A Personal Journey Toward Sustainability

Arsenoaiei’s journey began as a simple quest to find better options for his own cat. Frustrated by the lack of sustainable food, litter, and toys available on the market, he realized that many cat owners shared their concerns but had no centralized resource to turn to.

This gap in the market sparked an idea: to create a platform that not only offers sustainable products but also educates pet owners about the environmental impact of their choices.

„Sustainable Cats was born out of my love for my cat and the planet,” Arsenoaiei explains. „I wanted to create a space where cat owners could find high-quality, sustainable products that benefit both their pets and the environment.”

A Comprehensive Resource for Cat Owners

Sustainable Cats offers a carefully curated selection of eco-friendly cat products. From biodegradable litter to organic cat food and sustainable toys, the platform aims to meet the needs of environmentally conscious pet owners. Each product is chosen with care, ensuring that it aligns with sustainability and quality principles.

In addition to product offerings, Sustainable Cats serves as an educational hub. The platform features articles and guides that inform cat owners about the environmental impact of traditional pet care practices. Arsenoaiei empowers pet owners to make informed decisions that contribute to a healthier planet by providing actionable tips and insights.

Building a Community of Eco-Conscious Cat Lovers

Sustainable Cats is more than just a shopping platform; it’s a community. Arsenoaiei envisions a space where cat lovers can connect, share experiences, and advocate for sustainable practices in pet care. He hopes to inspire a collective movement toward more responsible pet ownership by fostering this sense of community.

The Future of Sustainable Pet Care in Romania

As Sustainable Cats gains traction, Arsenoaiei is optimistic about the future of sustainable pet care in Romania and beyond. He believes that by raising awareness and providing accessible resources, cat owners can significantly reduce their ecological footprint.

Moreover, Arsenoaiei’s initiative aligns with a broader global movement toward sustainability, encouraging consumers to consider the environmental impact of their choices, even in pet care.

Emilian Arsenoaiei’s Sustainable Cats is paving the way for a new era of eco-friendly pet ownership in Romania. By combining a passion for cats with a commitment to sustainability, he is addressing a market need and inspiring others to think critically about their consumption habits. As more cat owners embrace sustainable practices, the potential for positive environmental change grows, proving that even the smallest choices can make a significant impact.

For more information about Sustainable Cats and to explore their range of eco-friendly products, visit sustainablecats.com.

This disruptive approach signifies a seismic shift within the SEO landscape, strategically optimizing content for the imminent future of search – AI-powered search engines.

“As mentioned in our previous communication on our social media channels and website, SEO is no longer enough. GEO has to be considered if you need to rank in 2024 and prepare your business for the Generative Engines. AI is here; we have to adapt to this reality, and if you are the owner of a business that needs online optimization, you have to dive deep into GEO – Generative Engine Optimization. This will ensure clients and your survival in the years to come”.

Adam C., digital strategist @TUYA Digital – SEO & GEO

Demystifying GEO: A Paradigm Shift

For years, SEO has revolved around propelling websites to the top of search engine results pages (SERPs) for targeted keywords. GEO appeared relatively recently and builds upon this foundation, acknowledging the dominance of AI-driven search engines like Bard by Google and Bing’s ChatGPT. These intelligent engines transcend keyword matching, which has reigned until now, and they are meticulously analyzing information from diverse sources to deliver comprehensive answers to user queries.

GEO: REDEFINING THE SEO LANDSCAPE

While the importance of traditional SEO tactics remains undeniable, GEO adopts a future-oriented perspective. GEO – Generative Engine Optimization empowers websites to achieve superior visibility within the rapidly evolving search ecosystem by meticulously optimizing content for understandability, credibility, and the capacity to address intricate user queries.

SEO VS. GEO: A HEAD-TO-HEAD COMPARISON

TUYA DIGITAL: SPEARHEADING THE GEO REVOLUTION IN EUROPE AND BEYOND

“At TUYA Digital, we’ve always prided ourselves on being at the forefront of innovation,” says Adam C., Digital Strategist at TUYA Digital. “By embracing GEO, we equip our clients to flourish in the impending era of AI-powered search. This represents a monumental leap forward for the European SEO, and we’re honoured to be the pioneers leading this charge.”

