Netherlands, Austria and Germany remain the top three countries of origin for foreign direct investments made in Romania, accounting for more than 50% of the total, according to central bank and National Statistics Institute data.
However, German investments, as well as Greek and Italian investments went down during the crisis. Greek investments fell by EUR1.26 billion, while Italian and German investments by EUR769 million and EUR765 million, respectively. The contribution of the three countries to the FDI stock went down by 19% from EUR14 billion to EUR11.5 billion in the period considered, while the overall FDI stock went up by 22% from EUR48.8 billion to almost EUR60 billion.
The final FDI stock is calculated by adding to the initial FDI stock the FDI net flow and the positive/negative adjustments arising from both revaluations – following the change in the exchange rate and some asset prices – and the changed accounting treatment of the initial stocks of some reporting enterprises, central bank’s reports explains.
Therefore, even though Romania got a FDI net flow of EUR2.7 billion in 2013, the FDI stock only increased by EUR832 million or 1.4%, the lowest rate of the 2008-2013.
Whereas the decline in Greek and Italian investments can be explained by the difficult situation of the two countries’ economies (Greece has been in recession for six years, and Italy for three), the decline in German investment is surprising.
German investments stood at more than EUR7.5 billion in 2008, only to drop to EUR6.5 billion in 2012 and resumed growth last year, reaching EUR6.744 billion.
Biggest German investments in Romania include the operations of automotive component manufacturers Continental, Star Transmission (Daimler), Schaeffler, Draxlmarier, Kromberg & Schubert, Leoni and Hella, while Kaufland is the leader of the modern retail sector and Telekom is the largest communications group. German investors, such as Deutsche Bank, Allianz and DB Schenker, have also stepped up development of service and technology centers in Bucharest.
Companies registered in the Netherlands remain the biggest investor in Romania’s economy, with Dutch investments going up by 74% from EUR8.4 billion in 2008 to EUR14.6 billion in 2013. The tax system in that country makes many international groups enter other European countries’ markets via subsidiaries registered in the Netherlands.
Second largest investor was Austria, whose investments went up by EUR2.2 billion during the crisis. Significant investments also came from Belgium (EUR1.26 billion), UK (EUR748 million) and Czech Republic (EUR728 million).
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)