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00:00:42It's 9 o'clock now, good morning, we're back to the morning news. On Monday
00:00:45morning, the rains are coming, here umbrellas open faster
00:00:50770, which drastically than negotiations for a government. Trump agrees with Putin
00:00:53on diesel, until yesterday Russia had to be isolated. Today it can
00:00:56deliver, principles have reached the pump and are sold by the liter.
00:01:00Ukraine counts victims, America watches prices, and the Kremlin looks for
00:01:03clients. We count declarations, the designated prime minister seeks votes,
00:01:07parties seek conditions, Romanians obviously an explanation,
00:01:10each leader has a red line, from all these red
00:01:13lines the country would need at least a direction.
00:01:17Who else can understand the world, we are asked to be patient with politics and
00:01:20money for all its consequences, to accept that the enemy
00:01:24can become a supplier, but the neighbor in parliament remains unbearable.
00:01:28For us, work, school, bills,
00:01:32for them, consultations, the rain at least has a forecast, the government
00:01:35only has declarations of intent and the citizen is still at the station,
00:01:39wet, waiting for something they are told is coming. Let's start by looking
00:01:43at some of the topics we are focusing on this
00:01:46morning.
00:01:49Designated Prime Minister Luca Niculescu continues negotiations for the formation of the new
00:01:52government. Today he has scheduled meetings with USR and minorities after
00:01:56last week he talked with PSD, PNL and UDMR.
00:02:00By Thursday, Niculescu must finalize the government program and the list
00:02:03of ministers.
00:02:06The energy truce announced by Donald Trump did not prevent new
00:02:09Russian attacks on Ukraine. A power plant in Kharkiv was hit
00:02:13just a few hours after the message of the American president. In Kyiv,
00:02:17half of the city was left without electricity, and residents
00:02:20are warned that they could be without electricity, heating, and
00:02:25and Saint Paisie of water for days. Romania is in first place in the European
00:02:29Union for domestic tourism, according to Eurostat data, 89%
00:02:33of Romanians' trips are made in the country, not abroad.
00:02:36We will detail in a few minutes with our
00:02:38guest.
00:02:41And the weather changes radically, from today the rains begin and temperatures drop.
00:02:44We detail everything immediately here in the morning
00:02:47news.
00:02:55A busy day for the former independent presidential candidate, Călin Georgescu. He started
00:02:59the day at DIICOT where
00:03:01IT searches continue, and at this hour he arrives at the Bucharest Tribunal
00:03:05where he requests the replacement of preventive arrest with judicial control.
00:03:09Our colleague Alexandru Costache comes with more details live on
00:03:13the phone. Good morning, Alex, we're listening.
00:03:16Good morning, Călin Georgescu has this
00:03:19possibility and
00:03:21requests,
00:03:24not necessarily the revocation of the preventive
00:03:27arrest measure, but that is, he accepts a
00:03:31preventive measure, but requests a milder
00:03:35one, meaning instead of preventive arrest, he be granted
00:03:38house arrest or judicial
00:03:41control. This is the stake of today's
00:03:43request at the Bucharest Tribunal made
00:03:47by Călin Georgescu. After
00:03:49that, at 12 o'clock he will have
00:03:53to be brought to
00:03:56the Bucharest Court of Appeal where there is another hearing in the case in which
00:04:00Călin Georgescu and the mercenary Horațiu Potra are accused
00:04:03in the attempted coup d'état case and
00:04:07only after that Călin
00:04:10Georgescu could be brought to DIICOT, initially he was
00:04:14scheduled to be at 8 am at DIICOT, for the continuation
00:04:18of the IT searches, but eventually the prosecutors from
00:04:21DIICOT will bring him
00:04:24at or after 1 pm at DIICOT to
00:04:27continue to assist in these IT searches that
00:04:31have been going on since last week, it is a laborious
00:04:35procedure, prosecutors look in every laptop, phone, memory
00:04:38stick of Călin Georgescu in search of evidence.
00:04:42So, it is a busy day,
00:04:45it starts at the tribunal, then at the Court of Appeal and will end
00:04:49at DIICOT, then at the Central Detention Center, as we all
00:04:53know that for
00:04:55already passed since more than two weeks Călin Georgescu has been in the
00:04:57police detention center of
00:05:00the capital, being accused in a third criminal case of
00:05:03fraud and organized crime, he is accused of
00:05:07defrauding a businessman from Buzău of over one million euros.
