7th May
2007
EU Commissioner in Bucharest impressed by Romanian
economy
Charlie McCreevy, the European Commissioner for internal policies and services
said the economy advance in Romania over the last years outpaced the average level
from the EU.
The Romanian economy has developed fine over the last years and at a “very
healthy” manner, according to those declared on Friday by the European Commissioner
for internal policies and services, Charlie McCreevy, during a meeting with Minister
of Economy and Finances, Varujan Vosganian, citing Mediafax.
McCreevy refused to comment on the domestic political situation.
The EU Commissioner underlined that the economy advance in Romania over the last
years outpaced the average level from the EU: “Romania’s economy has
grown very healthily outpacing the average from the European Union. We believe
that this growth would trigger the development of services in the Romanian market,
as well, a sector which has an important potential that Romania would continue
to benefit from”.
Related to the first registration fee, McCreevy declared that as far as he was
aware, there were “no complaints” from the EC related to the fee charged
in Romania: “As far as I am aware, there are no complaints from the European
Commission”, McCreevy added. He showed that many EU countries have several
forms of first registration fees, which are called different, but have the same
purpose.
The interim President Nicolae Vacaroiu met, on Thursday, with Charlie McCreevy,
and assured him that in spite of strains, there is consensus among politicians
in relation to the compliance with Romania commitments in its capacity as EU member,
Presidency informs.
During the meeting, Vacaroiu referred to the recent developments at political
and economic level in Romania and he assured that in spite of strains in the political
arena, there is a large consensus among politicians in relation to the need of
complying with Romania’s commitments as EU Member State, the press release
specifies.
“In his turn, Commissioner McCreevy congratulated Romania for the transposition
degree of the EU legislation and he underlined that his activities related to
the internal market were geared towards having it functional in keeping with the
EU standards in each Member State”, the press release reads.
Source: Nine O'Clock.
Four EU countries dissatisfied with EC attitude
towards Romania and Bulgaria
Sweden, the UK, France and the Netherlands said that the attitude of the European
Commission towards Bulgaria and Romania was too lenient.
The four countries insisted on strictness towards the two new EU members, Financial
Times Deutschland (FTD) reported. The particular reason for the complaint is still
unclear.
The countries said that the EC should be merciless towards Bulgaria and Romania
when it comes to the fight against corruption.
According to the four countries the EC was too tolerant towards the newcomers.
The complaint might be a indication of possible introduction of a safeguard clause
for Bulgaria’s justice and home affairs.
Before the two countries’ EU accession, EC worked on a monitoring mechanism
because of shortcomings in meeting accession criteria. Bulgaria and Romania have
report on their progress on a regular basis. By June 2007, EC will decide whether
to introduce safeguard clauses.
Source: Sofia Echo.
Sanofi-Aventis targets 15% turnover increase
The Romanian branch of the pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis intends to reach
a 7.5% market share by the end of this year, compared with approximately 6.5%
for 2006, says Dan Ivan, general manager of Sanofi-Aventis Romania.
Sanofi-Aventis is the third largest player on the local market, closing 2006 with
sales worth 100 million euros, amid a 20% growth rate, higher that of the market.
For this year, the company targets an over 15% turnover increase. The growth of
the pharmaceutical market, particularly in the rural area, will also contribute
to Sanofi-Aventis' business growth locally.
"Currently, there is quite a large gap between the access to medication of
the rural population and that of people in urban areas.
In rural areas, drug consumption is much lower than the country average for many
reasons, with the shortage of medical personnel being one of them. This potential
is enormous. The market could double only if consumption in rural areas matched
urban consumption," Dan Ivan, general manager of Sanofi-Aventis Romania told
ZF Transilvania.
If one considers an approximately 15% growth rate, the market could double within
the next five years.
"The market should double in order for expenditures to reach the average
expenditures of countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The market growth has
to do, on the one hand, with the GDP increase, with the increase in the percentage
of the GDP allocated for health care services, with wage raises and, naturally,
with the rise of the private insurance sector," added Dan Ivan.
Sanofi-Aventis operates in therapeutic areas such as the cardiovascular area,
the central nervous system, oncology, diabetes, internal medicine and vaccines.
The company is present with drugs both on the RX segment (prescription drugs),
as well as on the OTC (over-the-counter) drug segment. Sanofi Aventis has only
one product in the TOP 20 best selling drugs in Romania, Plavix (used in the treatment
of cardiovascular diseases).
"OTCs have remained at a steady 20% of the market. The rise of this segment
is connected with the population's purchasing power and level of education. Our
OTC portfolio accounts for 15% of the total sales," specified Dan Ivan.
Source: ZF.ro.
Top ten travel agencies generate 200m-euro business
Whereas in 2005 it took the cumulated turnover of the top six travel agencies
to reach the 100 million-euro threshold, in 2006, it took only the top three players
to generate a business worth about 90 million euros.
The top ten travel agencies in Romania reached a cumulated turnover of about 200
million euros in 2006, while in 2005 the cumulated turnovers of the top ten players
did not exceed 152 million euros. This indicates an average growth of 31% in the
business of the trendsetters on the market of travel offers.
"This growth is not the result of greater demand alone.
The companies have consolidated, they have expanded the number of offices, have
invested in development and that has showed in the turnover and profits, too,"
says Traian Badulescu, spokesman for the National Association of Travel Agencies
(ANAT).
The highest growth of 2006 came from Paralela 45, which saw its business go up
by 50% from 16 million euros in 2005 to 24 million euros in 2006, according to
the data it provided. On the other hand, Happy Tour and Visit Romania recorded
the smallest growth, of 22% each, according to the data they supplied.
The main players on the market say that the growth is the result of a number of
factors, three of which are important: improvement in the living standards, the
entry of many low-cost airlines on the market and the ability of the agencies
to get charter flights at lower and lower prices. On top of this, comes the about
20% increase in the business travel.
"The emergence of low-cost and charter flights has caused a change on the
tourist transportation market. For most destinations, the coach was replaced by
charter or low-cost flights at similar prices. After all, we already know other
low cost companies will enter the market, too, which will further push prices
down," says Aurel Pavel, general manager of J'Info Tours agency, one of the
top ten travel agencies on the domestic market.
The number of charter flights that travel agencies made available to Romanian
tourists has been going up over the last few years, and will continue to increase
in the coming years, the main players say. The favourite destinations include
Turkey, Tunisia, Greece and Spain, but operators introduce new charter destinations,
as well, intended to arouse curiosity, such as Madeira, Sardinia and Venice.
"The trend in 2006 was to go for destinations that can offer both a stay
and cultural travel. People are looking for something new and are tempted by destinations
they have heard nothing about," Pavel feels.
On the other hand, the spending of foreign tourists visiting Romania has been
going up for a number of years, by 15-20% each year. Although the number of incoming
tourists increased by only 2% in 2006, the revenue they generated rose by 17%.
Source: ZF.ro.
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