TUYA Digital’s proficiency in SEO and GEO positions them as an invaluable asset for businesses seeking to navigate the uncharted territory of the future search landscape.

With their pioneering approach, TUYA Digital is poised to propel clients towards enduring online success in the following years.

Starting from January 1st, 2024, US companies, under specific conditions, are required to complete the BOI Report. This document’s purpose is to reveal the actual owners of the company and the individuals responsible for decision-making.

The BOI Report, or the Beneficial Ownership Information Report, is a mandatory submission for every US company to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), part of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Its goal is to identify the company’s beneficial owners, those who ultimately have ownership or control, as well as the company applicants and the people who initially registered the company in the US.

In submitting a BOI report, companies must provide details about the business, its beneficial owners, the persons who ultimately own or control the company, the company applicants, and those who first established the company in the US.

The law defines a beneficial owner as anyone who, either directly or indirectly:

1. Has substantial control over the company, or
2. Owns or controls at least 25% of the company.

A person able to make critical decisions for the reporting company is seen as having substantial control over it.

There are exceptions to this requirement. However, implementing this legislation is a vital move by the US to combat money laundering, tax evasion, and other illegal activities.

Unsure about whether you need to submit a BOI Report? It’s advisable to consult with firms specializing in the BOI Report process for expert guidance.

While the European Union promotes women empowerment through gender equality, as it believes that diversity should be encouraged and men and women should have equal opportunities, Romania is a state that makes no exception to the rule. Inspired by the European way of thinking, this country strongly believes that women are brave, beautiful and powerful and that they ought to have the same opportunities to grow as men do.

Women Empowerment in Romania – Challenges

That is not to say that Romania didn’t face its fair share of challenges regarding this issue. After the collapse of communism in Romania, new issues that had never been addressed before emerged, one of them being the issue of gender equality. After it adhered to the European Union, a set of measures meant to promote the rights of women were passed, but it was never easy. One of them was the dissolution in 2010 of the National Agency for Equal Opportunities between Women and Men, following the financial crisis that hit the country. During this time, an increase was noticed in the rate of unemployment for women of about 1.8 per cent, while the rate of unemployment for men was only 1.2 per cent.
It hasn’t been the only difficulty women empowerment in Romania has had to face. However, in the present, thanks to the efforts made by the European Union, women benefit of way more opportunities to grow than they did before communism fell.

Women Empowerment in Romania – Claret Credit Romania case study

Women empowerment in Romania is encouraged by a way of thinking that strongly believes that creativity and homogeneity are the most important ingredients in a team. Homogeneity and creativity are key ingredients in a team’s success. This is because all members work together in the same direction. The same goes for creativity. It will make it easier to complete tasks and solve problems faster.
It is common to hear about the gender gap in the workplace. Many women don’t hold high-ranking leadership positions within companies in some countries. This is not uncommon, but the Romanian companies have many women who have built successful businesses and helped many people who were looking for quick financing solutions. These companies consider women to be a fundamental pillar of their businesses. One of the examples of this fact is the way Claret functions as an institution.
The women of Claret have been able to bring a positive change to the company, through their professional way of dealing with any problem, showing patience, calmness and professionalism. They handle all situations encountered calmly, managing to create a relationship based on trust with any client. They are the ones who interact with customers, trying to understand the reasons why they turn to an IFN and give them the best advice in order to choose a loan. The women of Claret empathize with those who come to ask for financial help from the company’s IFN and put themselves in their situation to be able to offer them the ideal solution in order to overcome the obstacles caused by the lack of money.

At Claret, the position of CEO also brings with it many responsibilities. As a woman, it is sometimes difficult to make your presence felt in a male-dominated world of business, but the determination I have shown has helped me advance and occupy this important position within this IFN. The team is made up of many strong and courageous women who show professionalism every day. The ability to work under pressure is vital for this leadership position, but I am a confident woman who can handle any difficult situation.

