October 1 (SeeNews) - Following are some of the main stories in the online versions of Romanian media on Thursday morning. SeeNews has not verified these reports and cannot vouch for their accuracy.
ZIARUL FINANCIAR
- Romania's top bank BCR, majority owned by Austria's Erste, decided to close down its brokerage arm BCR Securities and transfer its activities to BCR's trading department, said the heaf of the department, Valerian Ionescu.
- Romanian power distributor Electrica sees its sales to large consumers, such as Oltchim and Mittal Steel, falling by 30% this year after the sales dropped by 40% in the January-September period, head of Electrica's slaes department Ioan Silvas said.
MEDIAFAX
- Electricity consumption in Romania fell by 10.1% on the year in the first nine months, while domestic power output was down by 12%, data from the state-owned power grid operator Transelectrica showed.
- The unemployment rate in Romania is likely to rise further in the coming months, but it should not exceed 8.0% by the end of 2009, head of the country's employment agency Eugen Preda said.
BUSINESS STANDARD
- Deutche Bank analysts see Romania's economy contracting by 5.1% this year and growing by 4.5% next year, a more optimistic forecast than those made by the government and the IMF, the daily said.
- France's GDF Suez Energy plans to cut its staff in Romania by 10% in the coming months through voluntary lay offs to reduce costs and to meet new requirements imposed by the country's energy regulator, company's officials said.