“We can always see a crisis in a different way. I always ask clients whether they see the crisis glass half full or half empty. It depends on the approach of companies,” Iulian Sorescu, Partner, Noerr said during the “Automotive R&D Power Breakfast”, powered by Automotive Today and The Diplomat-Bucharest.

“There are several opportunities to finance investments in Romania. The scheme for assets that was very effective for the last 12 years is still valid. There is plenty of money. It’s important to look to the future and  see whether the plans are for growth or rather to maintain the stability,” he explained.

“New schemes are coming very soon. Companies creating new workplaces could have the opportunity to get up to 50 percent of their cost back from the state. That would be great. The scheme for greenfield investments is like gold. Currently one or two companies are still interested in greenfield investments in Romania. State-aid schemes make the difference between investing in Romania or investing in Hungary, Poland, other countries.”

According to Sorescu, there are Norway grant schemes dedicated to companies realizing innovative projects, realizing high added value products. Companies can get up to 50-60 percent of non-reimbursable Norway funds.

“The biggest challenge for us is the mentality of our clients, their openness to identify new products. We have talented people, we have resources, but the collaborative work between us and our clients is the most important,” he added. “People working from home allocate much more time for performing financial analysis. The CFOs of our clients are spending much more time in responding to new KPIs, to new questions, so we need to adapt to this new context.”