– Laura Leanca, CLARET general director (CEO)

With their well-defined vision, their spirit, their creativity and the ease with which they carry out their tasks, the women of Claret manage to create a work environment conducive to performance. In addition, the presence of strong and determined women in the company’s collective will always be an asset that Claret will have in front of any competitors.

Elrond, which had its primary launch in July 2020, has since surpassed Ethereum 2.0 to become the second-largest PoS blockchain in the world, with 3200 validators dispersed throughout several regions. It is also the first carbon-negative blockchain in Europe because it offsets more CO2 than is necessary for its cutting-edge PoS network.

According to Valahia News, in addition to providing a new generation of digital natives with a token that is utilized to power the seamless transfer of any sort of value globally, Revolut’s listing of EGLD will bring a broader audience to the frictionless payments at the center of Elrond’s concept.

By enabling its users in the EU and UK to buy, hold, and sell cryptocurrencies with the same simplicity as any other digital asset. For EGLD, the mobile banking business, valued at $33 billion with +20M worldwide customers, intends to improve financial inclusion.

Revolut operates in more than 30 countries (including the European Economic Area, the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and others) and has plans to expand into new markets thanks to its ongoing regulatory and compliance efforts. It has an EU banking license and a CASP license that was just granted for crypto-related services.

In its current network configuration, Elrond can process 15,000 transactions per second, but it can scale beyond 100,000 TPS by utilizing sharding to parallelize transaction processing, allowing it to accommodate growing demand by adding more shards to the network. Elrond was built from the ground up to address the performance limitations of the current blockchain iterations (such as Bitcoin and Ethereum).

About Elrond

Elrond is a brand-new blockchain architecture created from the ground up to boost throughput and execution speed by 1,000. A revolutionary Adaptive State Sharding mechanism and a Secure Proof of Stake (PoS) algorithm, which together enable linear scaling with a quick, effective, and secure consensus mechanism, are introduced by Elrond as two essential inventions that help to accomplish this. So, Elrond, which aims to support a permissionless, accessible internet economy, can handle up to 15,000 transactions per second (TPS), with a 6-second latency and minimal cost.

Elrond introduced Maiar, the e-wallet of the future, in January 2021. The Romanian blockchain business Elrond works to build a community of dependability, trust, and transaction speed despite encountering some difficulties along the road.

Combining jewellery and makeup can help women stand out in the crowd. In a fashion and beauty interview, this is what the most well-known Romanian make-up artist and the creator of the latest trend for jewellery have to say, according to the Romanian news platform Valahia News.

Mirela Vescan, a make-up artist, and Lavinia Lazar (creator of Carlette Jewelry) did an interview in which they talked about the modular jewellery that was patented in Switzerland. The first interaction between them occurred at Cosmoworld Romania2022, the largest event for beauty professionals in Romania.

Mirela Vescan, Lavinia Lazar and others shared their opinions on the beauty industry and the challenges faced by entrepreneurs.

Mirelavescan is a well-known make-up artist in Romania. She is loved, respected and sought-after by anyone who wishes to master make-up. Mirela runs a make-up school, and she tries to pass on her knowledge to younger generations. Mirela Vescan, a make-up artist, loves Carlette jewellery because of its uniqueness and cool spirit.

Lavina Lazar created a very cool brand of modular jewellery, and we, here at Mirela Vescan Make-up Academy, consider them inspirational! Because they can easily adapt to our requirements. They are photogenic and adaptable.

Mirela Vescan, make-up artist

It was the perfect opportunity to spotlight Lavinia Lazar, the woman behind Carlette’s jewellery. This is what Lavinia did for the Romanian public in her latest interview for the Romanian speaking audience.

The designer explained how modular jewelry started and how she developed this unique concept in Switzerland. Entrepreneur Lavinia Lazar brought an innovative solution to women who are open to diversity and want to express themselves through their fashion to the international market.

The accessories of a model are important in make-up. They can complement the model’s make-up and add elegance to it. Mirela Vescan says that Carlette jewellery is modular and adaptable.

