Interpipe has signed an agreement to acquire ArcelorMittal’s Romanian pipe plant ArcelorMittal Tubular Products Roman S.A., the company announced.
The closing of the deal is subject to obtaining approvals from antitrust authorities and foreign direct investment. Until these conditions are met, the companies will continue to operate separately.
The company clarified that this plant is not related to another Romanian pipe company, ArcelorMittal, which Metinvest had previously planned to acquire.
The Serbian Economist reports that the candidate of the National Liberal Party of Romania (PNL), backed by Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, Ciprian Ciuc won the early election for mayor of Bucharest with about 36% of the votes after almost all ballots were counted.
According to Romanian and international media, Ciuc beat far-right Alliance for the Unification of Romanians (AUR) candidate Anca Alexandrescu, who received about 22% of the vote, as well as Social Democratic Party (PSD) nominee Daniel Belutse, who came in third. The election was seen as a test of the influence of AUR, which is leading in part of the nationwide polls.
The post of mayor of the Romanian capital became vacant after the former mayor Nicusor Dan was elected president of the country in 2025, necessitating an extraordinary vote. The victory of the EU-oriented liberal candidate is seen by observers as an important political success for incumbent Prime Minister Bolojan and his pro-European ruling coalition amid the growing popularity of right-wing and far-right forces in the region.
Analysts note that the outcome of the Bucharest election reduces the risk that one of the first capitals of an EU member state could become a city governed by a radical right-wing party, while strengthening the government’s position ahead of further political battles at the national level.
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Imports of electric generators and rotary electric converters to Ukraine in January–October 2025 increased 3.6 times year-on-year and reached $1.397 billion, according to statistics from the State Customs Service.
The leading suppliers are Romania ($272.1 million or 19.5% of the total volume), the Czech Republic ($254.6 million or 18.2%), and Poland ($175.3 million or 12.6%). A year earlier, the main sources were China ($88.3 million), Turkey ($80.6 million), and the Czech Republic ($54.6 million).
In October 2025, imports of generator equipment amounted to $187.8 million, which is 89.3% higher than in October 2024 and 2% lower than in September 2024. Exports for ten months amounted to $3.6 million, with the main destinations being the Czech Republic, Latvia, and Bulgaria.
Context. Since the end of July 2024, there has been an exemption from import duties and VAT on electrical generator equipment and batteries. According to the State Customs Service, in 2024, imports of generators and converters increased by 3.7% compared to 2023, reaching $732.5 million.
Romanian law enforcement agencies have detained former senator Marius Ovidiu Isele on suspicion of attempting to bribe Defense Minister Ionut Mosatan with €1 million to facilitate an ammunition deal. According to investigators, the scheme involved purchasing Soviet-style shells in Kazakhstan, importing them, and “rebranding” them in Romania, then selling them through an intermediary in Bulgaria for delivery to Ukraine. This was reported by Radio Liberty, citing investigation materials and participants in the events.
The head of the state-owned company Romtehnica, Razvan Minku, said that he had been approached with a proposal to use his contacts in Kazakhstan to resell ammunition, but he considered the proposal suspicious and refused. The intermediary was politician Octavian Bercian, who contacted law enforcement agencies and made 17 hidden recordings of meetings with Isele. The court imposed a preventive measure on the former senator in the form of 30 days of pre-trial detention.
There are also reports about Bulgarian businessman Roman Ivanov Angelov, the sole owner of Sofia Arm Tech, which received a license for international arms trade in 2024. His whereabouts are unknown, and he has not responded to journalists’ inquiries. The defense minister stated on social media that he had refused any meetings and that the attempt to “buy his influence” had been rejected.
The publication notes that the initiators hoped to attract funds from the European Rearm Europe program to support the defense industry of EU countries in the future, but the scheme remained at the trial stage and was not implemented.
Rearm Europe was launched by the European Commission in March 2025 to stimulate arms production in EU countries. Romtehnica is the authorized intermediary of the Romanian Ministry of Defense for international procurement and sales of arms and military equipment.
The Romanian Ministry of Defense signed a contract with the Dutch government to purchase 18 F-16 Fighting Falcon multi-role fighter jets and related equipment.
According to the ministry, the agreement was signed on Monday, November 3. The purchased aircraft will be used exclusively for training at the European F-16 Training Center in Fetești, which has become a regional training center for pilots from NATO member countries and Alliance partners.
“The purchase is being made for a symbolic price of one euro. This is a smart investment in training, cooperation, and the future,” the Romanian Ministry of Defense said.
According to the Romanian side, the transfer of the aircraft is intended to strengthen the training capabilities of allied countries’ pilots and develop defense cooperation in the region.
The mining and metallurgical group Metinvest intends to acquire a pipe plant in Romania (Tubular Products Iasi S.A., AMTP Iasi) from ArcelorMittal, which is controlled by ArcelorMittal S.A. (Luxembourg). According to a preliminary notification from the European Commission on the concentration, on October 21 of this year, the EC’s Directorate-General for Competition received a notification of the proposed concentration in accordance with the Council Regulation (EU).
It is specified that the concentration will be carried out through Metinvest’s acquisition of shares in AMTP Iasi.
After preliminary consideration, the Commission considers that the transaction may fall within the scope of the Merger Regulation. However, the final decision on this matter remains with the Commission.
The Commission invites interested third parties to submit their possible observations on the proposed concentration to the Commission.
AMTP Iasi, registered in Romania, is active in the production and supply of small welded carbon steel pipes.
Metinvest is a vertically integrated group of mining and metallurgical companies. Its enterprises are located in Ukraine, in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, and Dnipropetrovsk regions, as well as in the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The main shareholders of the holding company are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%). Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of the Metinvest Group.
