 2050.

With its EU accession in 2007, Romania has gained access to much needed financing alternatives in agriculture; the main sources of funding are the direct payments and those through the National Program for Rural Development. The proper use of the financing for the farming sector could trigger a more competitive Romanian agriculture, the increase in the number of jobs in rural areas, as well as the sustainable development of rural areas. Romania-Insider.com looks at the main features of the EU funds for agriculture, an area which could become one of the country's competitive advantages if properly taken care of, as well as at several foreign investments in Romanian agriculture.

Australian investment fund APN/UKA, which owns the City Mall shopping center in Bucharest, has asked for the insolvency of the Romanian company which runs the shopping mall, Victoria Holding.