MIHAI MACSIM: "The economic relations between Romania and Russia have decreased considerably"

The appetite of Russian businesspeople for investing in Romania has shrunk lately, especially due to the difficulty they are encountering in speaking to the authorities of the state.

The president of the Romanian-Russian Chamber of Commerce, Mihai Macsim, told us that the economic relations between the Romanian and the Russian state have significantly diminished lately, as the economic relations between Russia and Romania have significantly decreased lately, mostly due to foreign factors.

According to Mihai Macsim, the new wave of the European and global economic crisis is also reflected in the decrease of the Russian investments in Romania.

However, he hopes that in future, the ties between the two countries will develop, as encouraging cooperation would be mutually beneficial, especially on the economic side.

"Investments in Romania are open to anybody. When there will be opportunities - a market - investors from Russia as well as from other countries will start investing again", he said.

The main sectors of interest for Russian investors remain those in the energy sector, metallurgy and technology research, according to the president of the Romanian-Russian Chamber of Commerce.

This week, BURSA was the first to announce that prime minister Victor Ponta is perfecting the details of a meeting himself and the management of Russian giant TISE.

Even though many think that TISE's interest in Romania has to do with the privatization of Oltchim (the Russian company submitted a preliminary offer one year ago, but did not participate in the final call for tenders which was held in autumn), it would seem that the Russians are no longer interested in acquiring Oltchim, according to the quoted sources.

TISE was interested in the chemical plant, but only bundled with the oil logistics of the Port of Constanţa (OIL Terminal), with Conpet, the Arpechim refinery and with the

and with the thermal and electric energy sources for Oltchim located in Râmnicu Vâlcea. However, according to our sources, the Government is reportedly not too excited in about selling Conpet and Oil Terminal, and TISE has no use for Oltchim on its own.