Country profile: Romania

The countries of Southeastern Europe--Romania, Bulgaria, and Moldova-- have had problems transitioning from centrally-planned economies to a market-based economies. Both Bulgaria and Romania were significantly affected by the economic embargo placed on Yugoslavia in the 1990s, suffering billions of dollars in GDP losses due to disrupted trade, transport, and investment. While Moldova was less affected economically by the wars in the former Yugoslavia, its own civil war began soon after its independence, paralyzing the country's already stagnant economy. Armed conflict has subsided, but Russian settlers and Moldovans on the left bank of the Dnistr River still maintain the secessionist Transdnistrian Republic, created when the fighting reached a stalemate.

Both Romania and Bulgaria joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in March 2004 and aspire to membership in the European Union (EU). Romania concluded energy negotiations necessary for EU membership in June 2004, and in October 2004, the European Commission (EC) designated Romania a “functioning market economy,” another prerequisite for EU membership. In February 2005, Bulgaria announced that its energy sector was 66 percent privatized in accordance with EU directives. Both Romania and Bulgaria are working with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to bolster their economies, showing solid real gross domestic product (GDP) growth rates in 2005 of 4.1 percent in Romania and 5.5 percent in Bulgaria. Unlike Romania and Bulgaria, Moldova is not currently being offered EU membership and has only received an Action Plan within the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP).

Implementation of the EU-Moldova Plan will require a modernization of the economy and a more welcoming environment for investment and business. Since privatization was initiated in 2000, Moldova’s GDP has continued to increase, with GDP growth of 7.1 percent in 2005. Despite the rapid growth of recent years, Moldova remains one of the poorest countries in Europe.