This guide provides an overview of the key sectors, legal frameworks, and considerations for investing in Romania in 2025.​

Economic Landscape

Romania’s economy has demonstrated resilience and dynamism, with a GDP per capita (in purchasing power parity, or PPP) of approximately $47,203 in 2024. The country benefits from a diverse economic structure, encompassing industries such as manufacturing, agriculture, information technology, and services. Its membership in the European Union further enhances its appeal by providing access to a vast single market.

Key Investment Sectors

Information Technology (IT) and Software Development

Romania has emerged as a regional hub for IT and software development, boasting a highly skilled workforce and competitive labour costs. The government’s support for digitalisation and innovation has fostered a conducive environment for tech startups and established firms alike.​

Renewable Energy

The country’s commitment to sustainable development has opened avenues in renewable energy, particularly wind and solar power. Romania’s geographical features and favourable climate conditions make it suitable for renewable energy projects and renewable energy storage, aligning with the EU’s green energy targets.

Agriculture and Agribusiness

With vast arable land and a tradition in agriculture, Romania presents opportunities in agribusiness, including organic farming, food processing, and export-oriented agricultural production. Investments in modernising agricultural practices can yield significant returns.​

Infrastructure and Construction

The government’s focus on improving infrastructure, supported by EU funds, has led to increased investments in transportation, logistics, and construction sectors. Projects such as highway expansions and the modernisation of ports are underway, offering investment prospects.​

Legal and Regulatory Framework

Company Formation

Foreign investors can establish various types of business entities in Romania, with the most common being the Limited Liability Company (SRL). The process involves registering with the National Trade Register Office and complying with relevant legal requirements.​

Taxation

• Corporate Income Tax: Standard rate of 16%.
• Dividend Tax: Increased from 8% to 10% starting January 2025.
• Value Added Tax (VAT): Standard rate of 19%, with reduced rates for specific goods and services.

Romania has an extensive network of double taxation treaties, providing relief to foreign investors from being taxed twice on the same income.​

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Regulations

The Romanian government maintains an open stance towards Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and strategic sectors are subject to screening procedures to safeguard national interests. Investments exceeding specific thresholds or in sensitive areas may require prior approval from relevant authorities.​

Incentives for Investors

To attract foreign capital, Romania offers various incentives, including:​

• State Aid Schemes: Financial support for projects that contribute to regional development, job creation, and innovation.
• Tax Incentives: Deductions and exemptions for investments in research and development, as well as reinvested profits in specific sectors.
• Access to EU Funds: Grants and financing opportunities for projects aligned with EU objectives, such as sustainability and digital transformation.​

Practical Considerations

• Labour Market: Romania offers a skilled and multilingual workforce, particularly in technical and engineering fields.
• Banking and Finance: A well-developed banking sector facilitates financial transactions and provides businesses with access to credit.
• Legal Assistance: Engaging local legal counsel is advisable to navigate regulatory requirements and ensure compliance with relevant laws.​

Investing in Romania in 2025 presents a strategic opportunity to tap into a growing economy within the European Union. By understanding the local market dynamics, regulatory environment, and available incentives, foreign investors can make informed decisions and capitalise on the country’s potential.

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This guide outlines everything you need to know before buying property in Romania in 2025.

Who Can Buy Property in Romania?

EU/EEA Citizens

Citizens of the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA) countries have the same rights as Romanian nationals when it comes to purchasing real estate. This means they can buy both land and buildings freely, whether for personal use or as a foreign investment.

Non-EU Citizens

Non-EU citizens can also buy property in Romania, but with some limitations:

• They are allowed to purchase apartments, houses, and commercial buildings directly
• They cannot directly purchase land (including land attached to a house)

However, non-EU citizens can still own land indirectly by setting up a Romanian company, typically a Limited Liability Company (SRL). Once established, this legal entity can acquire and own land without restriction.

It is also worth noting that purchasing property does not automatically grant the buyer residency rights in Romania. A separate residence permit is required for this purpose.

Step-by-Step Process to Buy Property

1. Define Your Purpose

Are you buying for personal use, to rent, or for resale? This will influence location, property type, and legal structuring, especially if land is involved.

2. Get a Fiscal Identification Number (NIF)

All foreign buyers are required to register with the Romanian tax authorities to obtain a fiscal identification number. This is required for signing contracts and paying related taxes.

