Most Romanian newspapers today focus on the impact of a series of major events in the world economy over the national business environment. The reform of the nationally dominant Orthodox Church raises a series of issues in today’s dailies, which also report the first victim of extreme heat in the city of Iasi.
The growing pressure for the establishment of Orthodox metropolitan churches in various regions of Romania suggest the Holy Synod - the highest authority within the Romanian Orthodox Church (BOR) - is preparing a considerable reform of the Church, Evenimentul Zilei reports.
The newspaper points towards a series of anomalies that have confused the hierarchical order of BOR and are forcing change within the clerical structure. Still, the BOR Patriarchy announced yesterday that it was still against the establishment of new metropolitan churches, which shows change is not at all easy in one of the most traditional institutions in the country.
The Orthodox Church is one of the most respected Romanian institutions, right along the Army, according to polls over the past several years.
The Holy Synod, which convenes in Bucharest these days, also draws the attention of Cotidianul, which describes the conflict between the some of the BOR leadership and those who press for the continuation of a trend sparked earlier this year, when a second Metropolitan Church for the region of Ardeal (Central Transylvania) was established.
While the Patriarchy says there are enough such structures across the Romanian territories, local church leaders say many more metropolitan churches should be established or re-opened.
The debate is heating up just like weather across the country. While dozens of people fainted due to extreme heat in Bucharest alone yesterday, Gandul reports the first victim of rising temperatures.
An 88-year old man died in the central square of the city of Iasi yesterday, as heat struck him while he was shopping for groceries, according to the newspaper.
Meanwhile, Evenimentul Zilei focuses on the impact of a major European debate over the national economy of Romania. Europe is losing the wine wars, the daily reports, as was proven by the recent debate the European Commission has launched by pressing for a cut in wine production to boost the continent’s wine offer.
Romania is caught on left foot in this regard, as the country has struggled to return to the forefront of the world wine market for more than a decade. But the lack of a good branding and of a quality production left it long behind other European countries, Evenimentul Zilei warns.
More optimistic, Cotidianul sets its eyes on the Mittal-Arcelor merger deal announced earlier this week and uses the occasion to describe how Romania becomes part of the corporate world map as more and more industrial giants set their foot here.
Among them - Mittal, with a 2 billion dollar business in Romania. But also US meat producer Smithfield, tire makers Michelin and Continental, mobile Vodafone and consumer giants Coca-Cola, Philip Morris and P&G.
Adevarul looks a bit closer and reports that Hungarian businesses are turning more and more interested in investing in South-Eastern Europe, including Romania.
The newspaper reports Peter Skapinyecz, head of the SEE operations for the Hungarian Investment and Trade Development Agency, who said the Hungarian economy is especially interested in looking for profit in the regions of Transylvania (Romania) and Voivodina (Serbia).
Gandul, however, looks at the dark side with a report that “the Romanian government is spending huge amounts of money hiring foreign firms to check the work of other foreign firms” building roads in Romania.
According to the newspaper, the National Road 1 alone, linking Bucharest to cities in the north is mended by three foreign companies - from Portugal, Austria and Italy - and the works are inspected by a firm from Spain.