00:05:11So, these are the
00:05:18bought with institutional money, as well as contracts worth millions of lei awarded
00:05:22directly. These are the irregularities reported at the National
00:05:25Meteorological Administration following inspections by the control body of
00:05:28the Ministry of Environment. Diana Buzoianu demands the resignation of the management and
00:05:32announces that the report will be sent to the General Prosecutor's Office and the Court of
00:05:35Accounts. ANM Director Elena Mateescu claims that she did not
00:05:39use the institutional framework and did not approve illegal acquisitions. She
00:05:43specifies that she ordered an internal audit and notified the police as early
00:05:46as August after the discovery of irregularities. Last night, in the show
00:05:50"Corridors of Power" on TVR Info, the Minister of Environment also spoke about
00:05:54contracts that would have been awarded specifically to
00:05:57two companies. Diana Buzoianu claims that the Acquisitions Department
00:06:00is under the direct subordination of Elena Matăiescu and that she would have signed
00:06:04the disputed acquisitions.
00:06:08The control body actually brought to light many more problems
00:06:12than just this part of unjustified
00:06:15expenses from cards, one of
00:06:18the essential things they brought to light was that in recent years,
00:06:22contracts were awarded to two
00:06:26affiliated companies, practically
00:06:29ANM, contracts were awarded through direct
00:06:32acquisition, worth millions,
00:06:36although there are very clear limits for what you can
00:06:40do by direct acquisition, an amount of 27. 7000
00:06:43RON, so practically we see how the system was used, how the money was used
00:06:47including to favor, let's say, some
00:06:50in-house companies close to this institution, and I just
00:06:54want to mention, Madam Director Mateescu, the acquisitions
00:06:57department is under her direct subordination, so all
00:07:01these acquisitions were signed at some point
00:07:05by her, no matter how much she would want to exclude herself from this
00:07:08process. Today,
00:07:11the designated Prime Minister Niculescu enters his second week of negotiations
00:07:14with one of the most difficult meetings,
00:07:18PSD, PNL and UDMR, the designated Prime Minister tries to find out if he
00:07:22can gather the 233 votes
00:07:24needed and says he wants to have the government program and the list of ministers
00:07:28ready by Thursday. USR, however, comes with a
00:07:31complicated condition, it does not want PSD ministers in a
00:07:35cabinet it wants to support. This forces
00:07:38Niculescu to find a formula that does not
00:07:42lose precisely the party without which a majority is very difficult
00:07:45to build at this moment, because PSD has already put its
00:07:49own conditions on the table. Social Democrats demand an
00:07:52assumed political government, not a technocratic one, and have
00:07:56presented a list of priorities, no new tax increases next year,
00:08:00pension indexation, elimination of CASSS for certain
00:08:03categories, payment of state arrears to companies,
00:08:06budget rectification and administrative reform. The stake for
00:08:10Niculescu is to take over enough of these demands to obtain the votes
00:08:14of PSD without losing the support of the other parties, and
00:08:17the designated prime minister has already begun to outline what he wants to do, he spoke
00:08:21about indexing pensions with priority for
00:08:24low incomes, resuming the unitary wage law, measures for
00:08:28economic recovery, protecting purchasing power and preparing
00:08:31the budget for next year, but it also has a limit, the deficit,
00:08:35Romania remains under pressure from markets and rating agencies, and any
00:08:39new promise must come with real money behind it.
00:08:43PNL says it can support the government, but does not want
00:08:46to enter a cabinet together with PSD. UDMR is open to
00:08:50support, including from outside the executive, and AUR announced a
00:08:54vote against. And after USR, Niculescu also discusses with
00:08:58groups and with national minorities and the groups
00:09:01of unaffiliated members of parliament. The last attempt at a government stopped, as you
00:09:05already know, at 182 votes. The necessary threshold is 233, that is
00:09:09233 votes. Therefore, today's discussion with USR does not
00:09:12alone decide the government, but it can say if Niculescu
00:09:16manages to build a bridge between the almost incompatible
00:09:19conditions of the parties. If not,
00:09:22on Thursday, the designated prime minister may have a program and ministers,
00:09:26but not a majority.
