Romania lags behind Central Europe

Slovenian home appliances producer Gorenje has tripled sales in Romania last year, while the results of companies from other Eastern countries closer to the West than Romania, i.e. from the so-called Central Europe, show Romanian companies are clearly lagging behind in terms of market positioning. As in other Eastern European states, the Romanian producers, whether they are making cars or just refrigerators, have drawn the attention of the major European players after 1989. Privatisation did not move very fast, though. And the competitiveness loss is showing. In other words, the Romanians are buying more Skoda cars (from the Czech Republic), Polar refrigerators (Poland) or Gorenje washing machines than the Czechs are buying Dacia cars or the Poles are buying Arctic refrigerators. For instance, the local producers on the electronics and home appliances segment have seen their market share dwindle year in and year out because of imports. The main such producer in Romania, Arctic, had seen a sales decline from 300,000 refrigerators in 1989 and got back on track as late as the end of 2002 when bought by Turkey’s Arcelik. On the other hand, the Slovenians at Gorenje saw significant gains, with Gorenje now accounting for 5% of the domestic market, says Tone Prislan, general manager of the company’s local office. ZF