Can Romanians still afford 20,000-euro refrigerators this year?

The market of high-end electronics and home appliances, where
an oven may cost as much as 3,000-4,000 euros, is a rather small
niche on the Romanian market, with sales of a few million euros per
year. Retailers of high-end home appliances say in a time of
economic contraction there is still demand for ovens or for
washbasins costing thousands of euros, and their businesses
continue to grow. “The economic situation has nothing to do with
the decision to make an acquisition. On the one hand there are
well-off clients whose budget has not been very much affected by
the economic crisis, and on the other hand there are the clients
who go by the saying ‘I am too poor to buy cheap stuff’. This is a
long-term investment,” said Leo Popescu, sales manager of Miele
Appliances Romania. The most expensive product sold by Miele in
2009 was a refrigerator worth 93,000 RON (around 22,000 euros),
enough to buy three standard Dacia Logans.