“Foreign capital companies take on work in Romania without having their own workforce, so they have to subcontract on the local market. This is why they find it easy to bid in tenders and sign deals,” says Adriana Iftime, general manager of the federation of construction company owners.
“Romanian companies, on the other hand, find it really hard to get contracts abroad, because in Germany for instance they must be recognized in those countries, there are certain requirements to meet.”
The balance of international trade in construction services in 2019 was EUR451 million, 17.7% higher than in 2018, according to National Statistics Institute data. The figure means exports minus import of services in this sector and shows a surplus.
Among the Romanian builders with most contracts abroad is Hidroconstructia, a top ten construction company on the local market by revenue. Hidroconstructia works in several countries besides Romania, among which Germany and Jordan.
Hidroconstructia posted RON314 million revenue and had more than 1,500 employees in 2018, according to the latest official data available on the Finance Ministry website.
Oradea-based builder PAB Romania of entrepreneur Ion Sandu did work in Germany, where it has its own subsidiary, as well as in the UK and Serbia. PAB saw its revenue drop 8% to RON218 million in 2018, according to the Finance Ministry website.
Petcu Construct, a general contractor held by Dumitru Petcu, did work in Germany. Its corporate website says Petcu Construct started working in Germany as a subcontractor in 2001.
Its revenue went up to RON70 million in 2018, 13% higher than in 2017.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)