Romania’s Decision Makers | Editorial Series by The Diplomat-Bucharest
Romania is entering a period of structural transformation, particularly in the energy sector. The country’s competitive advantage still rests on relatively moderate labour costs combined with a workforce capable of supporting increasingly sophisticated projects. The key challenge for the next decade will be ensuring that productivity continues to grow faster than costs, allowing Romania to remain competitive within the European industrial landscape.
At the same time, the traditional model of centralized energy generation is gradually being replaced by a more complex system built around distributed production, renewables, storage, and digital control. As electrification increases demand for electricity, networks will need to become more resilient, flexible, and digitally managed.
In this context, The Diplomat-Bucharest speaks with Corneliu Bodea, CEO of Adrem, about the transformation of energy infrastructure, the importance of strong execution capabilities in complex projects, and the opportunities emerging across Romania and the wider region.
From your perspective, how attractive is Romania today compared to other CEE markets when you allocate capital and investments?
Romania is an interesting investment destination precisely because it sits at the intersection between opportunity and structural constraints.
From a purely financial perspective, sovereign credit ratings place Romania at the lower edge of the investment-grade spectrum — around BBB- / Baa3 with a negative outlook from the main rating agencies.
This signals a certain level of macroeconomic risk, particularly linked to fiscal deficits and policy volatility. For capital allocators, this naturally increases the perceived risk premium compared to some other Central and Eastern European markets.
But ratings only capture part of the story.
Romania’s structural fundamentals remain attractive. The economy has grown significantly over the past two decades, and GDP per capita has risen substantially, reflecting a clear convergence with Western Europe.
Beyond macro indicators, Romania has several strategic advantages that investors increasingly value, such as significant energy and natural resource potential, including Black Sea natural gas and diverse power generation sources, technical talent, particularly in engineering and digital fields, geographic positioning between Central Europe, the Black Sea, Balkans and the Caspian region, as well as access to EU capital and regulatory frameworks.
In short, Romania is not the easiest market in the region, but it is one of the few where structural upside is still substantial. For investors willing to think long-term and operate in rewarding environments, that combination can be extremely compelling.
How do you evaluate Romania in terms of cost competitiveness versus productivity and value creation?
Romania still benefits from a meaningful labour cost advantage within the European Union, and this remains an important factor in investment decisions.
According to European statistics, hourly wages in Romania represent roughly 35% of the EU average, while labour productivity per employee is estimated at around 70–80% of the EU average.
This gap creates a relatively favourable productivity-to-cost ratio, which partly explains why Romania continues to attract industrial investment and service operations.
At the same time, labour costs have been rising rapidly in recent years. Data from the National Institute of Statistics shows that the average labour cost per employee reached about 8,439 lei per month in 2024, reflecting significant wage growth.
In parallel, the hourly cost of labour has increased strongly year-on-year, in some periods exceeding 16% annual growth, one of the highest rates in the EU.
This dynamic means that Romania cannot rely indefinitely on cost competitiveness alone.
The next phase of economic development must focus on productivity and value creation. In sectors such as energy infrastructure, industrial automation, and digital services, the real value increasingly comes from combining engineering capacity with digital intelligence — smart grids, data-driven operations, and advanced industrial systems.
In other words, Romania’s competitive advantage today lies in the combination of relatively moderate labour costs and a workforce capable of supporting increasingly sophisticated projects. The strategic challenge for the next decade will be to ensure that productivity continues to grow faster than costs. If that balance is maintained, Romania can remain highly competitive within the European industrial landscape.
What are the top three factors that most influence your investment decisions in Romania: regulation, infrastructure, talent, taxation, or market size?
The most decisive factors are infrastructure, talent, and regulatory predictability, and they are deeply interconnected.
First, infrastructure defines a country’s economic velocity. It determines how quickly capital can be deployed and how efficiently goods, energy, and information circulate across the economy. In the energy sector, networks and digital control systems have become strategic assets rather than operational components. Modern grids and flexible infrastructure signal scalability to investors; outdated networks signal constraints.
