A recent comment run on a Financial Times blog depicts the Romanian Government as “at best dysfunctional and at worst incompetent”, while Romanian president Traian Basescu is described as “the country’s bull-in-a-chinashop president”.

More companies decided to cancel their business activity in Romania in the first half of this year than in the same period of last year, according to data from the National Trade Registry (ONRC). There was a whooping six times increase in the number of firms which filed for voluntary cancellation of their business, to 118,000. The amount also includes automatic cancellations.

Romanian media, Horia Ciorcila charged with Stock Exchange manipulation – in Ziarul Financiar, Annual inflation down to 4.38% in June – in Ziarul Financiar, Vladescu: We need progressive taxation, flat tax is no longer coping – in Ziarul Financiar, Impact goes insolvent over a debt equivalent to three apartments' worth – in Ziarul Financiar, Government comes up with third plan to reboot economy – in Ziarul Financiar

Local IT distribution company Asesoft Distribution saw its revenues up 33 percent in the first half of this year, to USD 67.8 million, it has announced. Its target for the year is a turnover of USD 180 million. This would be an overall increase of over 30 percent in turnover compared to last year.

US automotive safety restraints producer ‘Key Safety Systems' (KSS), is planning to build a factory in the Curtici Free area in Arad county. The 12,000 – sqm facility will become KSS' third factory in Romania in 2011, when it will become operational.

Kazakhstan’s KazMunayGas, the owner of Rompetrol group, is ready to buy back the shares the Romanian state could take over in Rompetrol Rafinare, according to the Rompetrol president Saduokhas Meraliyev. The state could do this if KazMunayGas will not pay its entire debt to the Romanian state. The state could sell the shares to third parties, but KazMunayGas has the preemption rights

Local real estate developer Impact has entered insolvency after one of its contractors, Romconstruct Ploiesti, has asked for its insolvency in court over a debt of RON 1.3 million (around EUR 300,000). The real estate developer says it will appeal the court decision and qualifies the proceedings as unjustified and hostile.

Foreign direct investments to Romania totaled EUR 1.43 billion in the first five months of the year, down 31.5 percent on the same period of last year, according to data recently released by the Romanian Central Bank (BNR). There was a volume of FDI of EUR 300 million in May this year.

Investment fund Interprime Properties, which is part of the Swedish group Ikea, has bough the Timpuri Noi industrial platform in Bucharest for EUR 34.6 million. The 51,000 – sqm land plot, which has been up for sale for a couple of years, was initially on sale for EUR 100 million for the land plot, which is 60 percent covered by buildings

A Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe was registered in Romania in June this year, the first such car after one and a half years, according to Mediafax newswire. The car is priced at EUR 340,000 in Europe, but it was not bought through Automobile Bavaria, the car brand representative in Romania, according to the newswire.

A recent comment run on a Financial Times blog depicts the Romanian Government as “at best dysfunctional and at worst incompetent”, while Romanian president Traian Basescu is described as “the country’s bull-in-a-chinashop president”.

More companies decided to cancel their business activity in Romania in the first half of this year than in the same period of last year, according to data from the National Trade Registry (ONRC). There was a whooping six times increase in the number of firms which filed for voluntary cancellation of their business, to 118,000. The amount also includes automatic cancellations.

Romanian media, Horia Ciorcila charged with Stock Exchange manipulation – in Ziarul Financiar, Annual inflation down to 4.38% in June – in Ziarul Financiar, Vladescu: We need progressive taxation, flat tax is no longer coping – in Ziarul Financiar, Impact goes insolvent over a debt equivalent to three apartments' worth – in Ziarul Financiar, Government comes up with third plan to reboot economy – in Ziarul Financiar

Local IT distribution company Asesoft Distribution saw its revenues up 33 percent in the first half of this year, to USD 67.8 million, it has announced. Its target for the year is a turnover of USD 180 million. This would be an overall increase of over 30 percent in turnover compared to last year.

US automotive safety restraints producer ‘Key Safety Systems' (KSS), is planning to build a factory in the Curtici Free area in Arad county. The 12,000 – sqm facility will become KSS' third factory in Romania in 2011, when it will become operational.

Kazakhstan’s KazMunayGas, the owner of Rompetrol group, is ready to buy back the shares the Romanian state could take over in Rompetrol Rafinare, according to the Rompetrol president Saduokhas Meraliyev. The state could do this if KazMunayGas will not pay its entire debt to the Romanian state. The state could sell the shares to third parties, but KazMunayGas has the preemption rights

Local real estate developer Impact has entered insolvency after one of its contractors, Romconstruct Ploiesti, has asked for its insolvency in court over a debt of RON 1.3 million (around EUR 300,000). The real estate developer says it will appeal the court decision and qualifies the proceedings as unjustified and hostile.

Foreign direct investments to Romania totaled EUR 1.43 billion in the first five months of the year, down 31.5 percent on the same period of last year, according to data recently released by the Romanian Central Bank (BNR). There was a volume of FDI of EUR 300 million in May this year.

Investment fund Interprime Properties, which is part of the Swedish group Ikea, has bough the Timpuri Noi industrial platform in Bucharest for EUR 34.6 million. The 51,000 – sqm land plot, which has been up for sale for a couple of years, was initially on sale for EUR 100 million for the land plot, which is 60 percent covered by buildings

A Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe was registered in Romania in June this year, the first such car after one and a half years, according to Mediafax newswire. The car is priced at EUR 340,000 in Europe, but it was not bought through Automobile Bavaria, the car brand representative in Romania, according to the newswire.