Modular Jewelry

The key component of modular jewelry is the locking mechanism. This system allows you to easily combine or exchange a Carlette Talisman to create unique jewelry. This mechanism applies to both necklaces and bracelets. Modular jewellery is not a new trend, but this type of jewellery, made from many components, is very popular and allows for creativity on all occasions.

The condition of health care in Romania has entered a zone of health risk due to the migration of specialised staff (doctors, nurses, nurses) overseas. Romania urgently requires more than 50,000 nurses to meet the health difficulties that an ageing population and the deteriorating health of vulnerable groups, particularly children and the elderly, will pose in the coming years.

Romania’s population is aging and becoming sicker with each passing year. According to data from the National Institute of Statistics, our country’s elderly population has surpassed the young people by more than 20%, with the trend expected to continue in the coming years.

For example, the number of individuals over 65 has surpassed 3.8 million (17.5% of the total), while the number of children is just 3.19 million (14.5%).

The 50-54 age group (8.9%) had the most significant share of the entire population on January 1, 2022, a category that will retire in 10-15 years.

Romania has one of Europe’s lowest life expectancy rates. The primary cause of mortality is cardiovascular disease, while lung cancer is the most common cancer.

Romanians consume more alcohol and eat more unhealthy foods than the EU average. In Romania, adolescent obesity, smoking, and overweight are all on the rise and have been for the past two decades.

According to the Frames study, Romania urgently needs a national training strategy in healthcare, which was carried out at the initiative of the „Carol Davila” Post-secondary Sanitary School and the „Dr Mioara Mincu” Theoretical High School in Bucharest.

The need for staff in clinics, hospitals and medical offices in the country is huge and will increase significantly in the coming years, as the population ages. Even though the number of employees trained by us and other institutions has increased in recent years, due to migration, many of the health fields are facing an acute staffing crisis, so, in terms of population, we still need at least 50,000 nurses ”, says Prof. Aurelia Şova, director of the Post-secondary Sanitary School „Carol Davila”.

According to the National Institute of Statistics, 137,589 nurses with average training in Romania in 2020, up 18,000 from 2015. More than 16,784 nurses with a higher degree have been added.

According to Eurostat data, despite a rise in the number of employees over the last decade, the number of doctors and nurses remains considerably below EU averages.

In 2019, there were 3.2 doctors per 1,000 people, one of the lowest ratios in the EU (the EU average is 3.9), and 7.5 nurses per 1,000 people (EU average of 8.4).

According to a study undertaken by the Center for Research and Social Development, „Solidarity” on the position of nurses in public health facilities in Romania, the number of nurses has declined by 25% in the last 23 years, while the number of patients has climbed by 12%.

According to analysts, the number of nurses travelling overseas might exceed 100,000, with Romania likely to be the greatest provider of nurses in the European labour market. The Romanian public health system now has the largest nursing shortfall.

According to „Study on the Situation of Nurses in Public Health Units in the United States,” The COVID-19 epidemic has exacerbated the fragile situation of the global healthcare workforce according to a report by the International Council of Nurses (ICN). According to the analysis, up to 13 million more nurses will be required during the next decade, about half of the existing workforce of 28 million.

In the next ten years, one out of every six nurses is predicted to retire, requiring 4.7 million new nurses to replace those who are retiring.

Romanians’ access to health care has become more complex than ever, especially in rural areas, causing a worsening of the population’s health problems, which are frequent and preventable.

The rate of preventable mortality is the third highest in the EU, with its leading causes being cardiovascular disease, lung cancer and alcohol-related deaths. Mortality from treatable causes is more than twice the EU average and includes treatable deaths from prostate and breast cancer that can be treated, ” said the European Commission’s State of Health in the EU – Romania 2021 report.

Nurses are in high demand, particularly in rural areas. According to the Frames study, there are hundreds of counties where the medical system is nearly paralysed due to a lack of staff, particularly in the preventative field.

A full list of rating actions is at the end of this rating action commentary.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

Credit Fundamentals: Romania’s ‘BBB-‘ rating is underpinned by EU membership and EU capital flows that support investment and macro-stability, and GDP per capita, governance and human development indicators that are above ‘BBB’ category peers. These are balanced against larger twin budget and current-account deficits than peers, a weak record of fiscal consolidation and high budget rigidities, and a fairly high net external debtor position.