3. Perform Due Diligence

Before signing anything:

• Verify that the seller legally owns the property
• Check for debts, encumbrances, or disputes in the Land Registry (Carte Funciară)
• Physically inspect the property to confirm its state and layout

A real estate lawyer can handle these steps and protect your interests.

4. Sign a Pre-Contract (Optional)

In many cases, the buyer and seller will sign a pre-contract (promissory agreement) outlining the price, payment terms, and the deadline for the final contract. A deposit of 5–10% is usually paid at this stage.

5. Finalize the Sale

• The final sale contract must be signed in the presence of a Romanian notary public
• The notary will verify all legal documents and ensure proper registration
• Ownership is not official until the property is registered with the Land Book

Costs of Buying Property

When buying real estate in Romania, factor in these costs:

• Notary Fees: Generally between 0.5% and 2% of the property value
• Land Registry Fee: Approximately 0.5% of the price
• Legal Fees: Vary by provider, typically €500–€1,000 for a complete service package
• Property Transfer Tax: Around 3% (may vary slightly based on property age and use)
• Annual Property Tax: Between 0.08% and 0.2% of the assessed value

Can Foreigners Get a Mortgage?

Yes, but it’s easier for EU citizens. Romanian banks do offer mortgages to foreign buyers, but non-EU citizens may face stricter documentation requirements, lower loan-to-value ratios, and sometimes longer approval timelines. Many buyers opt for cash purchases or use financing from their home country.

Special Considerations for Non-EU Buyers

• Company Formation: To purchase land, non-EU citizens must form a Romanian legal entity (usually an SRL)
• Residency: Owning a property does not give you the right to live in Romania; a residence permit is needed
• Inheritance & Exit Strategy: Plan how the property will be passed on or sold, primarily if you’re not residing in Romania

Buying property in Romania as a foreigner is a relatively straightforward process, especially for EU citizens. With proper legal guidance, the same applies to non-EU buyers, even if they must go through a Romanian company. The market remains one of the most affordable in Europe, offering good rental yields and solid long-term value.

The key is due diligence, transparency, and collaborating with professionals who are familiar with the local laws. Whether you’re dreaming of a mountain retreat, an apartment in the capital, or a seaside investment, Romania in 2025 remains one of Europe’s best-kept real estate secrets.

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Gabriel Resources invested EUR 900 million and demanded compensation of EUR 6.7 billion because the project failed. The international arbitration action was initiated in 2015 against Romania by two foreign investors, Gabriel Resources Ltd. and Gabriel Resources (Jersey). It was based on the Agreements regarding the promotion and mutual guarantee of investments concluded by Romania with the Government of Canada (ratified by Law no. 356/2009) and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (ratified by Law no. 109/1995).

The decision was initially announced on Friday evening by Prime Minister Ciolacu, after weeks in which signals were sent from the Government that Romania could lose the trial and be forced to pay huge penalties.

Romania was represented in this process by the Romanian law firm Leaua Damcali Deaconu Paunescu – LDDP and the Swiss firm LALIVE SA.

We won the Roşia Montană trial (…). Thank you to the lawyers who represented Romania professionally and with honour! Romanians should not suffer because of the decisions of prime ministers who put personal interests above national interests.

Romania’s PM Marcel Ciolacu on the decision in the process vs RMGC

According to the document through which the decision was communicated, the decision was taken by the majority, and it also establishes a series of damages compensations that the Gabriel Resources company will have to pay to Romania, sums of money related to court costs. It is about EUR 1.1 million, RON 30.3 million and USD 0.928 million.

At the same time, according to the decision, Gabriel Resources must pay about USD 1.4 million for the costs of the arbitration process.

The fact that cyanidation was to be used for gold extraction alerted environmental organizations in the country and abroad, as well as the locals, who started constant protest actions since the beginning of the 2000s.

Between 2012 and 2014, tens of thousands of people took to the streets to protest against the special law initiated by the Ponta Government, which would have allowed exploitation to begin. Under street pressure, the Senate rejected the bill in November 2013, and the Chamber of Deputies in 2014.

The value of gold in Rosia Montana today amounts to almost 19 billion euros, adding more than one billion euros to silver

Romania wins the Roșia Montană trial. There is no compensation to be paid. Ciolacu, Boloș, PSD/PNL, together with the TV stations in which they pump hundreds of millions, have hysterical Romania for weeks with a toxic campaign against USR. Was it a campaign for pesedist grangers to make money on the stock market? Did they harm Romania by talking about billions in compensation as if we had already lost?

