La vague de froid en Europe a fait plus de 60 morts

La vague de froid en Europe continue d'être meurtrière, avec sept nouvelles victimes dans les Balkans, six en Pologne, et autant depuis jeudi en Roumanie, portant le bilan total à près de 60 morts.

Blizzards, icy weather grip parts of Europe

Blizzards swept parts of eastern Europe on Friday, closing roads and causing traffic accidents, travel delays and leading to medical evacuations.

Earthquake of 5.6 Magnitude Hits Eastern Romania (local time: 01:20 Depth 98 km)

A 5.6-magnitude earthquake occurred 8 kilometers (about 5 miles) west of Romania’s eastern city of Nereju, the US Geological Survey (USGS) reported.

Oldest Romanian mine closes after 156 years

The lift rose slowly, bringing workers to the surface for the last time at Romania's Petrila mine, ending production at what was once a proud symbol of the country's coal indusry.

Vessels blocked on Danube due to low water level

Some 60 vessels have been blocked on Danube River after the water level dropped by half due to severe drought in upstream countries along the river.

Romania discovers biggest oil gas deposit in 30 years

Romania discovered a new deposit of crude oil and natural gas, which may be the biggest discovery of its kind in the past 30 years in the south, a Romanian oil company announced Wednesday.

Bulgaria, Greece, Romania to Develop Regional Gas Infrastructure

Bulgaria, Greece, and Romania have signed a contract on cooperation in the development of regional gas infrastructure.

The contract was signed Tuesday by the energy ministers of the three countries.

Bulgaria fears new gas deliveries interruption (Deputy PM)

Bulgaria was preparing contingency plans in case of a new interruption in gas supplies from Russia, which was seen as a high-probability scenario, Bulgarian caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva said on September 17.

Speaking to reporters after the weekly cabinet meeting, Zaharieva said that the country’s heating utilities have been cautioned to be ready to switch to other fuel types in case of such interruptions.

Bulgaria’s annual gas consumption is about three billion cubic metres. The country imports more than 80 per cent of its gas from Russia.

Moldova, Romania to Expand Iasi-Ungheni Pipeline to Chisinau with Aid from EU

CHISINAU, September 10 (RIA Novosti) - The European Union will allocate 10 million euros ($12.9 million) to expand the Iasi-Ungheni pipeline to Chisinau, the official website of the Moldovan Economy Ministry reported.

"The European Union will provide 10 million euros for the expansion of the Iasi-Ungheni pipeline. The pipeline will be extended to Chisinau," the ministry's website stated. Previously, the Economy Ministry directly reported that the project aims to reduce dependence on Russian gas.

Romania increases gas production amid the Ukrainian crisis

The Romanian government has asked the two largest local gas producers – Petrom and Romgaz – to avoid maintenance work for a while lest it affects domestic gas production amid growing tensions between Ukraine and Russia, which could impact on the gas transit to Europe, energy minister Razvan Nicolescu said.

“As far as we are concerned, we are ready to cope with any situation. 

Romania not ready to export gas to Moldova

Last year Romania started EU-supported construction of a 43-kilometer pipeline Iasi-Ungheni to connect Moldova to the Romanian gas transportation network...

BUCHAREST, February 4. /ITAR-TASS/. Romania will not start exporting gas until it has entirely satisfied its internal needs, Romania’s Minister of Energy Constantin Nita said in an interview released by the state agency AGERPRES Tuesday.
“I want to reassure everybody who thinks we’ll be exporting gas just like that. First we should satisfy our own demand for gas, as we cannot start exporting it thereby leaving Romanian customers and industrial plants without fuel,” the minister said.

Roumanie: une rivière peut faire capoter un projet de mine d'or canadien.

Rosia Montana, Photo:business.financialpost.com

AFP - Un projet canadien de mine d'or dans un village de Transylvanie risque de capoter en raison d'une rivière qui devrait être détournée, ce qu'interdit la législation européenne, a déclaré mardi la ministre roumaine de l'Environnement, Rovana Plumb.
"La directive européenne sur l'eau, transposée dans la législation roumaine, dit qu'on ne peut pas détourner un cours d'eau à moins que ce soit pour un projet d'intérêt public exceptionnel", a déclaré Mme Plumb devant une commission parlementaire chargée du dossier de mine d'or dans le village de Rosia Montana (nord-ouest).
"Nous ne pourrons donc pas continuer la procédure d'évaluation (de la mine, ndlr) en l'absence d'une loi qui dise clairement qu'il s'agit d'un projet d'intérêt public exceptionnel," a-t-elle renchéri.

