Romanians buy less than last year but several products stay at the top of the shopping list, such as water, medicine, sweets, coffee, according to Daedalus Group. Around 60 percent of Romanians have said they buy less this year than they did last year.

Prime Minister Emil Boc, who went to New York for four days during September to attend a United Nations meeting, was accompanied by a staff of 35 people and the cost of the trip reached EUR 470,000, according to Romanian media reports.

The traditional retail market in Romania is worth EUR 15 billion and traditional stores will survive the fight with modern formats and the financial and economical crisis, according to Milos Ryba, senior retail analyst with Planet Retail consultancy firm.

Telecom company Cosmote Romania's roaming voice traffic tripled during the period May – August 2010 compared to the same period of last year, while the data traffic grew five-fold during the same period, the company has announced. Cosmote users traveled to Italy, Germany, Bulgaria, Greece and Spain.

Italian actor and director Michele Placido, known for his Corrado Cattani role in the mafia movie La Piovra, is in Romania for a cinema project about Italy in the 60s and the Italian migration to Romania. Placido will collaborate with Romanian director and producer Bobby Paunescu for this project.

The International Monetary Fund and the Romanian authorities have already agreed on next year's budget parameters, Jeffey Franks, head of the IMF mission to Bucharest, said Wednesday. The 2011 budget must be adjusted according to necessities, said Franks when asked by journalists about his view on the parliament's decisions to cut the value added tax level for staple food and to lift the income tax on small pensions.

*Surprise in the Parliament- with IMF reviewing the country, Parliament votes drop of VAT and tax exemptions for some pensions – in Ziarul Financiar
*Finance Ministry could refinance bonds worth EUR 1.4 billion – in Ziarul Financiar
*Polish, first expat who runs Microsoft Romania – in Ziarul Financiar
*Pestera and Cernavoda, the new wind energy villages in Dobrogea – in Ziarul Financiar
*BCR buys good.bee mobile banking services from the mother band – in Ziarul Financiar

The already famous iPad device from Apple, which has started to shape the online media industry worldwide, is also available for sale in Romania but the prices are considerably higher than in the US. Telecom operators, which are expected to bring the device to Romania at lower selling prices when sold with data and voice subscriptions, are yet to include it in their offers.

Mike Holmes, who has been running Pepsi's business in Romania for the last four years, will leave the company and will be replaced by Pavlos Katsivelis, who used to run Pepsi in Greece. Katsivelis will lead both the beverages and the snacks divisions in Romania.

Romania ranks 52nd in a worldwide freedom of the press ranking published by Reporters sans Frontières organization, down two places on last year. Romania's ranking is similar to the Maldive Islands' but better than the Republic of Moldova's, Croatia's or Greece's.

Romanians buy less than last year but several products stay at the top of the shopping list, such as water, medicine, sweets, coffee, according to Daedalus Group. Around 60 percent of Romanians have said they buy less this year than they did last year.

Prime Minister Emil Boc, who went to New York for four days during September to attend a United Nations meeting, was accompanied by a staff of 35 people and the cost of the trip reached EUR 470,000, according to Romanian media reports.

The traditional retail market in Romania is worth EUR 15 billion and traditional stores will survive the fight with modern formats and the financial and economical crisis, according to Milos Ryba, senior retail analyst with Planet Retail consultancy firm.

Telecom company Cosmote Romania's roaming voice traffic tripled during the period May – August 2010 compared to the same period of last year, while the data traffic grew five-fold during the same period, the company has announced. Cosmote users traveled to Italy, Germany, Bulgaria, Greece and Spain.

Italian actor and director Michele Placido, known for his Corrado Cattani role in the mafia movie La Piovra, is in Romania for a cinema project about Italy in the 60s and the Italian migration to Romania. Placido will collaborate with Romanian director and producer Bobby Paunescu for this project.

The International Monetary Fund and the Romanian authorities have already agreed on next year's budget parameters, Jeffey Franks, head of the IMF mission to Bucharest, said Wednesday. The 2011 budget must be adjusted according to necessities, said Franks when asked by journalists about his view on the parliament's decisions to cut the value added tax level for staple food and to lift the income tax on small pensions.

*Surprise in the Parliament- with IMF reviewing the country, Parliament votes drop of VAT and tax exemptions for some pensions – in Ziarul Financiar
*Finance Ministry could refinance bonds worth EUR 1.4 billion – in Ziarul Financiar
*Polish, first expat who runs Microsoft Romania – in Ziarul Financiar
*Pestera and Cernavoda, the new wind energy villages in Dobrogea – in Ziarul Financiar
*BCR buys good.bee mobile banking services from the mother band – in Ziarul Financiar

The already famous iPad device from Apple, which has started to shape the online media industry worldwide, is also available for sale in Romania but the prices are considerably higher than in the US. Telecom operators, which are expected to bring the device to Romania at lower selling prices when sold with data and voice subscriptions, are yet to include it in their offers.

Mike Holmes, who has been running Pepsi's business in Romania for the last four years, will leave the company and will be replaced by Pavlos Katsivelis, who used to run Pepsi in Greece. Katsivelis will lead both the beverages and the snacks divisions in Romania.

Romania ranks 52nd in a worldwide freedom of the press ranking published by Reporters sans Frontières organization, down two places on last year. Romania's ranking is similar to the Maldive Islands' but better than the Republic of Moldova's, Croatia's or Greece's.