USR President Catalin Drula on RMGC decision

In the past month, Gabriel Resources shares have doubled in value on the Toronto Stock Exchange, from C$0.43/share on January 31st to C$0.87 on March 8th.

On Friday, the company’s shares were halted from trading by the regulatory body of the Toronto Stock Exchange, after the day before, the company had announced that the Arbitration Court had informed that on March 8, a decision would be communicated in the case that opener against Romania in 2015.

In all that time, as of January 31, Gabriel Resources’ market capitalization has nearly doubled, from USD 335 million to nearly USD 600 million.

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The new facility will be situated close to the Hungarian border in Oradea, in the northwest, and will have a 6 million-tyre annual production capacity. This project is considered a greenfield investment project reaching an investment worth EUR 650 million.

Due to the war between Russia and Ukraine and the ensuing tightening of sanctions, the board of directors from Nokian Tyres took a decision last month to start a controlled withdrawal from the region and signed a contract to sell its Russian business.

As a result, Nokian Tyres decided to expand its operation plans and invest in a new production plant in Europe in order to secure the supply of its products. As such, the coming Romanian factory is key in reaching its goals.

“This investment is a significant strategic decision enabling our future growth. A world-class manufacturing facility in Europe is a key step in getting additional capacity and creating a balanced manufacturing platform as we start building the new Nokian Tyres without Russia”.

Jukka Moisio, Nokian Tyres Presdinet and CEO

Oradea hosts the perfect location for the establishment and development of the plant due to the green energy produced near the site, the logistical and administrative benefits, and the available skilled workforce.

“After a thorough evaluation of over 40 locations and several factors, such as skilled workforce availability, logistical advantages and stable business environment, it was clear that Oradea was the best choice for our new factory”.

Adrian Kaczmarczyk, Nokian Tyres SVP Supply Operations

Construction of the plant is set to commence in early 2023, while the first tyres are anticipated to be manufactured in the second part of 2024 with an estimated workforce count of 500 employees. Commercial production is anticipated to begin in early 2025, together with an establishment of a house distribution facility for transportation and storage of tyres to be added to the factory site.

*Article photo source: Nokian Tyres Official*

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Fitch Ratings is a leading source of credit ratings, analysis, and research for international capital markets. The “BBB-” rating stands for middle-class enterprises that are now satisfactory and have a sufficient payment capacity, indicating that expectations of default risk are currently low.

“The capital remains a safe environment for investors”

Nicusor Dan, Bucharest General Mayor

The independent credit profile of the capital is rated at ”BBB+”, meaning that an obligor has the necessary resources to fulfill its financial obligations. However, unfavourable economic situations or altering circumstances are more likely to make the obligee less able to fulfill its financial obligations. Given the current economic and business environment in Bucharest, the information indicates that the rating of the Municipality of Bucharest is at the same level as the sovereign rating of Romania.

This is favourable given that Bucharest needs investments in areas such as heating, infrastructure, mobility, environment, and health, and it has enormous potential for investment development.

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OMV Petrom and Complexul Energetic Oltenia announced four projects totalling 400 million euros that call for constructing photovoltaic panels on the sites of several former mines that have been exploited in Romania.

In December 2021, OMV Petrom was designated as the selected investor for these projects at the end of a selection procedure organized by CE Oltenia. The total investments required for developing the four photovoltaic parks amount to over 400 million euros, about 70% being financed by the Modernization Fund.

OMV Petrom

According to a news statement from OMV Petrom, photovoltaic parks will be constructed on the grounds of old mining operations run by CE Oltenia. The parks are expected to provide electricity to the national energy system in 2024.

In December 2021, OMV Petrom was designated as a selected investor for these projects, following a selection procedure organized by CE Oltenia. The total investments required for developing the four PV parks amount to over EUR 400 million, approximately 70% being financed through the Modernization Fund.

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According to ZF, approximately 15 to 1 is the ratio of investments between retail and food, beverages and tobacco production. More precisely, for every EUR 3 invested in Romania by Kaufland, Lidl or Carrefour, which builds modern stores, dairy, juice or sweets producers, led by Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Unilever, Lactalis or Danone, pay only EUR 0,20 for local factories.

