1998 in Romania

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See also:	Other events of 1998 History of Romania Timeline of Romanian history Years in Romania

Events from the year 1998 in Romania.

• President of Romania: Emil Constantinescu
• Prime Minister of Romania:
  • until 30 March: Victor Ciorbea
  • 30 March–17 April: Gavril Dejeu (interim)
  • starting 17 April: Radu Vasile

• 18 January – Baia de Arieș is granted town status.^[1]

• 30 March – Victor Ciorbea resigns from being prime minister. Gavril Dejeu replaces him as acting prime minister.^[2]

• 2 April – President Emil Constantinescu appoints Radu Vasile to be the new prime minister.^[3]
• 15 April – The Parliament grants the investiture vote to the Radu Vasile Cabinet^[4] with 317 votes in favour and 124 against.^[3]
• 17 April – The Vasile Cabinet takes its oath of office.^[3]

• 26 October – The Romanian Supreme Court rehabilitates a member of Ion Antonescu's World War II-era Axis government, Toma Ghițulescu.^[5]

• Euroinstal company is founded in Timișoara.^[6]
• Radu Dinulescu, "the Eichmann of Romania", is rehabilitated by the Romanian Supreme Court.^[7]

• 2 October – Robert Asăvoaei, footballer.^[8]

• 9 January – Lia Manoliu, discus thrower and Olympian (b. 1932).^[9]
• 1 July – Dumitru Berciu, historian and archaeologist (b. 1907).^[10]
• 31 July – Ioan Ploscaru, bishop of the Greek-Catholic Church (b. 1911).^[11]
• 1 October – Gabriel Sandu, football player (b. 1952).^[12]
• 8 October – Anatol Vieru, music theoretician, pedagogue, and composer (b. 1926).^[13]
• 14 October – Leopoldina Bălănuță actress (b. 1934).^[14]
• 23 October – Silviu Stănculescu, actor (b. 1932).^[15]
• 13 November – Ilie Văduva, communist politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1985 to 1986 (b. 1934).^[16]
• 2 December – Cleopa Ilie abbot (b. 1912).^[17]

• Romania's 1998 nominal GDP was the country's largest throughout the 1990s, and the only one in the decade to exceed $40 billion.^[18]
• 1998 was the first year in Romania's post-Communist history when the country's external debt decreased, down to $9.7 billion from $10.4 billion in 1997.^[19] The latter was greater than the Ceaușescu-era peak of $10.2 billion in 1981.^[20]
• 1998 was the last year in which the state had a majority share in any of Romania's main economic sectors: industrial output (54%), exports (51.1%), imports (51.7%) and investment (59.5%).^[21]
• Among the 9 ex-Warsaw Pact countries that became members of the EU and NATO, Romania ranked as follows in 1998:
  • Lowest penetration of foreign capital in the economy as percentage of GDP - 10.4%^[22]
  • Lowest external debt as percentage of GDP - 24.0%^[23]
  • Highest asset share of state-owned banks - 74.6%^[24]
  • The only country out of the 9 where non-performing loans accounted for a majority of bank portfolios - 59%^[25]
  • The only country out of the 9 that maintained an independent float of its national currency, not linking its exchange rate to any foreign currency^[26]

Wikinews has related news:

• Romania

• Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998
• Romania at the 1998 Winter Olympics

• Media related to 1998 in Romania at Wikimedia Commons