Romanians having left to work abroad are coming back home every summer to spend their holidays in Romania, to build homes, to get married or to fix their teeth.
This trend is best seen on the forex market: the foreign currency surplus in July amounted to almost 300 million euros, five times higher compared to June 2004, the National Bank of Romania said yesterday. Also, during the first few days of this month (August 2-6), another 46 million euros (net) flooded the forex market.
That is why the ROL/EUR has not budged since late last year - 41,000 ROL for one euro. Romania must now become accustomed to a new social reality - the fact that four million people are working abroad. This phenomenon will engender a profound change in Romanian society over the coming years, while its economic influences are becoming apparent even faster.
For the construction materials stores in Moldova, for instance, where the small towns no longer have a population between the ages of 20 and 45 since all the young people are working in Italy or Spain, the summer months are the most important.
"August is generally our best month. Sales are 10-15% higher than in July and much better than in September. And this year is by no means different," says Adrian Paval, a shareholder of the Dedeman Group, which operates a chain of stores and warehouses for construction materials in Eastern Romania.
"I couldn't say that one category of products is selling better than other, but it is clear that August is our best month for sales," Paval added.
The Dedeman Group owns more than 20 stores and warehouses in six localities in Moldova, a furniture factory and a Dacia-Renault-Nissan showroom. The group's turnover amounted to 34 million euros last year, up from the 24 million euros posted in 2003.
Dan Ostahie, chairman of the Altex Group, has also noticed an increase in sales lately, in the field of electronic and household devices. "After a difficult period for this market, sales have been posting a slightly ascending trend in recent months. I think we can speak of growth standing at 5-10% month-on-month," Ostahie said. According to the Altex chairman, the increase is not just being felt in Moldova, but in other areas of the country as well. "Many of those that are coming here from Italy to spend their vacations live in Timisoara and Cluj and in other cities. However, the extremes (very cheap or very expensive products) are obviously being preferred to those from the medium-range," Ostahie specified. Altex posted 115 million euros in turnover last year.
Dentists are also waiting for the summer, since Romanians working abroad prefer to fix their teeth in Romania, where prices are six to seven times smaller than abroad.
"We currently have ten patients, most of them from Spain. Our busiest time is in August and before the winter holidays because these are the periods when our clients can take time off from work," said Adriana Tent, from Estetdent (Oradea).
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