Romania Green Building Council organizes the second edition of the Greening our Hotels event on September 28 at the Athenee Palace Hilton in Bucharest. The full day workshop will focus on the opportunities and the economic benefits of a responsible environmental approach towards architecture, renovation and management of a green building in the hotel industry.

A leisure biking event under the Cube Days name will take place on Sunday, September 19, starting from Cernica Pool and restaurant at 09,00 hours in the morning. The biking trail will take several hours through the forest.

The Passport is the English translation of Der Mensch ist ein grosser Fasan auf der Welt (Man is a great pheasant in the world), written in 1986. It is a novel (or novella) about a Romanian (ethnic German) man,Windisch, a village miller, who searches a way to bribe the communist officials for a passport which will allow him and his family to return to West Germany.

Romanian media owner Sorin Ovidiu Vantu will be released from arrest, where he was sent initially for 29 days last Thursday, the Appeal Court has recently decided. Two other individuals who were also arrested, Ovidu Turcan and Alexandru Stoian, will be freed along with Vantu.

French retailer Auchan has chosen a smaller format for its future store Iasi, pursuing an area half the size of its usual store formats so far. Auchan will open a 5,000 sqm store in mixed project Palas Iasi in the second half of next year.

Palas Iasi, the mixed real estate project developed by local developer Iulius Group in partnership with the Iasi municipality, has had to shift the project amidst the crisis to comply with the new market realities. The project, which was initially supposed to feature 800 apartments, will only feature 100 apartments, out of which 60 have already been sold, said Iulian Dascalu, president and owner of the group.

Asesoft group, owned by Romanian investors Sebastian Ghita and Iulian Stanciu, has taken over the majority share package in IT&C retailer Flanco, the retailer has announced. The new owners will inject EUR 4 million into the retailer's capital in the following months, while banks will receive EUR 10 million in the following six months, according to Flanco's reorganization plans

The Romanian government plans to keep the flat tax rate unchanged at 16 percent at least until 2013, according to the country’s three-year fiscal strategy approved Wednesday. The document doesn't indicate whether the value added tax rate will be modified over the next three years. In July, the government raised the VAT to 24 percent from 19 percent to boost state revenues.

Eugen Voicu, founder of Aviva Investors, formerly named Certinvest, has redeemed the entire share package in the company from UK insurer Aviva, the majority shareholder. The company will be re-branded from November, when the deal will be finalized. The company manages EUR 17.7 million of assets.

*Romania could become the new growth vector in the East – in Ziarul Financiar
*Eugen Voicu redeems Aviva Investors and tries to re-launch it – in Ziarul Financiar
*IKEA wants to fuel the store in Baneasa with solar energy – in Ziarul Financiar
*Romtelecom will have 4-5 TV channels by year-end – in Ziarul Financiar
*Ghita from Asesoft to buy Flanco – in Ziarul Financiar

Kilpatrick Executive Search Romania grew the number of its consultants almost four-fold in the previous 12 months, the company has announced. With offices in Bucharest and Timisoara, the company has recently added a Talent Works International (TWI) business line to its office in Timisoara.

Romania’s capital city Bucharest ranks 69th among 73 cities worldwide according to the price levels, says a survey conducted by financial services firm UBS. New York, Geneva and Oslo are still among the most expensive cities worldwide, according to UBS classification.