Romania warns of independent energy policy after Nabucco failure

By Daniel Stroe – Bucharest
- The Romanian President Traian Basescu today pointed out he had informed the European Council that Romania will redefine its energy policy based on its own resources and without awaiting anybody’s approval, two days after the failure of the EU-backed Nabucco project which Romania was part of.

Basescu made these statements in a press conference at the end of the European Council in Brussels. “Without going into details, the option now without any doubt is Romania being forced to accelerate the evaluation process and move to exploiting the shale gas and the gas and oil already confirmed in the Black Sea” he said.

Clock is ticking for Romania suspended funds | EurActiv

Romania has two months to react to a warning from the European Commission, which has identified serious problems in the country's anti-corruption procedures in the implementation of programmes in the field of transport, regional development and competitiveness, a spokesperson said today (26 October).

The Commission has sent yesterday (25 October) a letter to the Romanian authorities, pre-suspending the funding in the field of transport, regional development and competitiveness.
The EU executive also proposed “financial corrections” in those three areas and environment, Shirin Wheeler, spokesperson of Regional Policy Commissioner Johannes Hahn said.........
Clock is ticking for Romania suspended funds | EurActiv

Ντόμπρεφ: Στα τέλη του 2013 η διασύνδεση φυσικού αερίου Βουλγαρίας-Ελλάδας

Ο υπουργός Ενέργειας της Βουλγαρίας, Ντελιάν Ντόμπρεφ, δήλωσε ότι η κυβέρνηση θα επισπεύσει τις προσπάθειές της για την διασύνδεση φυσικού αερίου με τις γειτονικές χώρες, ελπίζοντας ότι τα έργα σύνδεσης με την Ελλάδα και την Τουρκία θα ολοκληρωθούν μέσα στο 2013.

Την Κυριακή, η διαχειρίστρια του βουλγαρικού δικτύου, Bulgartransgaz, παρουσίασε σχέδιο ανάπτυξης με βάση το οποίο αναμένει ένα έτος καθυστέρηση στα συγκεκριμένα έργα, αλλά ο υπουργός θεωρεί ότι αυτή είναι μια μάλλον συντηρητική εκτίμηση:

Bulgarian Govt: Greece Delays Launch of Makaza Border Pass

The road between Kardzhali (A) and Podkova (marked in orange) completed the Kardzhali-Makaza Pass (B) road, the Danube-Aegean through Bulgarian territory. The road on the Greek side is still to be completed. Map from bgmaps
The vastly delayed opening of the crossing point at the Makaza mountain pass on the Bulgarian-Greek border is the fault of Greece, Bulgarian Regional Development Minister Lilyana Pavlova.
"Bulgaria has fulfilled its commitment in time, while Greece is delaying the launching of the Makaza Pass border crossing. Bulgaria has been ready to launch the Makaza crossing since November 2011," Pavlova declared Monday, as cited by the press service of the Bulgarian Regional Development Ministry.

Greece Insulted by Bulgarian PM's Makaza Remark

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has allegedly insulted Greece authorities by saying that his country is ready to pave with asphalt 1.5 km on Greek territory on the road through the Makaza mountain pass.

Last week, Borisov noted that the economic crisis has rendered Greece unable to finish its construction thus the road between Bulgaria's Kardzhali and Greece's Komotini remains closed. He pointed out that Bulgaria has been ready for quite a while with its section.

Η Βουλγαρία αναλαμβάνει να τελειώσει τον κάθετο άξονα επί ...ελληνικού εδάφους

Ευρεία δημοσιότητα έλαβαν στα βουλγαρικά μέσα ενημέρωσης οι δηλώσεις του Βούλγαρου πρωθυπουργού Μπόικο Μπορίσοφ αναφορικά με την πολιτική βούληση της κυβέρνησής του για την ταχύτερη δυνατή ολοκλήρωση της οδικής σύνδεσης Κίρτζαλι-Κομοτηνή και της νέας σχετικής διάβασης στα ελληνοβουλγαρικά σύνορα, όπως αναφέρει σε δημοσίευμά του το Αθηναϊκό – Μακεδονικό Πρακτορείο Ειδήσεων.