Romania will launch a EUR 1 billion bond issue on November 25, hoping to cover the budget deficit and refinance its public debt with the money raised.

U.S. Bechtel, the company that is building Romania’s Transylvania Highway plans to sack over 800 employees working on the highway, arguing the construction area is not ready for further works and the Romanian state has not paid its debts for works in 2010.

The largest work of the painter Nicolae Tonitza (1886-1940) entitled "Golgotha" was sold, in Bucharest, for EUR 125,000 euros, at an Artmark auction "12 +1 Impressionist masterpieces from private collections", at the Ghika Palace on Thursday evening. "Golgotha" has one square meter dimension and is the largest work of Nicolae Tonitza auctioned on the Romanian art market.

Movies in Bucharest opening this week-end: The Next Three Days, Takers, You Again; also on screens: Unstoppable, Easy A, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

*Leasing market hasn't stopped its fall and is down 27% in nine months – in Ziarul Financiar
*Liliana Solomon: the Vodafone Romania CEO mandate was the best period of my career so far – in Ziarul Financiar
*Ursus closes down Cluj factory. Ursus and Azuga to be produced in Buzau, Timisoara and Brasov – in Ziarul Financiar
*OTE and Deutsche Telekom give one of the most important positions in Romtelecom to Romanian – in Ziarul Financiar

Calendar of events in Bucharest, November 19-21: concerts, shows, exhibitions.

Drugstores in Romania will be set up and operated as commercial companies starting 2011, with a pharmacist as sole associate or part of associations of pharmacists who own at least 51 percent of shares, according to the new law on the organization and functioning of drugstores.

The Bucharest Court of Appeals sentenced business people Corneliu Iacobov and Toader Gaurean to seven and six years in prison, respectively, for defrauding the RAFO Onesti oil refinery. The Court also sentenced Marin Marin to seven years in prison, for abuse of office, and acquitted Liliana Luchian and the other defendants, charged with money laundering.

The number of Romanians who emigrated stands at 2.7 million this year, accounting for 13.1 percent of the population, but is expected to drop considerable on the long term, in 10 -15 years, as Romania converges toward Europe, according to the World Bank. Most Romanians emigrated to Italy, Spain, Hungary, Israel, USA, Germany, Canada, Austria, France and the UK.

Ursus Breweries will close down one of its oldest production centers in Romania, the 130-year old Cluj – Napoca factory, which employs 161 people, the company has announced. The factory had the highest operating cost of all Ursus' production units in Romania and was located downtown, which made it harder to run logistically wise.

The CliniClowns Romania charity and the Netherlands Embassy to Bucharest organize the CliniClowns Charity Dinner Gala, a fund raising event which will take place on November 24, at Casa Vernescu (133 Calea Victoriei), starting 18,00 hours.

Romania's Embassy in London and the Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR) in London, at 1 Belgrave Square SW1X 8PH, has inaugurated the Romanian library, a joint project of the two institutions, dedicated to the Romanian community in Great Britain and carried out with the support of one of the leaders of the business community in London, Romanian-born George Iacobescu.