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Romania ranks again 45 th out of 163 countries and is surpassed by all the other EU member states, according to the 2020 Social Progress Index, which analyzes the quality of life and social wellbeing and is conducted by the non-profit organization Social Progress Imperative with the support of Deloitte. Romania registers a score of 78.35 points out of 100, slightly higher than last year, which places it among the ranking’s third category countries, after Barbados, Bulgaria and Mauritius.

Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, which has been operating in Romania for almost 30 years now, has decided to close its pharmaceutical representative office in the country.

Romania’s future retirees, or 7.6 million people who pay 3.75% of their monthly gross income into a pension account have become – unknowingly for most of them, the largest investors on the Bucharest Stock Exchange with significant stakes in listed companies.

Courier services company FAN Courier has invested EUR4 million in 2020 to fully replace its fleet of personal digital assistants (PDAs) which will get into the hands of its employees until the middle of October 2020.

Alro Slatina (ALR.RO), the largest aluminum producer in Romania, has summoned its shareholders on November 10, 2020 to approve the concluding of an addendum to the credit facility agreement worth USD$235 million, concluded on December 14, 2015 by the company, as borrower, and a Syndicate of Banks coordinated by Raiffeisen Bank International, per a stock market report.

Bog’Art Residential has bought two plots of land of 6,500 square meters in northern Bucharest, from OMV Petrom, where it will develop a residential compound with 130 apartments.

Asking prices for housing in Romania declined 0.9% on the month in September, after 0.5% monthly growth in August, to an average of EUR 1,304/square meter, according to a housing market report by Imobiliare.ro released Tuesday.

MOL Romania, part of Hungary’s oil group MOL, invested approximately $200 million in organic expansion and modernization of its retail network since entering the local market 25 years ago.

Raytheon Missiles & Defense, one of four businesses of Raytheon Technologies, has placed an order to Romanian aircraft parts maker Romaero for the manufacturing of components for the Patriot antimissile defense system.

Kastamonu Romania (formerly Prolemn), held by one of the leading wood processing businesses in Turkey Kastamonu Entegre, posted 290 million lei (some EUR60 million) revenue in the first half, almost flat on the same time last year.

Israel’s AFI Europe, South Africa’s NEPI-Rockcastle, Prime Kapital of Martin Slabbert and Oasis Retail Development & Consulting of Klaus Reisenauer and Kurt Wagner are the developers due to put about 160,000 square meters of shopping centers on the map of Romania by yearend, none of which in Bucharest, though.

US private equity investment firm J.C. Flowers, which has bought two banks in Romania - Piraeus Bank and Leumi Bank in the past two years, forming what is now known as First Bank, is in pole position to make another acquisition, Credit Agricole Romania.

The shares of Romanian company THR Marea Neagra (EFO.RO), which manages several accommodation units in local seaside resorts, grew 10% on Monday, amid deals worth RON100,000, after the company announced that its shareholders approved the distribution of dividends in the amount of RON10.4 million from the company’s reserves, per ZF’s aggregate data.

The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a loan guarantee of up to around EUR19.3 million (approximately RON94 million) in favor of the Romanian state-owned airline TAROM, the Commission said in a statement sent to news agency MEDIAFAX on Monday.

Shareholders of Romania's natural gas transmission company Transgaz (TGN.RO) on Monday approved the conclusion of a transaction with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) consisting in latter’s subscription of a participation interest newly issued by Vestmoldtransgaz for the amount of EUR20 million, enabling EBRD to become a Vestmoldtransgaz shareholder with 25% of its share capital.

Swiss Straumann Group has acquired local company Artis Bio Tech, active on the dental services market and held by three entrepreneurs – Ion Nicolescu, Manuela Agatstein and Nicolae Nicolescu, per public data.

Romania's antitrust body has cleared a deal whereby auto importer Trust Motors SRL plans to take over Opel Automotive SRL.

Nearly 60% of employees miss their office, especially among millennials, and while there is a lot of talk about remote work as a new trend set by the coronavirus, the reactivation of office spaces is inevitable and is gaining momentum, real estate consultants of JLL Romania said Monday.

Real estate developer Forty Management has reached an agreement with Butan Gas Romania to acquire a land of approximately 40,000 square meters located in the Straulesti area in Bucharest, for an estimated EUR8.2 million.

The Banking Union was Eurozone’s response to the financial crisis of 2010. It became apparent to the Eurozone countries that the stability of the banking sector is paramount to the well-being of the economy and the society, and that national supervision was often inadequate and lacking in independence. As a result, the sector was developing systemic risks and distortions in competition, while preventing the flow of lending to the rightful recipients and distorting the local economy.