Democrat Liberal Senator, Ion Ariton, the Prime Minister's proposal for the Economy ministry seems to be a controversial proposal. Ariton was involved in a financial scandal back in 1999 when a 10 billion lei gap was found missing at Petrom's branch in Sibiu when he was commercial director. [Link] [Cache]

Gheorghe Ialomitianu, vice president of the Budget and Finance Committee of the Chamber of Deputies is a Democrat Liberal deputy of Brasov. This is his first Parliamentary mandate, he was Director of Finances in Brasov. He obtained 51.72% of the votes in his college. Ialomitianu is a supporter of taxes for unjustified income.UPDATE 21:25 PM Theodor Stolojan declared for HotNews.ro that the new Finance minister is a man with experience and has a solid theoretical background. He said that he is capable to continue the reforms started by Vladescu and he will not sacrifice the public interest to group interests. [Link] [Cache]

The list of ministers proposed by PM Emil Boc for the vacant ministry positions are: Gheorghe Ialomitianu for Finances, Valeriu Tabara for Agriculture, Ioan Botis for Labor, Anca Boagiu for Transports, Valerian Vreme for Communications and Ion Ariton for Economy. The proposals aim two objectives: to continue reforms and register economic increase in 2011, PM Boc declared. [Link] [Cache]

A group of MPs from the governing Democratic Liberal Party PDL were planning on Thursday to call for the resignation of prime minister Emil Boc during a party leadership meeting during the afternoon, political sources told HotNews.ro. They said that the push was led by minister Elena Udrea and their stand was decided following PM Boc's decision to reshuffle top PDL leaders now serving as ministers, such as Sebastian Vladescu Finance minister and Mihail Dumitru Agriculture minister . That is seen as a soft reshuffling of the government, while many call for a strong reshuffle which should include top PDL ministers including Adriean Videanu, Radu Berceanu and Gabriel Sandu. Later in the afteroon, Boc is said to have give in to pressure by accepting to replace ministers Videanu, Berceanu and Sandu, thus saving his position as prime minister.UPDATE 20:23 Those who asked for PM Boc's resignation: Elena Udrea, Raluca Turcan, Sever Voinescu, William Branza, Sulfina Barbu and Roberta Anastase. Raluca Turcan admitted that she requested the resignation of the Boc government. UPDATE 20:35 The College voted for the government re-shuffle with Emil Boc as Prime Minister: 40 votes for re-shuffling, 9 against and 10 abstains. [Link] [Cache]

Over 70 Volksbank clients submitted on Thursday an official address to the National Central Bank to request an official reaction regarding the three accusations the clients put forward against the bank. Banks risk collective process from dissatisfied clients who have contracted credits, mostly from BCR, Bancpost and Volksbank. [Link] [Cache]

Agriculture minister Mihail Dumitru told Romanian news agency Mediafax on Thursday that it was officially invited to the Prime Minister and was informed that he will be on the list of ministers to be dismissed. Dumitru declared that he thanked the Prime Minister for the collaboration. [Link] [Cache]

Romanian PM Emil Boc met President Traian basescu on Thursday morning to share with him a black list of ministers included in a government reshuffling plan. The list contained several ministers including Finance minister Sebastian Vladescu and Labor minister Mihai Seitan and Agriculture minister Mihail Dumitru. Instead, President Basescu called for a "serious reshuffling", sources close to the talks told HotNews.ro. [Link] [Cache]

PM Boc informed Finance minister Sebastian Vladescu on Thursday about a decision to dismiss him from the Government, as part of a government reshuffle, official sources declared for the Romanian news agency Mediafax.UPDATE Labor minister Mihai Seitan declared that he was informed by the Prime Minister of his dismissal, as part of the governmental re-shuffle strategy. Seitan confessed that the Prime Minister thanked him for the collaboration and expressed his regrets but motivated that the political situation urges it. Sources declared that Transports minister Radu Berceanu will not be affected by Prime Minister's plans. [Link] [Cache]

Most newspapers on Thursday read that Democrat Liberals who support the President demand the resignation of the Boc Cabinet. However, most Democrat Liberals chose to trust Boc and let him come up with a black list of the ministers that need to be changed. Last but not least, Braila's county council transformed into a family business, one newspaper reads. [Link] [Cache]

Bankers expect loan demand from individuals to be weaker in the coming period against previous months, after the upbeat expectations they had in the past have been overturned by reality, shows an NBR survey. Instead, lending tightening is likely to come to a halt shortly after the phenomenon lost momentum in the third quarter. [Link] [Cache]

Shachar Shaine, the chairman of United Romanian Breweries Bereprod, the brewer of Tuborg and Carlsberg, ranking fourth on the domestic beer market, maintains brewers should step up their exports as they are one of the few opportunities to bolster sales under the current economic circumstances. [Link] [Cache]

