Business Review

Despite some high profile interests, Russia lies outside the top ten foreign investors to Romania in the official national statistics. Most major investors here have so far targeted fields such as heavy industry and energy. Recently, the newcomers have been smaller-scale companies in less traditional fields such as IT, and others are expected to join them.

Simona Bazavan

Prevention is better than cure, goes the old saying. Romanians have a similar maxim, but the numbers tell a different story. Annual per capita consumption of nutritional supplements in Romania is only EUR 4.7, about 20 times below that in Germany and about 8 times lower than the figure in neighboring Hungary. Pharmaceutical companies complain about the lack of education and slashed purchasing power, but agree that against this backdrop there is huge potential for growth in the coming years.

Simona Bazavan

More than the actual taxes themselves, fiscal stability and, above all, predictability are key requirements when planning an investment and running a business, any manager will say. The government’s recession strategy, however, seems to lack both these qualities, sending more and more local companies south to neighboring Bulgaria, which, tax specialists say, promises lower taxes and less red tape.

Dana Verdes and Simona Bazavan

Romania lacks a coherent fiscal strategy for the medium- and long-run, which is seriously undermining the country’s credibility as an investor-friendly economy, agreed legal and tax experts present at the Tax & Law – New fiscal measures: effects and consequences event, organized by Business Review last week.

Simona Bazavan

With EUR 200 million of investments plans, Romanian businessman Dinu Patriciu has found what he hopes will be a golden goose: a traditional store network which is estimated to reach 1,000 fixed shops and 2,000 mobile outlets on wheels by the middle of next year. According to Patriciu, the break-even point is estimated for April 2011, 12 months after the business was developed. Why retail? Patriciu’s forthright answer: “If I have a wish, it is that the commerce imported piecemeal from the West should die”.

Dana Verdes

One of the many changes brought about by the economic crisis is to mentality. Easy money has become a thing of the past, said company officials present at the second edition of the French Business Forum organized by Business Review.

Simona Bazavan

French companies active in Romania are not exactly experiencing an economic belle époque with the recession slashing profits and terminating or postponing many investment plans. However investors say that they are here to stay, as business opportunities haven’t run dry. So far, French investments in Romania are estimated to have reached approximately EUR 7 billion. Almost EUR 600 million was spent last year alone, making France the fifth largest investor in the country.

Simona Bazavan

Many major French companies have already started a business in Romania and in future SMEs from healthcare, IT&C, energy, the environment and agriculture are expected to join them. But future investments depend a lot on the authorities’ capacity to modernize and further develop the country’s infrastructure, Bruno Roche, president of Chambre Francaise de Commerce, d'Industrie et d'Agriculture en Roumanie (CCIFER), told BR.

Simona Bazavan

2009 can be described as nothing short of a horror story for many local industries which have seen their business shrink as markets collapsed. But it’s not all bad news and there is still confidence, said businesspeople present at the second Austrian Business Forum organized by Business Review last week.

Simona Bazavan

The first ICC conference on international arbitration organized in Romania saw the presentation of various dispute resolution mechanisms aimed to ensure both the continuous execution of works and an efficient resolution of the dispute. Throughout the conference, various case studies were discussed, as well as the stages that disputes in Romania should go through before reaching the Arbitration Tribunal.

Corina Dumitrescu