Romania’s hospitality operators plan to sue the authorities

The organization that represents hotel and restaurant owners in Romania – HORA – has initiated the legal procedure for suing the authorities, HORA president Daniel Mischie said on Wednesday, February 3.

The functioning of local HoReCa operators has been restricted for more than 320 days and between 70,000 and 100,000 employees have left this sector during this period, according to Mischie.

“Of the 40,000 units operating in the country, almost 15,000 will probably never reopen. This means that 13,000 entrepreneurs will practically no longer have businesses and employees that deliver taxes and duties to the state. They (the authorities – e.n.) are talking about an aid for this industry, but it is actually a compensation for the fact that this industry has been restricted. This compensation is in the form of 20% of the difference between the turnover and refers to the year 2020,” said Daniel Mischie quoted by News.ro.

He added that, while the industry’s representatives have had more talks than ever with the Government, none of the agreed support measures have been implemented yet.

The EUR 500 million that the Government has promised to disburse to HoReCa operators impacted by the COVID-19 crisis are expected to come this summer, which is very late, according to the HORA president.

“Our industry needs to get these compensations urgently or it will cease to exist,” he said.

The Government has approved a grants scheme that will cover up to 20% of the drop in turnover incurred by HoReCa operators in 2020 compared to 2019, due to the pandemic and related restrictions. The authorities will disburse the money on a first-come-first-served basis.

Restaurants in Romania have been closed or operating a reduced capacity since March 2020, when the pandemic broke. Meanwhile, hotels and travel agencies were hit by the drop in tourism due to travel restrictions.

(Photo: Alex Dascalu/ Dreamstime)