Viorel Baltaretu, State Secretary at the Ministry of Economy, emphasized the need for stable collaboration with the paper and cardboard sector during an event organized by ROMPAP (Paper and Cellulose Industry Employers’ Association) and CERC (Circular Economy Coalition).

“We’ve had discussions with ROMPAP and CERC, and it seems absolutely normal, first and foremost, to start having a structured dialogue that is stable, predictable, and helps us better understand the challenges of the paper and cardboard industry,” Baltaretu stated. “It is very important to transform these discussions into concrete decisions.”

From an economic perspective, “the forest must be exploited sustainably and maintained like a garden. If you want a beautiful garden, you must clean it and take care of it. The same discussion must be extended to forests, which represent important resources that regenerate annually,” he remarked.

Baltaretu urged careful planning: “From my point of view, we should think very carefully about what we do with Romania’s forests, how we maintain them, and how we turn forests into sources of raw materials, including for the paper and cardboard industry.”

He advocated creating a proper development framework: “We need to create a correct development framework for you—what we can do from the Ministry of Economy’s side, but also from the state in general, and here, with the Ministry of Environment, we should think about what we can reduce from the pressure on you.”

On investments, Baltaretu stressed targeting competitiveness: “Any support we provide, whether grants or financial instruments like subsidized interest loans or guaranteed loans—must go towards investments, must go towards increasing the competitiveness of your companies. If we don’t have the objective of increasing competitiveness and efficiency in your companies’ processes, in my opinion, it’s money thrown out the window.”