00:09:29The weather is getting much colder and the mild autumn until now is becoming
00:09:32a memory, the rains will gradually cover a large part of the country, and
00:09:36the counties around the capital enter under a yellow code for abundant
00:09:39rainfall. Weather-sensitive people feel such
00:09:43changes, the explanation is primarily biological, natural light regulates
00:09:47the body's internal clock, and less light can modify the
00:09:50secretion of melatonin.
00:09:53After an early October with temperatures higher than the seasonal average, the weather changes
00:09:57radically, rains will cover a large part of the country, and temperatures will drop even
00:10:01by more than 10°. In Bucharest and several other counties in Muntenia and Oltenia,
00:10:05as well as for the Carpathian bend area, there is a yellow code for abundant rains.
00:10:09With the penetration of a very cold air mass
00:10:12from northern latitudes, temperatures tend to
00:10:15drop significantly, even by more than
00:10:1910°, and we will reach thermal values generally
00:10:22between 11 and 7.
00:10:2613°, and the lows will even drop below freezing, on the
00:10:29other hand, there will also be rain. The change in weather can affect
00:10:33those who are weather-sensitive. Fewer hours without natural light in the autumn and
00:10:37winter months can disrupt the circadian rhythm, which affects the levels of
00:10:40serotonin and melatonin. And this changes mood, energy, and
00:10:44sleep. For many people, such reactions to weather changes do not exist, others, however,
00:10:48feel them seriously. For now, no, at this age, no, I hope not even
00:10:51later. No, no, we try to get energy from anything.
00:10:55From any activity, we can say that a change is observed
00:10:59in our state of, our psychological state, let's
00:11:02say, in the sense that inevitably we become more, we are more
00:11:05melancholic, more depressed. Seasonal
00:11:09affective disorder is a form of depression that reappears at the same time of year, but
00:11:13doctors warn that not all autumn fatigue is asthenia and not all bad mood
00:11:17is seasonal depression. A study
00:11:19showed that serotonin in the brain decreases
00:11:23in winter. This leads to fatigue, drowsiness and
00:11:27a craving for sweets. Fatigue that does not go away can also have
00:11:30other causes such as anemia, vitamin B12
00:11:34deficiency, thyroid problems,
00:11:37diabetes, or lack of sleep. Among the easy
00:11:41solutions available to weather-sensitive people are exposure to sun
00:11:45and fresh air, any form of exercise, including walks, a diet with more
00:11:49vitamins and, obligatorily, a restful
00:11:51sleep.
00:11:53Winter is at the door, and the wave of respiratory viruses is starting
00:11:57to claim more and more victims among the population. Family doctors
00:11:59warn that hospitals and clinics are filling up with patients with severe
00:12:03fever that cause days of absence from work
00:12:07and serious complications for children and the elderly. Doctors insist that
00:12:11the most effective method of protection against severe forms of illness
00:12:14remains timely flu vaccination before the seasonal
00:12:18epidemic breaks out. The vaccine is free or compensated for
00:12:21vulnerable categories, including people with chronic illnesses, children, and
00:12:25the elderly, and can be prescribed directly by the family doctor. Specialists
00:12:29recommend that citizens avoid crowds, maintain rigorous
00:12:33hand hygiene, and consult a doctor immediately at the first
00:12:36symptoms of illness, without resorting to self-medication with antibiotics.
00:12:40Iași is these days the capital
00:12:43of Orthodoxy. Thousands of believers come
00:12:47to pray at the relics of Saint Parascheva
00:12:50Sihăstria. Authorities say that this year a record
00:12:54participation was registered at the feast of the patron saint of Moldova.
00:12:57Our colleague Laura Lucescu comes with details from Iași right now. Laura, good
00:13:00to see you.
