Significant decreases in turnover and an economic recovery no sooner than early 2021. These are the results of the most recent special survey conducted by AHK Romania among German companies in Romania.

Most companies expect a decrease in turnover between 10% and 25%. Also, over 24% believe that their business will decrease by more than 25% due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The return to normalcy in business will not take place until next year, so later than we expected.

Although many restrictions have been lifted and important support measures have been announced to boost the economy, companies are worried. They are most affected by the low demand for products and services (64%) and travel restrictions (over 61%), but also the postponement or cancellation of investments are major challenges for many companies. The most important risk factors are currently the political framework conditions (over 68%) and the lack of support measures for the business environment (over 58%).

All this shows us that most companies are insecure and that there is an urgent need for a return to normalcy. ”Therefore, we hope that the Investment and Economic Recovery Plan presented by the Government will be implemented quickly.”

Among the measures announced is support for the flexible work schedule. “We, the Romanian-German business community, have requested this since the beginning of the crisis. We maintain our desire to urgently implement this measure to avoid unemployment and to minimize the impact of the current pandemic on the labor market,” said Sebastian Metz, General Manager of AHK Romania.

Fewer companies are currently thinking about investments, according to the survey. Investment spending will be lower than planned before the crisis, say 67% of respondents and only 4.5% expect investment to grow. Regarding the number of employees, half of the survey participants believe that it will not change, while 46% say that the number of employees will decrease.