Shopping malls in Romania could reopen on June 15

Shopping malls in Romania could reopen on June 15, “if things go well,” economy minister Virgil Popescu said, quoted by local daily Adevarul.

The minister said talks with representatives of mall owners would be held on Tuesday, June 2.

“If we are easing restrictions, and things go well, it seems normal to be able to reopen large stores at the end of these two weeks. [...] If things go well, we want to bring life back to normal faster,” Popescu said.

At the end of May, nine owners of shopping malls in Bucharest and 24 in regional cities, together with the real estate consulting company CBRE, asked the Romanian Government to reopen large shopping centers urgently.

They estimated that the losses accumulated by companies due to the restrictions, representing the lost sales or retailers in malls, amount to about EUR 750 million.

Under the state of alert, only malls with an area of under 15,000 sqm can currently operate in Romania.

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