The economic effects of the Ukraine crisis

Prime minister Nicolae Ciucă analysed the economic effects of the war in Ukraine with representatives of the private sector.

Corina Cristea, 08.04.2022, 13:00

The
economic consequences of the war in Ukraine are already being felt in
Romania, which, like other countries, is struggling with high
inflation, a rise in fuels costs, higher prices for products, and the
situation of thousands of Romanian employees of businesses affected
by the sanctions against Russia. In an attempt to counteract the
effects of the war on the Romanian economy, prime minister Nicolae
Ciucă on Thursday had talks with representatives of the private
sector, including representatives of the Concordia employers’
association, which accounts for over a quarter of the country’s
GDP. The purpose of the talks was to find new solutions to support
the business community.

We
want to support the entire economic ensemble because it is important
for the budget and especially for jobs, said Ciucă, adding we
have large sums allocated for investments and there are European
funding programmes available to support the economic sector. We are
approaching in an integrated way the resources of tens of billions of
euros that are available to us. The support given to the business
sector is for the Romanian citizens and this is our priority.

In
the context of the war in Ukraine and given Romania’s intention to
become independent from gas imports from Russia, Ciucă reminded
business people that there
are
modernisation funds available
that give
them the possibility to develop the technology for renewable energy.
He also presented the government’s efforts to finalise the gas
interconnector between Greece and Bulgaria, which can contribute to
supplementing Romania’s access to natural gas. Another direction
pursued by the government is to come up with legislation to increase
Romania’s processing capacity in all economic sectors, said Ciucă.

The
representatives of big supermarket chains said their stocks are
sufficient to ensure supply down to the end-consumer, but asked that
the purchasing power be maintained. Also on Thursday, the prime
minister received assurances from farmers and producers of
seeds and sun-flower oil in Romania that there are enough stocks for
the population, including in the event of growing demand. Romania can
play an important role within the European Union to compensate for
the loss of imports from Ukraine, and thus contribute to the food
safety of the Union and of third countries struggling with the
consequences of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, the prime
minister emphasised. (CM)