House of Deputies:
last held 27 September 1992 (next to be held NA 1998); results - DFSN 27.5%,
CDR 22.5%, FSN 11%, others 38.5%; seats - (341 total) DFSN 117, CDR 82, FSN
43, PUNR 30, UDMR 27, PRM 16, PSM 13, other 13
Executive branch:
president, prime minister, Council of Ministers (cabinet)
Legislative branch:
bicameral Parliament consists of an upper house or Senate (Senat) and a
lower house or House of Deputies (Adunarea Deputatilor)
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court of Justice, Constitutional Court
Leaders:
Chief of State:
President Ion ILIESCU (since 20 June 1990, previously President of
Provisional Council of National Unity since 23 December 1989)
Head of Government:
Prime Minister Nicolae VACAROIU (since November 1992)
Member of:
BIS, BSEC, CCC, CSCE, EBRD, ECE, FAO, G-9, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO,
IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer),
ITU, LORCS, NACC, NAM (guest), NSG, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIKOM,
UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Aurel-Dragos MUNTEANU
chancery:
1607 23rd Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone:
(202) 232-4747, 6634, 5693
FAX:
(202) 232-4748
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission:
Ambassador John R. DAVIS, Jr.
embassy: Strada Tudor Arghezi 7-9, Bucharest
mailing address:
AmConGen (Buch), Unit 25402, APO AE 09213-5260
telephone:
[40] (0) 10-40-40
FAX:
[40] (0) 12-03-95
Flag:
three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side), yellow, and red; the
national coat of arms that used to be centered in the yellow band has been
removed; now similar to the flags of Andorra and Chad

*Romania, Economy

Overview:
Industry, which accounts for about one-third of the labor force and
generates over half the GDP, suffers from an aging capital plant and
persistent shortages of energy. The year 1991 witnessed a 17% drop in
industrial production because of energy and input shortages and labor
unrest. In recent years the agricultural sector has had to contend with
flooding, mismanagement, shortages of inputs, and disarray caused by the
dismantling of cooperatives. A shortage of inputs and a severe drought in
1991 contributed to a poor harvest, a problem compounded by corruption and
an obsolete distribution system. The new government has instituted moderate
land reforms, with more than one-half of cropland now in private hands, and
it has liberalized private agricultural output. Private enterprises form an
increasingly important portion of the economy largely in services,
handicrafts, and small-scale industry. Little progress on large scale
privatization has been made since a law providing for the privatization of
large state firms was passed in August 1991. Most of the large state firms
have been converted into joint-stock companies, but the selling of shares
and assets to private owners has been delayed. While the government has
halted the old policy of diverting food from domestic consumption to hard
currency export markets, supplies remain scarce in some areas. The new
government continues to impose price ceilings on key consumer items. In 1992
the economy muddled along toward the new, more open system, yet output and
living standards continued to fall.
National product:
GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $63.4 billion (1992 est.)
National product real growth rate:
-15% (1992 est.)
National product per capita:
$2,700 (1992 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
200% (1992 est.)
Unemployment rate:
9% (January 1993)
Budget:
revenues $19 billion; expenditures $20 billion, including capital
expenditures of $2.1 billion (1991 est.)
Exports:
$3.5 billion (f.o.b., 1991)
commodities:
machinery and equipment 29.3%, fuels, minerals and metals 32.1%,
manufactured consumer goods 18.1%, agricultural materials and forestry
products 9.0%, other 11.5% (1989)
partners:
USSR 27%, Eastern Europe 23%, EC 15%, US 5%, China 4% (1987)
Imports:
$5.1 billion (f.o.b., 1991)
commodities:
fuels, minerals, and metals 56.0%, machinery and equipment 25.5%,
agricultural and forestry products 8.6%, manufactured consumer goods 3.4%,
other 6.5% (1989)
partners:
Communist countries 60%, non-Communist countries 40% (1987)
External debt:
$3 billion (1992)
Industrial production:
growth rate -17% (1991 est.); accounts for 48% of GDP
Electricity:
22,500,000 kW capacity; 59,000 million kWh produced, 2,540 kWh per capita
(1992)

*Romania, Economy

Industries:
mining, timber, construction materials, metallurgy, chemicals, machine
building, food processing, petroleum production and refining
Agriculture:
accounts for 18% of GDP and 28% of labor force; major wheat and corn
producer; other products - sugar beets, sunflower seed, potatoes, milk,
eggs, meat, grapes
Illicit drugs:
transshipment point for southwest Asian heroin transiting the Balkan route
Economic aid:
donor - $4.4 billion in bilateral aid to non-Communist less developed
countries (1956-89)
Currency:
1 leu (L) = 100 bani
Exchange rates:
lei (L) per US$1 - 470.10 (January 1993), 307.95 (1992), 76.39 (1991),
22.432 (1990), 14.922 (1989), 14.277 (1988)
Fiscal year:
calendar year

*Romania, Communications

Railroads:
11,275 km total; 10,860 km 1.435-meter gauge, 370 km narrow gauge, 45 km
broad gauge; 3,411 km electrified, 3,060 km double track; government owned
(1987)
Highways:
72,799 km total; 35,970 km paved; 27,729 km gravel, crushed stone, and other
stabilized surfaces; 9,100 km unsurfaced roads (1985)
Inland waterways: 1,724 km (1984)
Pipelines:
crude oil 2,800 km, petroleum products 1,429 km, natural gas 6,400 km (1992)
Ports:
Constanta, Galati, Braila, Mangalia; inland ports are Giurgiu, Drobeta-Turnu
Severin, Orsova
Merchant marine:
249 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,882,727 GRT/4,463,879 DWT; includes
1 passenger-cargo, 170 cargo, 2 container, 1 rail-car carrier, 9
roll-on/roll-off cargo, 15 oil tanker, 51 bulk
Airports:
total:
158
usable:
158
with permanent-surface runways:
27
with runways over 3,659 m:
0
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
21
with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
26
Telecommunications:
poor service; about 2.3 million telephone customers; 89% of phone network is
automatic; cable and open wire; trunk network is microwave; present phone
density is 9.85 per 100 residents; roughly 3,300 villages with no service
(February 1990); broadcast stations - 12 AM, 5 FM, 13 TV (1990); 1 satellite
ground station using INTELSAT

*Romania, Defense Forces

Branches:
Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces, Paramilitary Forces, Civil Defense
Manpower availability:
males age 15-49 5,846,332; fit for military service 4,942,746; reach
military age (20) annually 185,714 (1993 est.)
Defense expenditures:
137 billion lei, 3% of GDP (1993); note - conversion of defense expenditures
into US dollars using the current exchange rate could produce misleading
results

*Russia, Geography