State-owned metro company Metrorex will choose the consultant for the airport metro line next year in spring. The consultant will decide whether the metro line connecting downtown Bucharest to the Otopeni airport will start from 1 Mai or Piata Victoriei existing metro stations.

Romanian businessman Dinu Patriciu, who has started to invest in retail earlier this year, plans to reach a total of 3,000 stores under the Mic.ro brand by the end of next year, which will include neighborhood stores as well as mobile kiosks. The investor expects this network to bring a EUR 1.5 billion turnover by the end of next year.

Romania's unemployment rate fell to 6.8 percent in the second quarter, from 8.1 percent a quarter earlier, the National Statistics Institute said Tuesday. However, the jobless rate was higher compared with a rate of 6.3 percent in the second quarter of 2009, the statistics data showed.

Texas – based oil equipment producer Lufkin Industries, which has started working on its factory in Ploiesti, expects a EUR 30 million turnover in the first year of activity in Romania. It plans to grow the yearly turnover to around USD 70 million after two or three years of activity.

Oil and gas company Petrom has externalized its data center to IBM, in a contract worth several million dollars and valid for ten years, the two companies have announced. IBM will provide data center services and run Petrom's data center in Petrom City. “[...] The shared use of the space and the facilities will have a positive impact on our costs,” said Reinhard Pichler, Petrom CFO.

*Head of BCR says the economy shows signs of revival – in Ziarul Financiar
*Dacia will exceed 500,000 cars from 2012 – in Ziarul Financiar
*Romanians spend 72% of revenues on consumption and only 2% on investments – in Ziarul Financiar
*Bucharest comes last in foreign investors' eye – in Ziarul Financiar

The European Commission has sent Romanian authorities a letter asking for further details on how a European directive was transposed into local legislation through Government Emergency Ordinance 50/2010 on consumer lending contracts. The document was sent to the local Department for European Affairs, and, according to government sources, it is the first step in a potential infringement procedure.

Romania doubled the volume of exports to China in the first half of this year, sending EUR 154 million worth of goods to the country, according to data from the European Statistics Institute (Eurostat). Meanwhile, the country's imports from China grew too, from EUR 826 million in the first half of last year, to EUR 1.17 billion in the same period of this year.

*IMF: Romania needs EUR 38 billion next year – in Ziarul Financiar
*Kazakhs now want state's shares in Petromidia – in Ziarul Financiar
*EUR 10,000 from the state for young people who want to start businesses – in Ziarul Financiar
*Hornbach opens the Prisma store by the end of the year – in Ziarul Financiar
*IMF money move BNR's reserves up to EUR 32.6 billion in September – in Gandul

Romanian investor Dinu Patriciu and journalist Sorin Rosca Stanescu have recently launched an online bookstore under the brand Corect Books, which will sell only digital books. The investment in the project was of EUR 100,000, but will reach EUR 2 million for a wider project which includes a media portal as well.

State-owned metro company Metrorex will choose the consultant for the airport metro line next year in spring. The consultant will decide whether the metro line connecting downtown Bucharest to the Otopeni airport will start from 1 Mai or Piata Victoriei existing metro stations.

Romanian businessman Dinu Patriciu, who has started to invest in retail earlier this year, plans to reach a total of 3,000 stores under the Mic.ro brand by the end of next year, which will include neighborhood stores as well as mobile kiosks. The investor expects this network to bring a EUR 1.5 billion turnover by the end of next year.

Romania's unemployment rate fell to 6.8 percent in the second quarter, from 8.1 percent a quarter earlier, the National Statistics Institute said Tuesday. However, the jobless rate was higher compared with a rate of 6.3 percent in the second quarter of 2009, the statistics data showed.

Texas – based oil equipment producer Lufkin Industries, which has started working on its factory in Ploiesti, expects a EUR 30 million turnover in the first year of activity in Romania. It plans to grow the yearly turnover to around USD 70 million after two or three years of activity.

Oil and gas company Petrom has externalized its data center to IBM, in a contract worth several million dollars and valid for ten years, the two companies have announced. IBM will provide data center services and run Petrom's data center in Petrom City. “[...] The shared use of the space and the facilities will have a positive impact on our costs,” said Reinhard Pichler, Petrom CFO.

*Head of BCR says the economy shows signs of revival – in Ziarul Financiar
*Dacia will exceed 500,000 cars from 2012 – in Ziarul Financiar
*Romanians spend 72% of revenues on consumption and only 2% on investments – in Ziarul Financiar
*Bucharest comes last in foreign investors' eye – in Ziarul Financiar

The European Commission has sent Romanian authorities a letter asking for further details on how a European directive was transposed into local legislation through Government Emergency Ordinance 50/2010 on consumer lending contracts. The document was sent to the local Department for European Affairs, and, according to government sources, it is the first step in a potential infringement procedure.

Romania doubled the volume of exports to China in the first half of this year, sending EUR 154 million worth of goods to the country, according to data from the European Statistics Institute (Eurostat). Meanwhile, the country's imports from China grew too, from EUR 826 million in the first half of last year, to EUR 1.17 billion in the same period of this year.

*IMF: Romania needs EUR 38 billion next year – in Ziarul Financiar
*Kazakhs now want state's shares in Petromidia – in Ziarul Financiar
*EUR 10,000 from the state for young people who want to start businesses – in Ziarul Financiar
*Hornbach opens the Prisma store by the end of the year – in Ziarul Financiar
*IMF money move BNR's reserves up to EUR 32.6 billion in September – in Gandul

Romanian investor Dinu Patriciu and journalist Sorin Rosca Stanescu have recently launched an online bookstore under the brand Corect Books, which will sell only digital books. The investment in the project was of EUR 100,000, but will reach EUR 2 million for a wider project which includes a media portal as well.