Second is talent. Energy systems today sit at the intersection of engineering, digitalization, and data analytics. The sector increasingly requires professionals who understand both physical infrastructure and digital control systems. Romania has strong technical education traditions, but the long-term pipeline of engineers and skilled technicians needs constant reinforcement.
Third is regulatory predictability. Infrastructure and energy projects have amortization cycles measured in decades. Investors need clarity not only about current regulations, but about how the policy environment will evolve. Sudden fiscal or regulatory changes introduce uncertainty and increase capital costs.
Taxation and market size also matter. Romania has a meaningful domestic market and regional relevance, but these advantages can only be fully leveraged if infrastructure supports growth and regulation allows long-term planning.
In essence, capital flows where physical capacity, human capability, and institutional stability converge.
How could public authorities better support large investors and strategic industries?
The most effective support governments can provide investors is not subsidies, but predictability and execution.
Large infrastructure and industrial projects operate on large time horizons. When regulatory frameworks or fiscal regimes change abruptly, the immediate effect is not necessarily the cancellation of projects, but the increase in perceived risk, which ultimately raises financing costs and slows investment decisions.
Three practical improvements could make a significant difference.
First, regulatory stability and structured consultation with industry before major policy shifts.
Second, faster administrative processes. Permitting, grid connections, environmental approvals and land authorizations still move slower than the pace of investment opportunities. Administrative velocity is an underestimated competitive advantage.
Third, strategic coordination of public infrastructure investments with private capital deployment. When network expansions, transport corridors, and digital infrastructure evolve in sync with industrial investments, the entire ecosystem becomes more competitive.
The role of the state is not to replace private capital, but to create the environment in which capital can move with confidence and speed.
What should Romania change in education or workforce policies to better match business realities?
The first change would be conceptual: education should no longer be treated as a system separate from the economy.
Romania does not suffer from a lack of intellectual capacity. What it lacks is synchronization between education, technology, and labor market demand.
Technological cycles are shortening rapidly. Initial education is no longer sufficient for a 40-year career. Continuous reskilling and professional mobility must become structural elements of workforce policy.
Second, technical and engineering pathways need stronger institutional support. Economies undergoing deep technological transitions — energy, digital infrastructure, automation — require a constant pipeline of engineers, technicians, and applied scientists.
Finally, closer collaboration between universities and industry is essential. Practical training, internships, applied research partnerships, and dual education models can significantly shorten the gap between academic preparation and operational reality.
If workforce capabilities evolve at the same speed as technology, productivity follows naturally. If they do not, growth eventually slows.
How confident are you about Romania’s economic outlook for 2026–2030?
I am cautiously optimistic about the next five years, but that optimism depends heavily on execution.
Romania is already in a period of structural transformation in its energy system. The traditional model of centralized generation is gradually being replaced by a more complex system based on distributed production, bidirectional energy flows, renewables, storage, and digital control layers.
This transition creates both opportunities and operational challenges. Electricity demand will increase through electrification, while renewable generation introduces variability that requires stronger networks, storage capacity, and digital balancing mechanisms.
At the same time, other factors must be managed carefully: supply chain costs, the availability of specialized contractors, and the need for coordinated infrastructure investments.
If these dynamics are handled strategically, the period between 2026 and 2030 could represent one of the largest investment cycles in Romania’s energy infrastructure in decades, and a strong pillar for the next MFF up to 2034.
My optimism is therefore not based on macro forecasts alone, but on the scale of structural investments that are likely to reshape the system.
Where do you see the biggest growth opportunities during this period?
The largest growth opportunities appear where structural economic shifts intersect with real investment demand.
Grid modernization and flexibility solutions represent a major growth vector. The energy system is moving from centralized generation toward distributed and intermittent production. This requires flexible networks, storage capacity, digital monitoring, and real-time balancing systems.
