70% of the national turnover is generated by 32,027 impact companies
(with total assets of more than EUR 1 million). 42% of them are
currently restructured companies or companies in imminent insolvency,
according to the study on impact companies conducted by CITR, a company
operating on the insolvency and restructuring market. The number of
companies in imminent insolvency decreased by 10% in 2021 year-on-year,
but increased by 7% compared to the level recorded 2019, upon the onset
of the pandemic. Nearly half of the total turnover of companies in
imminent insolvency is generated by companies with over EUR 50 million
assets.
Romania’s exports grew by 26.2% in the first nine months of 2022, to
EUR 68.8 billion, while imports were up 31.7%, to EUR 93.867 billion,
according to data published by the National Institute of Statistics
(INS) on Wednesday. The value of intra-EU27 trade in goods during the
period 1 January-30 September 2022 was EUR 49.839 billion in exports
and EUR 66.084 billion in imports, accounting for 72.4% of total
exports and 70.4% of total imports.
Trade deficit (FOB/CIF) grew by EUR 8.313 billion in the first nine
months of 2022, to EUR 25.063 billion, as exports increased by 26.2%
and imports were up 31.7%, according to data published by the National
Institute of Statistics (INS) on Wednesday. According to the INS, FOB
exports totaled EUR 68.804 billion and CIF imports exceeded EUR 93.867
billion during the period 1 January - 30 September 2022.
Raiffeisen Bank Romania, through its dedicated service, Friedrich
Wilhelm Raiffeisen (FWR), has won the award for the best Private
Banking Bank in Romania, awarded by Professional Wealth Management
(PWM-The Banker) magazine, part of the British Financial Times Group,
for the third consecutive year. Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen was
launched in 2012, and in its 10 years of activity has increased its
clients portfolio to around 2,200, being one of the industry leaders in
Romania in terms of managed volumes and the adoption of the latest
trends on global capital markets.
UniCredit marks Black Friday, for the fifth consecutive year, with
special offers for individual and SME clients with an annual turnover
of maximum EUR 1 million, which will be available online exclusively on
Friday, 11 November, within the limit of the available offers.
Specifically, new individual clients can open RON-, euro- and
USD-denominated current accounts at UniCredit Bank, with zero
maintenance fee and zero costs for the types of operations included in
the offer, for the entire period of the contract, or they can access
UniCredit Consumer Financing Personal Loan with a fixed interest rate
of 6.99% per year.
BRD Groupe Société Générale has launched the Euromentor division, a
structure to support entrepreneurs in accessing and implementing
investment projects with non-reimbursable funds. The team is formed of
nine experts in funds accessing, who will act as mediators in
inter-institutional relations and will help with the distribution of
European or state funds, in line with clients’ business plans, as well
as with business co-financing if needed.
During the meeting on Wednesday, Government approved new investments
for the ports of Constanța and Galați, which have become strategic hubs
for transports from Ukraine following the Russian invasion. Investments
for Constanța port will exceed RON 5 billion for the implementation of
public services and the development of the railway component,
consisting of about 250 kilometers of rail line. Investments at the
port of Galați will ensure the development of the multimodal transport
component.
Almost all airports in Romania are carrying out or are soon to start
expansion and modernization works. The total value of investments in
local airports exceeds EUR 600 million, including the construction of
Braşov airport, which is expected to operate flights starting from the
second half of 2023. Investments in airports are meant to prepare local
terminals for the increase in traffic expected in the coming years, but
also to help avoid losing money allocated to airports through the Large
Infrastructure Operational Program.
TEILOR, the luxury jewelry stores chain whose bonds have been listed on
Bucharest Stock Exchange, keeps expanding in Poland. It has inaugurated
a new store in the city of Wroclaw and has thus reached a portfolio of
13 units outside Romania. Currently, the TEILOR network in Poland, the
main foreign market for the company, comprises six stores, three of
which are in Warsaw and two in Poznan. The new TEILOR store is located
in the Wroclavia Shopping Center in Wroclaw, has an area of
approximately 87 square meters and has four employees.
According to Government spokesman Dan Cărbunaru on Wednesday, 9
November, the Executive approved an Emergency Ordinance targeting
measures for Romania’s participation in the North Atlantic Alliance
Innovation Fund. The value of Romania’s participation in setting up
this investment fund is EUR 3.4 million, which will be included in the
annual budget of the Ministry of Research, Innovation and
Digitalization for this purpose, he has explained.
Parliament, through a final vote in the Chamber of Deputies, rejected
the draft law that automatically cancelled fines imposed by authorities
during the state of emergency period, without the need to go to court.
The draft law had been initiated by Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu (ALDE),
Victor Ponta (Pro Romania) and Cseke Attila (UDMR), and had been
adopted through a vote in the Senate in full pandemic, i.e. in June
2020, when the Government was only formed of the National Liberal Party
(PNL).
Government spokesman Dan Cărbunaru has announced that on Wednesday, 9
November, the Government adopted an Emergency Ordinance (OUG) on the
adjustment of prices of framework agreements and of sectoral contracts
for rail coal transport services for energy companies. He has added
that this measure will help avoid blockages in ensuring rail transport
of coal to energy companies that supply thermal power to end-consumers.
Save Romania Union (USR) MPs Cristina Prună and Radu Miruță submitted a
draft law regarding responsibility in the energy sector to Parliament
on Wednesday, 9 November. The draft law bans the removal from the
Romanian energy system of a coal or lignite production unit before it
is replaced by another source that can produce at least the same amount
of electricity. USR indicates, in a press release, that the draft law
came as the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the National Liberal
Party (PNL) had voted on Tuesday to close coal mines in Romania.
The European Commission presented its proposals to reform the debt and
spending rules for national governments on Wednesday (9 November) as
individual plans for every EU country, negotiated between national
governments and the Commission. The EU fiscal rules, which dictate how
much leeway national governments have in public spending, have come
under fire in recent years. While some critics describe them as
ineffective due to a lack of enforcement, others find that they
restrict member states too much, especially regarding investments in
the green and digital transition.
Minister for Investments and European Projects Marcel Boloş has stated
that there are 1,188,000 people on the verge of extreme poverty in
Romania and who benefit from the food packages purchased with European
funds. Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă announced that the fifth phase of
the Operational Program for Underprivileged People’s Assistance,
targeting Romanians affected by extreme poverty, would start on
Wednesday, 9 November.
Family Minister Gabriela Firea announced on Wednesday, 9 November, that
the Regulation of the program aimed at increasing birth rate in Romania
had been put up for public consultation. The program would allow
infertile couples or single women aged 20-45 to receive a RON 15,000
aid. Only couples and women who are struggling with infertility, who
are resident in Romania and who will carry out procedures to obtain a
pregnancy in a public hospital or an accredited private clinic in
Romania can apply for this social program.