00:13:06Good morning, and welcome to everyone. The pilgrimage to Iași continues to
00:13:09attract thousands of believers from all over the country to the Metropolitan
00:13:13Cathedral. Up to this moment, since the
00:13:16pilgrimage began, over 128,000
00:13:19people have already reached the reliquary with
00:13:22the relics of Saint Parascheva, and another over
00:13:2514,000 are currently in line. The estimated
00:13:29waiting time is approximately 8 hours, and the queue extends for about
00:13:334 km. Last night, one of the important moments of the
00:13:36feast took place, the procession of the saints, during which
00:13:39the reliquaries with the relics of Saint Parascheva and Saint Paisie of
00:13:43Sihăstria were carried on the shoulders of priests through the streets of central
00:13:47Iași. 3000 believers took part in this
00:13:51moment. After several days of favorable weather, the weather
00:13:54conditions change today. In Iași, temperatures
00:13:58are low, the sky is cloudy
00:14:02the change in weather may make the wait more difficult for those in line
00:14:06and they are advised by the authorities
00:14:09to wear waterproof clothing and shoes that
00:14:13are suitable for wet weather.
00:14:16Up to this hour, medical teams have intervened for
00:14:20861 people, of whom 35 have been
00:14:24transferred to the hospital, medical staff remain mobilized for those
00:14:27who need help and the
00:14:31pilgrimage continues here, we will return with other
00:14:41Donald Trump wrote about, lasted little. The Kharkiv
00:14:43thermal power plant was the target of a massive attack approximately
00:14:47three hours after the United States President's post. We warn
00:14:51you, there will be images and information that may affect you emotionally.
00:14:55Shortly after this new attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure,
00:14:58at least three people died and 25 were
00:15:01injured in a strike on Kharkiv's suburbs. Among
00:15:05the victims were three children, several apartments, cars and a grocery store
00:15:09were destroyed. Moreover, Ukraine had no information
00:15:13about the energy truce announced by Trump, a high-ranking
00:15:16official quoted by the Kyiv media said. The capital of
00:15:20Ukraine is on alert after half of the city was left without
00:15:23electricity. A high-voltage central main was damaged in a
00:15:27Russian attack, and water pressure dropped throughout the network.
00:15:31Residents were warned to prepare for at least three days
00:15:34without electricity, heating or
00:15:37running water.
00:15:40The most extensive list of sanctions against Russia is today
00:15:43being considered by the foreign ministers of the European Union meeting in
00:15:47Luxembourg. Around 1600 measures target
00:15:50only Moscow's defense industry, companies and organizations in shipbuilding,
00:15:54aviation, electronics and space, the
00:15:58aerospace sector. This is the largest list of new sanctions ever presented
00:16:01for analysis at the community bloc level. Today's meeting agenda
00:16:05also includes the escalation of Russia's
00:16:07hybrid campaign and security challenges in the Black Sea.
00:16:11Romania will also welcome, through the voice of the foreign minister,
00:16:14the opening of new negotiation chapters with the Republic of Moldova and
00:16:18Ukraine.
00:16:21Europeans are hypocrites, this is the defense built by the
00:16:24US Treasury Secretary around the Trump administration's decision to
00:16:28greenlight diesel deliveries from Russia. The institution that
00:16:32practically manages the sanctions against Moscow has issued a temporary
00:16:35authorization allowing Russian diesel imports until the first
00:16:39week of April
00:16:41next year.
00:16:45clear, the biggest loser here is the
00:16:48Iranian regime, because they tried
00:16:52to have a choke point on the straight of for mots, that didn't
00:16:55work, they tried to have a choke point on diesel prices, now that's not
00:16:59working, and charlie is just as you said, the
00:17:02Europeans have given the Russians more money,
00:17:06they assence to started this... more than they have given the Ukrainians, because they
00:17:10cannot win themselves off Russian
00:17:12energy, they had a failed energy policy, and
00:17:16Vladimir Putin, the they
00:17:18continue to fund him, so for them to say
00:17:22that we cannot have a respit in diesel
00:17:26pricing is completely
00:17:27hypocritical.
00:17:30Donald Trump is analyzing the possibility of dismissing
00:17:33Kimberly Kill from her position as US Ambassador to
00:17:36Greece, following allegations regarding her behavior.
