Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 All Rights Reserved

How do Bulgarian and Romanian businesses view bilateral relations

Participants in forum in Ruse voice different opinions about closer Bulgarian-Romanian ties

Photo: BTA

Infrastructure projects between Bulgaria and Romania are not progressing very rapidly due to the complex regulatory framework, but they are nevertheless moving forward. This was stated for Radio Bulgaria by Doru Dragomir - head of the Romania-Bulgaria Bilateral Chamber of Commerce on the sidelines of the conference "United Europe - a Path to Economic Security and Sustainable Integration", which was held a few days ago in Bulgaria's Ruse on the Danube River.

Doru Dragomir
According to Doru Dragomir, Bulgaria's possible entry into the Eurozone will have a good macroeconomic impact on Bulgarian-Romanian economic relations, because it will balance trade between the two countries:

"We expect to have more exports from Romania to Bulgaria and to slightly reduce exports from Bulgaria to Romania. From another point of view, I don't think there will be big differences, because in general, companies from Romania work more than 70% with goods to and from the European Union, i.e. Romanian businesses have no problem working with euros. From this point of view, we must be ready to work with Bulgarian companies with euros as well."


The forum in Ruse brought together politicians, diplomats, businessmen and journalists, developing activities in the Bulgarian-Romanian space, and was a convenient opportunity for discussions on the current issues of bilateral relations in the context of the expected new vote for or against the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen area.

"At the end of this year, in the absence of acceptance in Schengen, i.e. if we are rejected again, it means that we have to work harder and harder to try to solve all these problems that are being posed by Austria or the Netherlands so that we can join Schengen. Unfortunately, missing this moment will most likely lead to a delay of at least one to three years", Radu Dinescu, Secretary General of the Romanian National Union of Road Hauliers, explained to Radio Bulgaria. He once again announced his positive attitude towards the idea of removing the border control between Bulgaria and Romania - the so-called Bulgarian-Romanian mini-Schengen. And he added hat he used his arrival in Ruse to talk with the mayor of the city, Pencho Milkov, and with the Minister of Economy and Industry, Bogdan Bogdanov, about the relatively recently opened parking lot for heavy trucks near Ruse, and to ask for equal treatment of all drivers and trucks .

Talking to Radio Bulgaria, Lyubomir Stanislavov from Automotive Cluster Bulgaria voiced his desire for more significant cooperation between the automotive industries of the two countries:
Lyubomir Stanislavov, Automotive Cluster Bulgaria
"In my opinion, the truth is that the cooperation between the automotive industry of Bulgaria and the automotive industry of Romania is not sufficient. Much more can be done than what is currently being done. The main reason is that in both Bulgaria and Romania, over 90% of investors are international companies. They manufacture their components or final products for their parent companies somewhere in Western Europe. And in fact, the main cooperation takes place between local domestic companies with Bulgarian ownership that work for Romanian businesses or vice versa. But surely much more is possible.”

The Romanian automotive industry is extremely developed - with over 600 companies providing 230,000 jobs and 30% of Romanian exports. The Bulgarian automotive industry has also been developing well in recent years, but the presence of car manufacturers such as Renault and Ford in Romania has so far had too little impact on the business sector in Bulgaria.

The prevailing opinion at the forum was that Bulgarian-Romanian relations have great potential. However, it was also seen that the two countries and their business elites still think mostly nationally. Such meetings are probably a way for the two countries to think about them in tandem.

Read also:


Photos: BTA, BGNES, Ministry of Economy and Industry, private archive


English publication by Rositsa Petkova


Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Financial Supervision Commission: The assets of private pension funds have reached EUR 13 billion

The assets of private pension funds have reached EUR 13 billion. According to data from the Financial Supervision Commission, they have increased by more than 20% compared to the same period last year.  As of September 30, 2024, the number of..

published on 11/21/24 5:30 PM

Bulgarian economy registers upsurge, yet unevenly distributed over different regions

There has been an upsurge in the economy in every region of Bulgaria, the effects of the Covid crisis have been overcome, tourism has fully recovered, which is evident in Bulgarian seaside regions and spa resorts - this is the conclusion that is drawn..

published on 11/19/24 11:51 AM

More than EUR 1 billion to be allocated for agriculture and the development of local economies

More than EUR 1 billion will be invested in agriculture and rural areas in Bulgaria in 2025. According to a decision by the Monitoring Committee of the Strategic Plan for Agricultural Development, the funds are aimed at modernizing agriculture and..

published on 11/17/24 10:07 AM