“Romania is already Russia’s partner as far as transport is concerned. We will speed up export of goods from Romania to Russia in the coming period, especially as far as fast moving consumer goods are concerned and in the auto industry. In addition, increasingly more Romanian-based countries will have direct access to the Russian market,” said Christian Zbylut, Gefco’s vicepresident in charge of International Development for Central & Eastern Europe and Russia. Last year Gefco Romania posted a turnover of almost EUR50 million.
The manager’s statement comes after in December RZD, Russia’s state-run railway company, took over 75% in Gefco from French group PSA – Peugeot-Citroen. In the wake of this transaction, the Russian company aims to boost trade between European markets on one side and USSR and China on the other.
In the first nine months of last year the Russian Federation ranked fifth among the tries from which Romania imports, with 4.3% of the total (equivalent to EUR1.76 billion), while Russia is only 12th in the ranking of countries to which Romania exports, according to data from the National Statistics Institute. Romania mainly exports cars and transport equipment to Russia, while fuel is its main import.
(English version by Daniela Stoican)