00:17:40According to American media, the President and Secretary of State
00:17:43Marco Rubio are dissatisfied with reports that
00:17:47Giuffre allegedly accepted luxury gifts and solicited money in exchange
00:17:50for facilitating access to officials of the American administration,
00:17:54before her confirmation in office. The State Department is investigating
00:17:57the accusations, while the ambassador's lawyer claims that she did not
00:18:01violate any rules. The scandal also has a connection with
00:18:04Romania, according to the Wall Street Journal, Gilfoils allegedly stated that
00:18:08the United States could overthrow the government of Greece, as it allegedly happened in
00:18:11Romania. The White House has not yet announced a decision regarding
00:18:15her future in office.
00:18:19Slovenians narrowly rejected in a referendum held yesterday, a
00:18:22government reform program qualified as authoritarian by
00:18:26the opposition. A symbolic defeat for nationalist
00:18:29Prime Minister Janez Janša, the law aimed at
00:18:32extending the powers of parliamentary inquiry committees. Towards the
00:18:36end of the count, partial results showed that 51% of
00:18:39voters voted against and 49%
00:18:43for. In parallel, three other referendums were organized, all
00:18:46approved by the population, one aimed at eliminating the tax for public
00:18:50audiovisual service, thus, the financing of public television will henceforth
00:18:54depend on the government. The other two aimed at eliminating the voting rights
00:18:58of foreign residents in local elections and conditioning the payment of
00:19:01unemployment benefits for the unemployed on performing
00:19:05volunteer activity.
00:19:09Drastic measures adopted in Europe to protect the mental health of
00:19:13children, the Greek government has launched a revolutionary bill
00:19:16that aims to restrict children's and
00:19:19adolescents' access to social media and online
00:19:23entertainment platforms. The legislative initiative provides
00:19:26for mandatory age verification of users through secure digital
00:19:29systems and the prohibition of autonomous
00:19:32accounts for children under a certain age, without parental consent.
00:19:36The decision comes against the alarming increase in cases
00:19:39of cyberbullying, screen addiction and attention problems among
00:19:43young people. The Greek model could be adopted at the level of the entire
00:19:46European Union, with authorities seeking a balance between minors' digital security
00:19:50and freedom of access to
00:19:53information.
00:20:01Here are some of today's highlights. Luca Niculescu begins a decisive
00:20:05week for government formation at 10:30, the PSD leadership
00:20:09meets to discuss the party's position, the designated
00:20:12prime minister goes to USR at noon, then discusses with national
00:20:15minorities, the Pace Group and representatives of Uniți pentru
00:20:18România. The stake of the day is what concrete support Niculescu
00:20:21can obtain in parliament. Niculescu says he wants to submit the list of ministers and the government
00:20:25program on Thursday. Until then, negotiations must produce both votes
00:20:29and a team. Romania's economy receives a new set of figures today. INS
00:20:33publishes August data on salaries, foreign trade and population
00:20:36movement. We monitor how much incomes have increased and how large the difference
00:20:40between imports and exports remains. And in Stockholm, after
00:20:4312:45 Romanian time, we will find out the laureate
00:20:47or laureates of the Nobel Prize in Economics. Research that can
00:20:51change the way we understand work, investments and especially
00:20:54prosperity. Forest controls reach the
00:20:57public, the Ministry of Environment presents the balance sheet of this year's inspections and
00:21:01launches a digital platform for the nine forest guards.
00:21:05Citizens should be able to send petitions and track their
00:21:08status. The important test is whether notifications will receive faster
00:21:11responses, and whether checks can be monitored more clearly.
00:21:15In Berceni, Prahova, a race begins for six houses in five
00:21:19days. Over 500 volunteers are expected at the Habitat
00:21:23for Humanity construction site. The project is called Hope Build and is intended
00:21:26for families who need safe and decent homes.
00:21:30For them, each day of work on the construction site means a step towards a stable
00:21:33home. And also today, Romania looks at a wound from the past,
00:21:37the consequences of Decree
00:21:40restricted abortion in communism. 60 years after
00:21:44its adoption, the Agency for Equal Opportunities
00:21:47opens two days of debates about women who died, abandoned
00:21:50children and affected families. The stake is to preserve
00:21:53their memory and understand the consequences of a policy imposed on
00:21:57private
00:21:57life.