The six members of Raiffeisen Bank's executive management team will not take home annual bonuses for three years starting 2010, with payments being postponed according to a decision by the Remuneration Committee run by Herbert Stepic, CEO of Raiffeisen International, the bank's main shareholder. [Link] [Cache]

Nicolae Lucian Duţă, chairman of the National Health Insurance House CNAS managing funds worth almost 4bn euros annually, one of the biggest budgets of a public institution, says the problem of healthcare system funding may be solved this year if a factoring system of half a billion euros at the highest is implemented, to which funds generated by budgetary adjustment are added. [Link] [Cache]

UPC, the number two of the local TV service market, posted 30.8 million euros in revenues in the second quarter of the year, an increase of 1.32% in euros compared with the same time of last year, reveal the financial results published by US-based Liberty Global LGI , the owner of the operator. The company posted 62.3 million euros in revenues in the first half, an increase of 2.3% in euros on the previous year. [Link] [Cache]

Duster SUV, the first such car made by Automobile Dacia in Mioveni, saw production reach almost 36,000 units in five months since the start of manufacturing, whose value reaches more than 550 million euros according to ZF calculations. [Link] [Cache]

​A French magistrate blocked the expulsion of seven gypsies and postponed the plans of French authorities to continue voluntary repatriations, International Business Times reads. An administrative court in Lille cancelled the deportation order and declared that the cases do not comply with the legal standards of a real and immediate threat. [Link] [Cache]

Romania needs to continue plans to adjust budgetary spending, President Traian Basescu declared on Wednesday at the annual reunion of Romanian diplomats. He said that the government needs to balance spending with resources Romania generates. In his speech, Basescu declared that the country will register an economic growth in 2011 but the government will not manage to have a fund for investments. [Link] [Cache]

Starting September 1st, consular taxes have been reduced by 30%, Romanian Foreign Affairs minister Teodor Baconschi announced at the annual reunion of Romanian diplomats. The situation of Romanians living abroad was a concern of all state officials present at the Bucharest reunion. [Link] [Cache]

Romania's top foreign policy priority is to join Schengen in April 2011, Romanian President Traian Basescu declared at the annual reunion of Romanian diplomats in Bucharest on Wednesday. Basescu said that Romania would have to make a diplomatic effort for Romania to join Schengen in April 2011. And he said that the attempts of other states to link issues related to the Rroma people with Romania's intention to join Schengen are unfair. Basescu also spoke of relations with the Republic of Moldova, a country which he said should not remain in a gray area. And on Russia he said it was a relationship with ups and downs given that "sometimes we have diverging interests". He said he would not exclude the possibility that tensions with Russia lately be the result of Romania's stand on the Republic of Moldova. [Link] [Cache]

Romania will not recognize Kosovo as an independent state and Belgrade and Pristina should pursue negotiations, Romanian President Traian Basescu said on Wednesday, thus re-affirming the Bucharest stand on the issue. He made the statement at an annual reunion of Romanian Ambassadors. His statement comes several days after the German Foreign minister demanded EU countries which have not yet recognized the independence of Kosovo to follow the majority of EU. [Link] [Cache]

​UPDATE Social Democrats, Liberals and the Conservaties met on Wednesday for talks regarding a censure of motion against the Boc government. The three parties decided to collaborate in order to submit the motion and form a crisis government if the document will pass in the Parliament. [Link] [Cache]

Dacia produces daily 450 Duster cars, 75% more than in late April and the production of the SUVs might increase if there will be demand so that it will come to represent half of the total producton, Dacia chief Jerome Olive declared. Dacia's production totals about 1.400 cars/day of which 650 are Sandero. [Link] [Cache]

The Federation of Romanian Associations in Europe urge all Romanians in the country and abroad to boycott on Friday all French products to protesc against the French administration. This is not the first time French officials insult us and we proposed a pragmatic response to avoid such actions, the press release reads, quoted by the Romanian news agency Mediafax. [Link] [Cache]

A Romania mistakenly hid in a police station which he confused with a postal office after he stole a bag from a car, in Florence, Romanian news agency Mediafax informs, quoting ANSA news agency. The Romanian stole a bag from a car and ran away with a bag. He was pursued by the owner of the bag. [Link] [Cache]

708 Romanians were present in French jails, representing 0.3% of all foreign felons in France and only 1.2% of the total number of accused, not sentenced, persons at the national level were Romanians - Romanian European Affairs state secretary Bogdan Aurescu declared at Brussels in a meeting with European Commissioner for Justice Viviane Reding. [Link] [Cache]