Market players said that, on average, 20-25 percent of the approximately 5,000 companies in this sector will file for bankruptcy, as they will no longer be able to cover their costs. The market will crash in the first quarter of 2010, operators warn.
“Due to a lack of money, the clients of transport companies will forego travelling. Then, there is a rather high number that have been laid off. This is why many commuters have disappeared. And not least of all is the fact that Romanians are no longer travelling abroad as often as before,” the Vice President of the National Union of Romanian Road Transporters (UNTRR), Constantin Isac, told Business Standard.
Another reason they are losing clients is because low-cost airlines have attracted a significant number of passengers, as they offer very low prices and shorter travel times.
According to UNTRR, bankruptcies could make up some 20 percent in the coming months, if companies fail to cut their costs. “A stricter control of fuel consumption, salary cuts, and foregoing expense accounts are just some of the measures that should be taken,” Isac added.
