Opposition leader: Romania is in recession, Govt. busy selling off natural, energy resources

Social Democrat Party leader Victor Ponta (in picture) said Sunday ( April 1 ) that Romania is officially in recession, following two consecutive quarters of economic decline. “It’s a fact. We’ll be told that it’s technically, statistically... when we are in recession it is just a technical fall,” said Victor Ponta, adding that this is “an economic reality, also influenced by the European situation that we knew before making these super optimistic forecasts”. According to the PSD leader, this is a reality influenced by the inconsistency and the lack of strategy of the government. “It’s a giant warning signal for what’s to come,” he added. Also, Victor Ponta said that Romania’s government led by Mihai Razvan Ungureanu is out of touch with the country’s internal interests, and is busy selling off what’s left of Romania’s natural and energy resources, referring to the sale of a stake in Transelectrica. “The next step will certainly be the sales of Hidroelectrica, Tarom, SNCFR, Transgaz and whatever else is left to sell. The Social Liber Union (USL) finds that the prime minister’s mandate has no connection with Romania's interests,” he said. The Romanian state will raise EUR 37.7 million from the sale of 15 percent in local electricity carrier Transelectrica, after the secondary public offering ended earlier this week on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, where the company’s shares were already floating. More about it here. The state recently finalized the bid for copper mine Cupru Min, in a EUR 200 million deal. We wrote about it here. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com