Electrification is another powerful driver. As transport, heating, and industrial processes become increasingly electrified, consumption profiles will change dramatically. This opens new markets for demand-side management, smart metering, storage, and energy optimization services.
Regional energy integration is also an opportunity. Stronger interconnections with neighboring markets could allow Romania to become a balancing hub in Southeast Europe.
Finally, energy efficiency and energy services will grow significantly. Performance contracting, building retrofits, and industrial optimization can transform efficiency gains into investable assets.
In the next decade, growth will not come primarily from building more generation capacity alone. It will come from the orchestration of flexibility, electrification, and system integration.
What investment priorities will define your company’s roadmap in Romania over the next 3–5 years?
Our focus is on strengthening execution capabilities in increasingly complex infrastructure projects.
Energy systems are becoming more sophisticated, requiring integration between engineering, automation, digital platforms, and data analytics. Our roadmap therefore prioritizes expanding capabilities in intelligent control systems, grid digitalization, and operational optimization.
A second priority is building a strong talent pipeline. Developing internal expertise allows us to scale operations more efficiently and reduces dependency on fragmented subcontracting structures.
Finally, we are exploring opportunities in neighboring markets where the same transformation of energy infrastructure is taking place. Many of the competencies developed in Romania can generate value across the wider region.
What should Romania’s economic strategy prioritize to stay competitive in the next decade?
Romania’s economic strategy should move beyond sector-by-sector thinking and adopt an integrated competitiveness model.
Energy policy, industrial policy, infrastructure development, and export strategy should reinforce each other rather than operate independently.
For example, expanding renewable capacity is important, but without strong infrastructure, flexible markets, and storage infrastructure, the economic value of that capacity remains limited.
Similarly, Romania should leverage its Black Sea gas resources – not just a resource provider, renewable potential, nuclear know how, and geographic position to become a regional energy supplier and trading hub.
Competitiveness in the next decade will not depend only on how much energy we produce, but on how efficiently we integrate production, infrastructure, and regional markets.
Which three reforms would have the greatest positive impact on business confidence?
Three reforms would immediately improve investor confidence.
First, regulatory predictability. Businesses can adapt to complex frameworks, but frequent and abrupt policy changes increase risk and discourage long-term investments.
Second, administrative efficiency. Permitting procedures, approvals, and regulatory coordination should move faster and be more transparent.
Third, institutional coordination. Strategic projects often involve multiple ministries, regulators, and local authorities. When these institutions act in parallel rather than in coordination, implementation becomes unpredictable.
These reforms do not require new legislation as much as they require discipline in institutional functioning.
What industries could realistically become Romania’s strategic champions by 2030?
Romania’s competitive advantage will likely emerge not from a single industry, but from a cluster of interconnected sectors.
Energy will undoubtedly be one of the pillars. With diversified generation sources, Black Sea gas potential, nuclear and increasing interconnections, Romania could become a regional energy stability provider.
Around this core, several complementary sectors could develop.
Energy infrastructure services — engineering, grid modernization, storage deployment, and automation — could become a strong regional export industry.
Advanced manufacturing linked to electrification — including grid equipment, power electronics, and energy technologies — also has significant potential.
Finally, digital infrastructure and cybersecurity will become increasingly strategic as energy systems become more interconnected and data-driven.
Together, these sectors could position Romania not only as an energy producer, but as a regional provider of technology and infrastructure solutions.
If you were advising policymakers tomorrow, what one message would you deliver?
My message would be simple: focus on coherence.
Romania already has many of the structural ingredients needed for long-term success — strategic geography, natural resources, strong technical talent, and access to European capital.
What often slows progress is not the absence of ideas, but the fragmentation of execution.
Economic competitiveness today depends on how infrastructure, education, capital markets, regulation, and industrial strategy interact as a system.
If these elements are aligned around a clear long-term direction, Romania has the potential to move from being a peripheric market to becoming a regional economic anchor in Southeast Europe.
The opportunity exists. What matters now is disciplined execution.