00:22:07The weather is changing radically, the rains are starting. What temperatures can we expect
00:22:10in the coming days, Dana Iancu tells us right now. Dana.
00:22:14The rains are starting, but they have already
00:22:17started, exactly. And the temperatures are. from today, even until
00:22:20the end of the week,
00:22:24so autumn has made its appearance
00:22:28completely, we could say, let's see what temperatures are registered
00:22:32at this hour, 10° are in Suceava, 13° we have in
00:22:35Iași, 12° in Bacău, where the clouds have already appeared and
00:22:38the rains have started, Constanța, 17°,
00:22:42for now we have sun, 15° we have in the capital at this moment with covered
00:22:46sky, it's about to rain, Craiova 13°, covered sky.
00:22:50Let's go to the west of the country, Timișoara 9°, Oradea
00:22:537°, here we have sometimes sun, sometimes clouds, in the evening the rains will start here
00:22:57too, Cluj Napoca 9°, Sibiu
00:23:0011, Brașov, 11°,
00:23:03behold, covered sky with clouds
00:23:06and significant rainfall during
00:23:09this day. Let's see where it's coldest and
00:23:13warmest at this moment, still warmest in Sfântul Gheorghe
00:23:1719° and coldest in Banat. 4°
00:23:21in Banloc, temperatures remained the same compared to
00:23:24the previous hour. Let's also see what awaits in the coming days, because
00:23:28we talked about cooling, rain and falling temperatures.
00:23:32Well, on Tuesday, the weather will remain cold for this time
00:23:36of year, in most areas. And there will be widespread
00:23:39rain, and the highs will stop at 17,
00:23:4318°. On Wednesday, we have another day with
00:23:46low temperatures, unstable weather and there will be highs
00:23:50of 19°, and on Thursday we will see the
00:23:53sun a little, the clouds will dissipate, temperatures
00:23:56will still rise to 20°, but if the
00:23:59sun appears, then it feels
00:24:07provided by representatives of nuclear electric power units 1 and 2
00:24:11of the Cernavodă nuclear power plant were maintained in a safe shutdown state
00:24:14authorities saying that the population and the surrounding
00:24:18environment are not exposed to any danger, the technical maneuver was
00:24:21triggered automatically or programmed in accordance with the strict nuclear
00:24:25security procedures of the plant for carrying out routine checks
00:24:28and preventive works on the electrical systems. The company's experts
00:24:32emphasize that the temporary shutdown does not affect national security
00:24:36and that all installations operate at designed safety
00:24:39parameters, until reconnection to the national
00:24:43energy grid, electricity production is supplemented by the country's
00:24:47other resources, and the teams of engineers are working
00:24:50to resume deliveries as soon as possible.
00:24:53timp.
00:24:57Romania obtains from each kilogram of consumed materials
00:25:00approximately the same economic value as 25 years
00:25:04ago. Meanwhile, the European Union has improved this result by
00:25:0850%. The comparison appears in the analysis of the Smart Energy
00:25:11Association published yesterday and based on Eurostat
00:25:14data. The indicator is called resource productivity, for everyone
00:25:18to understand, how much economy we produce using
00:25:21fuel, metals, wood or building materials. Well,
00:25:25the calculation includes materials extracted from the country plus imports minus exports, and
00:25:28for comparison over time the effect of price
00:25:32increases is eliminated. The stagnation of this report shows that Romania's
00:25:35development has remained strongly linked to material consumption. The causes,
00:25:39however, must be separated, new infrastructure legitimately consumes large quantities
00:25:42while losses and poor technologies can mean
00:25:46waste. Another indicator completes the picture according to Eurostat.
00:25:50In 2024, only 1.3%
00:25:53of the materials used in Romania came from recycling, the European average was
00:25:5712.2%, a share more than nine times higher.
00:26:01We are talking about materials reintroduced into the economy, not just
00:26:04about separately collected waste. The impact reaches
00:26:07company costs and competitiveness. More
00:26:10value obtained from the same amount of materials can support more solid
00:26:14businesses and sustainable salaries. The President of the Association, Dumitru Chisăliță,
00:26:18asks that public investments be judged by
00:26:22results. They save resources, reduce costs,
00:26:25modernize production. The wealth of a country begins with the resources
00:26:28it has. Prosperity depends on what it manages to do
00:26:32with these resources.