Negative Outlook: The Negative Outlook reflects continued uncertainty regarding the implementation of policies to address structural fiscal imbalances over the medium term and the impact of the Ukraine war and energy crisis on Romania’s economic, fiscal and external performance.

Heightened Short-Term Challenges: The Russian invasion of Ukraine represents a significant macro headwind, as it will heighten short-term risks to growth and inflation, and to a lesser extent, to public and external finances. Trade and export links with Russia—as well as Ukraine and Belarus—are very limited (exports to the three countries accounted for only 2.3% of the total in 2020), and unlike other countries in the region, Romania imports only a modest share of its gas from Russia (20%, the is rest domestically produced). However, steep increases in commodity prices, supply-side disruptions and weaker growth in Romania’s main trading partners (mainly the eurozone) will have significant spillovers, heightening short-term risks.

Public Investment Key Growth Driver: Fitch expects GDP growth to slow to 2.1% in 2022 (from 5.9% in 2021), primarily reflecting a slowdown in private consumption and exports. Although the government has put some measures in place to offset higher energy costs, they will likely be insufficient to prevent a loss of purchasing power. We expect public investment to provide some momentum in 2H22, in line with higher absorption of the 2014-2020 Multi-Annual Financing Framework and from the Recovery and Resilience Fund (RRF). In 2023 we expect investment dynamics to further accelerate, which combined with our assumption of normalisation of external trade and supply chains, will lift growth to 4.8%.

Inflation Higher for Longer: We forecast the harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) will average 10% in 2022 (the highest rate since 2004), with inflation likely to reach double digits in 2Q22 and possibly 3Q22 (from 7.9% in February), reflecting significant pass-through from higher energy and commodity prices as well as second-round effects. The government has placed a cap on electricity and gas prices for households and some companies until April 2023, which should limit inflation pressures somewhat. Unlike other countries in the region, wage growth appears moderate (largely due to restraint on public wages), but pressures are likely to rise as the labour market continues to tighten and employees feel a squeeze on their living standards. Fitch expects inflation to soften to 5.5% in 2023, in large part reflecting base effects.

Central Bank’s Multiple Priorities: The National Bank of Romania (NBR) has tightened its main policy rate by 1.75bp since September 2021 (to 3% in April) and increased its interest rate corridor in an effort to tackle rising inflation. The authorities have also focused on exchange rate stability to limit inflation pass-through, with the currency maintaining broad stability in 1Q22 following interventions by the central bank. We expect the tightening cycle to continue but at a modest pace to prevent an even faster economic slowdown. The NBR reactivated its programme of government bond purchases in March to improve liquidity and limit volatility in domestic bond yields, a tool we expect to be used only sporadically. However, if volatility persists and macro-challenges accentuate, the NBR might find it more challenging to balance multiple policy priorities, raising the risks of a sharper adjustment on the growth or fiscal side.

Challenging Public Finance Outlook: The government overperformed its budget targets in 2021 (we estimate the accrual deficit at 7.5% of GDP versus 8% in the budget) thanks to strong revenue performance and CAPEX under-execution. This better-than-expected starting position, as well as the government’s commitment to adhere to wage and pension spending limits in 2022 (as was the case in 2021), will help the authorities manage increasing expenditure pressures stemming from rising macro-challenges. The energy cap will have a modest net cost to the budget (most of it will be financed by taxing profits of energy producers) and the authorities estimate costs for Ukrainian refugees to total at least EUR1 billion (0.4% of GDP). However, we believe there are likely to be additional demands for support measures, the scope of which will largely be dependent on access to funding. Overall, and despite expectations of solid revenue growth due to a high deflator, we expect the fiscal deficit to reach 7.1% of GDP this year, compared with the budget target of 6.3%.

