Romanian companies have announced their intentions of moving their businesses to Bulgaria due to the tax policies in Bucharest, the Romanian “Ziarull Financiar” reports.

“The new measures, taken on a daily basis by the government, do not surprise me. I want to move Interagro's headquarters to Bulgaria in September. We will translate all documents in Bulgarian by then and we will look for a new building. I would rather pay the 10% flat tax and all the other taxes to the Bulgarian state and pay only land and property taxes here,” said Ioan Niculae, owner of "Interagro", the third biggest Romanian corporation.

Niculae has also expressed his frustration with the approach of the Romanian secret services towards the business.

“I do not want to be under surveillance day and night only because I am a Romanian entrepreneur,' he said.

Interagro has ended 2009 with EUR 315 M in turnover, which is a drop by 70% in comparison to 2008 when the company announced EUR 538 M in turnover.

The company has also declared EUR 13,7 M losses after announcing EUR 16,7 M profit in 2008.

According to “Ziarull Financiar”, managers of local subsidiaries of foreign companies are also disappointed.

“If the government continues to act in such a chaotic and amateur manner, it will lose my trust in the Romanian economy's stability,” said Cristian Cornea, general manager of the local subsidiary of the Polish group “Can-Pack”, which owns an aluminum packaging plant in Bucharest with a EUR 40 M turnover.

Similar concerns have been expressed by Alin Ursu, director of “Angelli Spumante & Aperitive”, soft drinks producer with a EUR 14 M turnover for 2009.

“We are in the hands of the politicians. What has been done for us so far is catastrophic,” Ursu said, pointing out that the increase of the VAT has led to a 10% drop in the number of trade holdings.

He has also noted that the increase of the excise had a negative effect on the sales as well.

Florin Pogonaru, President of the Association of Businessmen in Romania (AOAR), has stated that the basic conditions for a good business field are stability and predictability.

“Our Bulgarian neighbors have reached this. Their taxes do not change and the investors can see that,” Pogonaru said.

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