FOLLOWING THE BECHTEL MODEL Requiem at Roşia Montană

All the ministers in the Ponta government and the president of the PNL Crin Antonescu have agreed to the Roşia Montană project, according to yesterday's statements by the prime minister.

"In the Government, absolutely everybody has given their approval. I have also talked to Mr. Antonescu, on Friday as well, but as for the political decision made on Monday (ed. note: by which the President of the National Liberal Party (PNL) has expressed his rejection of the project) I acknowledge it and respect it", the prime minister said.

Who or what has made Crin Antonescu change his mind over the week-end, so that on Monday morning he would be so adamantly against the project?

Some analysts claim that this is the beginning of the end for the USL, which will probably fall apart after the elections for the European parliament.

Crin Antonescu may have been told that PSD will have his own candidate for the presidential elections which will be held next year, which means that PNL will leave the government. Crin Antonescu would have to be increasingly popular to avoid having another liberal presidential candidate overtake him in terms of credibility. And it would seem that he has chosen the right hand to play - the exploitation of Roşia Montană, an extremely sensitive topic among Romanians. Yesterday's decision to oppose the project may have brought him lots of additional votes.

But the prime-minister isn't sitting idly by, twiddling his thumbs. Instead, he is coming out with "shocking" statements: we may be forced to pay over 2 billion Euros in damages, or the rejection of the Roşia Montană project will lead to "the wiping of the Alba county from the economic map".

Last night, however, Victor Ponta said, in his characteristic style, that,

"as a deputy", he would vote against the project.

Meanwhile, in University Square, people are still protesting.

• Negative vote of the Legal Commission of the Senate

The Legal Commission of the Senate yesterday gave a negative vote on the gold mining project of Roşia Montană. Essentially, this signs the death sentence for the gold mining project in the Apuseni mountains. Most likely, the authorities may cancel the contract with Gabriel Resources, the company that holds the controlling interest in the project.

The draft law concerning the mining exploitation of Roşia Montană also received a negative vote from the Commission for Public Administration, the territorial organization and the protection of the environment in the Senate and from the Legal Commission in the Senate.

The implications of these negative opinions from the parliament when it comes to the gold mining operation at Roşia Montană are varied, but the "hot" question which currently arises, and which nobody has an answer to yet, is the following: "What is all this talk about the canceling of the contract based on?"

BURSA has announced since yesterday, that according to some market sources, the entire scenario has been " premeditated" since the beginning of the year, when the price of gold fell far enough that the Roşia Montană project would be considered unprofitable.

Besides, Gabriel Resources has "predicted" this scenario in its quarterly reports of 2013, in which it discloses the risks of the project and the potential solutions.

One of the reports states that the halting of the review of the Environmental Impact Assessment of Roşia Montană by the Ministry of the Environment in September 2007 (a process which was later resumed in September 2010) shows the significant risks that the project is faced with.

"These kinds of risks can affect the ability of the Group (Gabriel Resources and its subsidiaries) to go on and can result in obstacles or in the total or partial loss of the assets of the Group", the document in question states.

Furthermore, on March 31st, 2013, Gabriel Resources had no operational cashflow resource and did not have enough cash to finance the development of the project and therefore needed additional resources, which, if they are not raised, could result in a contraction of operations and in the delay of the project, according to the quarterly report of the company. At the time, the Group (Gabriel and its subsidiaries) had 0.9 million Canadian dollars in the Romanian banks (about 900.000 US dollars).

• 2 billion Euros in damages

The Romanian state would have to pay about two billion Euros in damages, if the mining project of Roşia Montană gets cancelled, to Gabriel Resources, the majority shareholder of the gold mining project, according to yesterday's statements by prime-minister Victor Ponta. "The amount in question demanded by the company comprises the expenses it has incurred so far and the potential trade losses", the prime minister said, and he went on to say that Romania will most likely have to deal with a lawsuit for damages filed by Gabriel Resources.

He said that if such a lawsuits gets filed by Gabriel Resources, the Romanian state will defend itself.

According to the statements of the prime minister, there is a commercial license which was granted in 1999 to Roşia Montana Gold Corporation, and the delegated minister for major projects, Dan Şova, would give more details on the subject today.