Ramona Jurubiță, Vice-president of the Foreign Investors Council (FIC) and Laurian Lungu, macroeconomic analysis coordinator discussed at Ziarul Financiar.live program on Monday, 26 September about Va Urma (www.vaurma.ro), a project that represents an economic development model for the next 20 years that includes several scenarios. Va Urma emphasises the multiple advantages of combining private (foreign and domestic) and public investments together with measures aiming to stimulate digitisation and innovation. The key elements of the programme comprise: improving institutional capacity and the efficiency of state-owned companies; protecting human capital by facilitating access to jobs, education and health; transforming the energy mix in the directions established by the Green Deal at European level and the development of energy infrastructure.
Managers in Romania expect prices in services, retail trade and constructions to grow during the period September-November 2022, according to an analysis published by the National Institute of Statistics (INS) on Wednesday. According to INS’s cyclical survey for September 2022, managers in the manufacturing industry expect relative stability in the volume of production (cyclical balance +2%) and in the number of employees (cyclical balance 0%) for the next three months.
Two thirds of Romanians who use banking products and services intend to save money within the following 12 months, according to data included in the market research "Banking system as perceived by Romanians: lending and Romanians’ financial inclusion" conducted in July 2022 by the Romanian Institute for Evaluation and Strategy (IRES) and commissioned by the Romanian Association of Banks, according to a press release. The cited source indicates that 30% of respondents in the survey said they would definitely save money, 37% said they would probably do so, 10% said they would probably not put money aside, 22% would definitely not do this and 1% of the participants did not provide any answer. Young people aged 18-35 with higher education are the most interested in saving - 80%.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has updated its economic growth forecast for Romania, from 2.5% to 5.4%, up by 2.9%. The IMF also recently updated its economic growth forecast for Romania to 4.8%. The government’s economic growth projection, of +3.5% in 2022, thus becomes one of the most pessimistic forecasts. The upward revisions occur following the better-than-expected performance of Romania’s economy in the first half of 2022.
Financial analysts from CFA Romania Association expect the Romanian currency to depreciate against the euro over the next year, with an average forecast of RON 4.98/EUR 1 for the six-month horizon and of RON 5.04/EUR 1 for the twelve-month horizon. Both these projections are lower than the values estimated in July. The expected inflation rate for the 12-month horizon has decreased to an average of 10.05%. In the case of the state budget deficit anticipated for 2022, the average value of analysts’ expectations has fallen to 5.9%. Furthermore, the real GDP growth estimate has increased to 4.1%.
The top of the general and life insurance market changed at the end of H1/2022. Groupama surprisingly took the lead on the market after its volume of gross underwritten premiums tripled in the first six months of 2022, compared to H1/2021, to RON 1,557 million. Allianz-Tiriac ranks second, at a small distance, with a comparable volume of underwritten premiums, of RON 1,554 million in H1/2022, double the level recorded in H1/2021.
Employees in Romania can buy health insurance packages from the Benefit fringe benefits platform, following a partnership with Metropolitan Life. The health insurance packages available to users and their families can be purchased from the platform directly using the budget allocated by companies to their employees, the experience being fully digital and simplified.
EximBank Group has concluded a EUR 8.75 million total financial agreement with Prime Batteries Technology, the only lithium-ion battery manufacturer in Romania and South-Eastern Europe. The financial package is intended to finance the company’s day-to-day business operations and includes a EUR 5 million credit line granted by Banca Românească and a state guarantee issued by EximBank in the name and on behalf of the state, covering 75% of the financing value.
Demand for doors and windows at European level will grow in the following period, considering that buildings can be thermally insulated through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). As a result, Pinum, the company currently owned by Nusco SpA, will start building its new EUR 20 million plant. In spring this year Pinum estimated a 15% increase in turnover in 2022. Its turnover had stood at EUR 17.6 million in 2021, up by 32% against 2020. The current plant, located on the Pipera platform, will be closed when production starts at the new unit.
Premier Hospitality, a Romanian company specializing in the provision of hotel services, has announced the opening of Werk Hotel & Spa, the newest 4-star hotel in Hunedoara, for tourist booking networks, according to a press release. The cited source also indicates that local investors Carmen and Lucian Hărău had purchased the land the hotel was built on from two private owners in 2017 and construction works on the hotel had started a year later. Works on the property took three years and the total investment amounted to EUR 6.5 million. Since July 2021, Werk Hotel & Spa has been operating within a private booking system, by organizing events, and on 4 August, the hotel also opened its doors for individual leisure tourists.
Atu Tech (a2t.ro) is investing EUR 300,000 in the development of a new product category - photovoltaic systems, according to a press release. The cited source also indicates that the development of the new range takes place amid the significant increase in demand for such products, both for complete off-grid or on-grid systems and for installation equipment and accessories. Atu Tech started developing the new product range at the beginning of the year and currently has over 200 products listed on its site, and plans to end the year with over 250 listed items covering an as wide spectrum of demand as possible.
Minors might no longer be allowed to smoke in public, according to a draft law initiated by the Social Democratic Party (PSD). Fines ranging from RON 100 to RON 500 could be imposed for failure to comply with this obligation. The current law only bans the sale of tobacco products to young people under 18. According to a survey conducted in 2019 in Valcea County, 44% of the interviewed students said they had smoked at least once in their lifetime, 31% - at least once in the past 12 months, and 25% - at least once in the last 30 days.
On Wednesday, 28 September, the Constitutional Court of Romania approved President Klaus Iohannis’s challenge against the law establishing measures to complete administrative procedures for the settlement of pending claims before county and Bucharest municipal committees for the granting of compensations for property left outside the country’s borders as a result of historical treaties. The draft law, aimed at regulating several measures to speed up and finalize the administrative procedures for settling these claims, had been sent by Parliament for promulgation on 4 July.
Save Romania Union (USR) President Cătălin Drulă has called on the Senate and Chamber of Deputies to put up for debate the draft laws repealing mayors and MPs’ special pensions, claiming they keep being blocked despite repeated requests to include them onto the agenda. He has added that the party’s representatives submit weekly written requests for these draft laws to be debated.
The European Commission’s proposal for a revised Product Liability Directive is intended to bring the EU’s liability regime up to speed with the digital age. An additional directive has been put forth targeting specific damages caused by Artificial Intelligence. The Product Liability Directive provides a strict liability regime that allows the victims of material damages to ask for compensation from the product manufacturer. The previous version of the PLD, dated back to 1985, was one of the first EU laws to harmonize the European single market.
The real situation of people affected by energy poverty is totally unknown to state institutions, according to experts from the Romanian Energy Poverty Observatory (ORSE). In Romania, the profile of vulnerable energy consumers is usually analyzed by the ministries in charge of dealing with energy poverty with insufficient reference to concrete data from the field, case studies or other details related to these people’s living environment (mountain/lowland areas, rural/urban, informal housing, etc.). Generalized measures at population level or which do not distinguish between vulnerabilities cannot generate proper coverage of needs for different categories of households, ORSE experts have warned.
Food safety is the main factor influencing consumers’ choices in Romania when they are in front of store shelves. Thus, 59% of Romanians (46% of EU citizens) say they guide themselves by products’ safety level when buying food. The second most important factor is the price (48% of Romanians vs. 54% of EU citizens), while taste is only the third most important factor when choosing food (43% of Romanians vs. 51% of EU citizens).