The ruling coalition remains committed to medium-term fiscal consolidation and implementation of ambitious revenue measures to boost tax collection and expenditure reforms tied to the RRF. However, this will require difficult political compromises and the passage of key pension and wage bills by mid-2023, just before the busy 2024 electoral cycle begins. Romania has a very weak record of adopting structural fiscal reforms, often relying on under-execution of investment to meet deficit targets.

Broadly Stable Debt, Financing Pressures: Under our baseline scenario, strong nominal growth and a modest reduction in the primary balance will keep the public debt/GDP trajectory on a very gradual upward trend, rising from an estimated 48.9% in 2021 to 51.3% in 2023 (and compared with a ‘BBB’ median of 55%). The strong commitment to exchange rate stability somewhat moderates the potential risks from high foreign-currency exposure (50% of total debt). Financing needs will remain large in 2022 (at around 11% of GDP), requiring significant domestic and external issuances. This will heighten the risks around financing flexibility, in particular in the event of additional domestic or external shocks.

Large External Imbalances: Fitch expects Romania´s current account deficit (CAD) to average 6.8% of GDP in 2022-2023, down slightly from a 13-year high of 7.0% in 2021 and compared with the current ‘BBB’ median of 1%. Some of the improvement will be due to a weakening of domestic demand in 2022 (which lowers import demand), followed by our expectations of a recovery in manufacturing exports in 2023. Foreign direct investment picked up in 2021 but in conjunction with capital transfers only covered around 66% of the CAD last year. We expect this ratio to remain broadly constant in 2022-2023, even as EU flows accelerate. High public external debt issuances will keep the net external debt position at around 22% of GDP over the forecast period, compared with the ‘BBB’ median of 5%.

Political Stability: The grand coalition of the centre-left PSD and centre-right PNL has proven remarkably stable since taking power in December, despite various areas of policy disagreement and confrontational stance in the past. The coalition government has turned its focus to dealing with Ukrainians and the cost of living crisis while fully supporting the EU stance against Russia. There are few risks around short-term stability, in particular as parties want to focus on meeting RRF milestones to unlock generous funding. Nevertheless, public discontent could increase rapidly if the cost of living crisis accentuates, potentially risking more populist policies or sharpening internal divisions within the coalition.

ESG – Governance: Romania has an ESG Relevance Score (RS) of 5[+] for both Political Stability and Rights and for the Rule of Law, Institutional and Regulatory Quality and Control of Corruption. These scores reflect the high weight that the World Bank Governance Indicators (WBGI) have in our proprietary Sovereign Rating Model (SRM). Romania has a moderate WBGI ranking at 59.2 percentile, reflecting a recent record of peaceful political transitions, a moderate level of rights for participation in the political process, moderate institutional capacity, established rule of law and a moderate level of corruption.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to negative rating action/downgrade:

-Fiscal: Reduced confidence in the capacity to implement fiscal consolidation that undermines fiscal policy credibility, leads to a faster-than-projected increase in public debt, reduces financing flexibility or increases risks to macro-economic and external sector stability.

-External: A sustained deterioration in the balance of payments, for example, reflecting a sharper widening in the CAD and/or failure to attract non-debt financing flows.

-Macro: Weaker growth prospects, for example, reflect a more pronounced or longer period of an economic slowdown that leads, for example, to increased fiscal pressures.

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to positive rating action/upgrade:

-Fiscal: Improved confidence that the government´s fiscal strategy will lead to a narrowing fiscal deficit and broad stabilisation of general government debt/GDP over the medium term.

-External: Evidence of increased economic and external resilience to tighter financing conditions and geopolitical risks.

SOVEREIGN RATING MODEL (SRM) AND QUALITATIVE OVERLAY (QO)

Fitch’s proprietary SRM assigns Romania a score equivalent to a rating of ‘BBB’ on the Long-Term Foreign-Currency (LT FC) IDR scale.

Fitch’s sovereign rating committee adjusted the output from the SRM to arrive at the final LT FC IDR by applying its QO, relative to SRM data and output, as follows:

– External Finances: -1 notch, to reflect Romania’s higher net external debtor and net investment liabilities positions than the ‘BBB’ median, as well as higher external vulnerability than implied by the SRM model, given adverse policy developments in recent years that have impacted external competitiveness and aggravated its exposure to shocks.

