A ranking of state aid by amount shows that no Romanian-held company got as much as to be among the ten highest state-aid recipients.
Analysts say this is an anomaly and explain the ‘discrimination’ by the fact that Romanian companies’ consultants are not as good as those of foreign companies.
“Obviously this is not normal and solutions should be put in place for advisory firms to support Romanian companies to gain access to various types of state aid,” believes economic analyst Aurelian Dochia.
Professor Dumitru Miron with Bucharest University of Economic Studies believes that granting state aid should not create discrimination.
“Unfortunately, foreign-held companies have better trained specialists who know better how to apply for such state aid.”
The Romanian-held recipient of the highest amount of state-aid is Aaylex Prod (owner of poultry processor Avicola Buzau), which ranks 11th. Romanian-held businesses have got EUR151 million state aid since 2007, or 18% of the total EUR819 million.
Carmaker Ford Romania got the highest amount of state aid, about 327 million lei (EUR73 million) in 2008. Its investment in Craiova, Olt County, stands at almost RON4 billion. (EUR1=RON4.4949)
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)