00:26:36Tropical storm Rachel wreaked havoc in Southern California. Huge waves
00:26:40destroyed homes near the famous Long Beach. The century-old
00:26:44wooden boardwalk was completely destroyed in places.
00:26:47Efforts to protect with sandbags were
00:26:50in vain. The area had barely recovered from the damage caused by
00:26:54Hurricane Marie last month. The storm then
00:26:57moved towards Las Vegas, causing floods in iconic areas of
00:27:00the world's entertainment capital. Almost
00:27:14nine out of 10 trips by Romanians take place in
00:27:17the country, according to Eurostat data, we are in first place in the European
00:27:21Union for domestic tourism. But there is also a paradox, Europeans
00:27:24spend more on holidays abroad than on those in their own
00:27:28country. We are discussing the topic with Traian Bădulescu, spokesperson
00:27:33of ANAT, but also a consultant in tourism, good morning and thank you very much for
00:27:37this phone intervention. So,
00:27:40Romanians preferred holidays in the country, at least last year, according to
00:27:43Eurostat data, is it a choice or a financial
00:27:47constraint? I say both,
00:27:50for many Romanians it is also a choice, indeed,
00:27:54there are many Romanians who can only afford holidays in Romania, but many
00:27:58Romanians travel in the same year abroad, but also choose
00:28:01Romania. "I have always said it, and the National Institute of
00:28:05Statistics shows it, Romanians prefer their
00:28:09own country, they travel a lot in Romania, and
00:28:12we should not panic if sometimes there are decreases, as was the case this
00:28:16year in the first months, although indeed
00:28:20decreases in domestic tourism are felt and also contributed to
00:28:22the decrease in value, the halving of the value of holiday
00:28:26vouchers, but annually somewhere around 10, 11
00:28:30million trips..."
00:28:32by Romanians take place in their own country, Romanians
00:28:36travel much more in their own country compared to their neighbors, for
00:28:39example, Bulgarians receive on their own
00:28:43coast, 80% of the tourists who go to the
00:28:46Bulgarian coast, to give an example, are foreigners, an
00:28:50important part, even in first place after the pandemic, being Romanians in the north of the
00:28:53Bulgarian coast, for us it's true on the Romanian
00:28:56coast, whether we like it or not, that's it
00:28:5995% of tourists are Romanians. We
00:29:03need to work a lot more on attracting foreign tourists, because we have great
00:29:07potential. I repeat, Romanians travel a lot in their own
00:29:10country, which shows that we have tourism potential, and Romanians love
00:29:13their own country from a tourist point of view. We are practically witnessing
00:29:17a paradox, we spend more for, we travel more
00:29:21in Romania and spend more for external holidays, how do
00:29:24we explain this? It's normal, because
00:29:28for external holidays we also have
00:29:31transport. which costs more, the distances
00:29:35are greater and often the costs are higher
00:29:38with transport and everything, because it's true
00:29:42that in Romania many Romanians choose
00:29:45short trips, one or two nights accommodation,
00:29:48weekends, many of the Romanians who choose
00:29:52mountain resorts, rural guesthouses, city breaks,
00:29:55do not stay more than two nights, the
00:29:59longest duration of stays
00:30:01is... on the
00:30:05holidays, in July and August when Romanians stay at least four or five
00:30:09nights if not more and in the case of spa
00:30:12resorts when tourists go for recovery and for
00:30:15treatment, otherwise, even if more and more
00:30:19Romanians have started to choose three, four, five nights in the
00:30:23mountains and in the case of rural tourism, the majority
00:30:26stay for the weekend or at most two
00:30:29nights. You emphasized that you emphasized at the
00:30:33beginning that we should attract more foreign tourists and you gave the example of Bulgaria, but
00:30:37concretely what should hoteliers and authorities change for Romanian
00:30:40tourism to become attractive. Well, first
00:30:43of all, we need a much more coherent promotion strategy. We have something to
00:30:47offer, but we need to invest around 30 million euros annually
00:30:51in promotion. We need a coherent strategy, perhaps even a new
00:30:55tourist brand, because 16 years have
00:30:58the previous brand, the famous.