Fitch’s SRM is the agency’s proprietary multiple regression rating model that employs 18 variables based on three-year centred averages, including one year of forecasts, to produce a score equivalent to an LT FC IDR. Fitch’s QO is a forward-looking qualitative framework designed to allow for adjustment to the SRM output to assign the final rating, reflecting factors within our criteria that are not fully quantifiable and/or not fully reflected in the SRM.

BEST/WORST CASE RATING SCENARIO

International scale credit ratings of Sovereigns, Public Finance and Infrastructure issuers have a best-case rating upgrade scenario (defined as the 99th percentile of rating transitions, measured in a positive direction) of three notches over a three-year rating horizon; and a worst-case rating downgrade scenario (defined as the 99th percentile of rating transitions, measured in a negative direction) of three notches over three years. The complete span of best- and worst-case scenario credit ratings for all rating categories range from ‘AAA’ to ‘D’. Best- and worst-case scenario credit ratings are based on historical performance. For more information about the methodology used to determine sector-specific best- and worst-case scenario credit ratings, visit https://www.fitchratings.com/site/re/10111579.

REFERENCES FOR SUBSTANTIALLY MATERIAL SOURCES CITED AS KEY DRIVERS OF RATING

The principal sources of information used in the analysis are described in the Applicable Criteria.

ESG CONSIDERATIONS

Romania has an ESG Relevance Score of ‘5[+]’ for Political Stability and Rights as WBGI has the highest weight in Fitch’s SRM and is therefore highly relevant to the rating and a key rating driver with a high weight. As Romania has a percentile rank above 50 for the respective governance Indicator, this has a positive impact on the credit profile.

Romania has an ESG Relevance Score of ‘5[+]’ for Rule of Law, Institutional & Regulatory Quality and Control of Corruption as WBGI has the highest weight in Fitch’s SRM and is therefore highly relevant to the rating and is a key rating driver with a high weight. As Romania has a percentile rank above 50 for the respective governance indicators, this has a positive impact on the credit profile.

Romania has an ESG Relevance Score of ‘4[+]’ for Human Rights and Political Freedoms as the Voice and Accountability pillar of the WBGI is relevant to the rating and a rating driver. As Romania has a percentile rank above 50 for the respective governance indicator, this has a positive impact on the credit profile.

Romania has an ESG Relevance Score of 4[+]’ for Creditor Rights as a willingness to serve and repays debt is relevant to the rating and is a rating driver for Romania, as for all sovereigns. As Romania has a record of 20+ years without a restructuring of public debt, which is captured in our SRM variable, this has a positive impact on the credit profile.

Except for the matters discussed above, the highest level of ESG credit relevance, if present, is a score of ‘3’. This means ESG issues are credit-neutral or have only a minimal credit impact on the entity, either due to their nature or to the way in which they are being managed by the entity. For more information on Fitch’s ESG Relevance Scores, visitwww.fitchratings.com/esg.

254 of the new instances were in re-infected patients who tested positive more than 90 days after recovering from the disease the first time.

Since the previous report, the majority of newly confirmed COVID-19 cases in Romania have been recorded in Bucharest City (688), Cluj-Napoca (196), and Timis (137).

As of Monday, Romania had documented 2,818,275 cases of people infected with the new coronavirus.

Inpatient stays

In Romania, 3,042 patients with COVID-19, down 85 from the previous report, are hospitalized in specialist care centres, including 215 children.

Four hundred and fifty-five patients, down nine from the previous week, are in intensive care, including three children.

400 of the 455 patients admitted to the ICU are COVID-19 unvaccinated.

Deaths

According to the ministry another 12 Romanians infected with SARS-CoV-2 – 5 men and seven women – have died in the last 24 hours, including two before the reference time.

11 of the 12 patients who died had not been vaccinated, while one had been. The patient who had been immunized was over 60 years old. Comorbidities were seen in all immunized patients who died.

In Romania, 64,697 persons have died from SARS-CoV-2 infection since the pandemic.