European money for Oltenia

Oltenia is one of Romania’s regions with a very high rate of unemployment. The average of this economic index on those five counties from Oltenia is of 6,9%. If in Valcea county things are better, there being a rate of unemployment of “only“3,6%, not the same can be said about the county Olt – with 10% – and Mehedinti, with 9,1%. In the middle there are Dolj and Gorj counties, in both the unemployment rate being situated at about six percentages. This is only a side of the poverty from Oltenia. Neither the ones who have a job don’t excel in welfare. The most of the employees, of the ones which work in small street shops to the ones which work in big companies, inclusively in the public sector, have incomes between the minimum level on economy and a maximum of eight or nine hundreds lei. An exception is made by the ones from Ford company, with 1.200 lei monthly. In this context, the absorption of the European funds represents a pertinent solution in order to save the inhabitants of Oltenia from this economical crisis.

Now, the „euroregion” Oltenia is in the stage of transition from the incipient capitalism, started as a result of privatization the public economical agents, to modern capitalism, European type. “In order to touch the objective it is necessary that the European funds to be used more efficiently, as that the European money to be used by the domestic investors– from Oltenia”, Gabriel Adrian Badulescu, legal advisor, administrator of AGB Consulting RRL, company focused on drafting the projects for accessing the European funds, stated. This and his entire team were part from the former collective of APAPS Dolj (former FPS). “In 1996, the former FPS has privatized 96% of the public companies from Oltenia. In that period it didn’t matter the quality, but the quantity”, Gabriel Badulescu adds. Indeed, in that period it didn’t matter who bought the public companies, and especially if he paid for what he took over. It mattered only statisticaly, and in mass the number of the privatized companies and pulled out from the public patrimony.

During the time, the European funds accessed in Oltenia didn’t always reach where they should have. We can mention about the scandal started after what the former PSD baron of Gorj, Nicolae Mischie, defalcated an important sum of European money in order to buy himself a printing house. ”From now on the European funds can be accessed only by the ones who prove firstly that they have understood the basic principles of the market economy, European type. The age of the false billionaires, of which Oltenia wasn’t in need of, vanished. The common sense in businesses – the gentleman’s agreement – is what should be taken into account firstly. The main candidates to this type of businesses are the investors that are among the people which had carried on an honest activity in the EU states and that want to reinvest the money obtained with great sacrifices, in developing the Oltenia euroregion. For these arrived from the Europe’s sites, our company will offer its services, with competence, taking into account also the new blast which has to move its local inertiness from the mentality from Oltenia”, the experts from AGB Consulting think.

On of the most disadvantaged social segment is represented by the population from the rural environment of Oltenia. There is the highest rate of the ones which have no income, or in the “happiest” case, a pension of CAP, of a few tens lei. The tragedy of the village was directed at level of rustic myth. “The rural area of Oltenia is unfortunately one of the poorest regions from Romania. In most of the localities from Oltenia, the young population is disadvantaged. From this reason, extraordinary many young persons emigrate towards the economical developed areas of Europe. Even from this reason must be accessed and applied the structural European programs. These can create enough jobs and implicit prosperity in the area”, Gabriel Badulescu says. It must be said that everybody wants money, from investors and consultants, till the poor population of Oltenia. What must be understood is the fact that seriousness is the key word. The European money is enough for everybody, but these must be invested, put to make some other money. Europe doesn’t invest funds for lies, fakes, so how unfortunately happened in Oltenia. From now on the syntagm “financial engineering”, meant as an accounting fraud, must be forgotten.

Another problem which restrained till now the infusion of European capital was the one of the project defectively elaborated, rejected by the analysis commissions. “Year by year, the European funds proposed for the South-West area of Oltenia IV returned from where they came because there wasn’t the capacity of accesing them through eligible projects. Without being liberalized the market of projects, the competence of realizing this was let in charge of some obscure operators subjugated to the political customers, which proved their powerlessness against the requests of the investors with good faith. Decentralization of these consultancy services of European projects offer a huge chance to the domestic investors which want to promote their healthy business ideas in Oltenia, by accessing the European funds. Lately, this is also the more often promoted idea: . So, we have only to say: inhabitants of Oltenia, here come European money. Let’s take it!”, the representatives of the consultancy company think.

One of the investments which would have success in the area of Oltenia is realizing one assembly of wind generators for power. This because in the south-west of Romania, the annual average of the current for the air masses is very high. “It must be mentioned that for this type of investment there are needed a lot of money, 30% - as also for any European financing – it must be supported by the applicant company”, Gabriel Badulescu said. There are also paradoxes. There are many SMEs from Oltenia which required European financing for …cinema. A series of commercial companies, which have different activity objectives, more or less appropriate to this domain, intend to realize movies. This without taking into account that for a movie there is needed a budget in euro, made up of figures with many digits.