How does this affect Romania? In a decade, Romania has EUR 10 billion of new investments in trade but only 600 million euros in the production of food and beverages. Thus, Romanian consumers buy “made in Poland” or “made in Hungary” goods rather than locally. Many giant multinationals such as Mars, Nestle, Colgate-Palmolive and L’Oreal do not have any factories in Romania, although they do in many neighbouring countries.

It’s easier just to sell on a market, not to bother to invest and have production. In the last 20-30 years, we have seen multinationals buying and then closing factories. It is clear that for these foreign groups, the Romanian industry is not of interest, they only want to create a market here.

Cristian Parvan, president of PIAROM.

Numerous local consumer products sector factories have closed during the past ten years. Still, no new investment totalling more than 50 million euros has been made in a production facility run by an international corporation. Furthermore, these organizations requested public assistance even when they made investments or planned to do so.

The state is generous with foreigners but caustic with its own. He gives them state aid but nothing to us. I did not receive any state aid or European funds. I reinvested the profit obtained.

Ioan Popa, founder of Transavia

As we reported, Romania’s trade deficit exceeds EUR 10 billion, a record sum, despite the efforts of the Romanian companies to market and sell their goods. Mihai Daraban, the president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania (CCIR), highlights a significant problem in Romania, as the country is more of a market to the Western countries than a producer. He also emphasizes that Romania’s exports can not compete in volumes with the imports, which are much more expensive.

Will Romanians eventually learn to purchase more of their products and solicit their services? Incredibly, indigenous brands are difficult to find in a nation where the most prominent shops are all from the West.

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Dacia sold 277,885 units in the first half of the year, an increase of 5.9% over the same period last year. The business claims that this result can be attributed to the popularity of the new Spring models (20 thousand units) and Jogger, which were introduced in the previous year, as well as the success of the Sandero (112 thousand units, +1.8%) and Duster (99 thousand units, +5.5%) (21,700 units).

After ceasing operations in the Russian market, the Renault Group reported a 30% decrease in the number of vehicles sold in the first half compared to last year. Dacia thereby keeps its third-place standing in the European market for cars sold to private consumers.

European customers continue to like the Sandero model from Dacia (a position it has held annually, without interruption, since 2017). Since 2018, Duster has maintained its position as the top-selling SUV in Europe. Since the beginning of 2022, the electric vehicle, Dacia Spring, has had an average of more than 5,000 orders each month. Additionally, over 50,000 orders for the new Dacia Jogger family model were placed in the first half of 2022.

In the year’s first half, Dacia registered 16,382 vehicles on the Romanian market, an increase of 34% from the total of the previous year’s first half.

Photo source: Dacia

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According to Lobby Romania, some of the major organizations in the business environment in Romania reacted when Social Democratic Party demanded that the Government rethink its budgetary policy and give up the single quota. The organizations are considering the single tax rate essential for economic growth.

The organization of foreign investors recommended boosting tax collection, thwarting tax evasion with stricter controls and fines if issues are found, and reexamining Romania’s legal structure for microenterprises and PFAs.

As long as they are used in good faith, in a truly entrepreneurial manner, and not to conceal employment arrangements, these are advantageous and acceptable forms of organization.

Foreign Investors Council, press release

The financial recommendations of the foreign investors in Romania

• Maintaining a single tax rate – a simple and essential tax system for economic growth, which has brought prosperity, created jobs, encouraged the formation of a middle class in Romania and is also one of the main competitive advantages of Romania.
• The real reduction of tax evasion, including the VAT collection deficit, as well as the reduction of state expenditures. Digitization remains a fundamental tool for achieving this goal
• Increasing tax collection and combating tax evasion through tougher sanctions and controls in areas where they are identified
• Reassessing the framework in which micro-enterprises are used in Romania. These are beneficial and welcome forms of organization as long as they have a well-defined purpose by law and are used in good faith, in a truly entrepreneurial manner, not to mask forms of
• Restoring the financial system so as to stimulate work, bring black and gray work to the surface, reduce the exodus of employees and bring Romanians from abroad home. This goal can be achieved by capping social health and pension contributions at a reasonable number of average wages per
• Identifying the key sectors that the government wants to stimulate, taking into account Romania’s interests and the medium and long-term perspective. Stimulating the export of high-value-added goods and services can help reduce the trade deficit.

Other suggestions include identifying the key industries that the Government wants to support while taking into account Romania’s interests and the medium- and long-term outlook. Shifting the tax structure to encourage employment, bringing underutilized labour to the fore, reducing employee departure, and bringing Romanians living abroad home, were other suggestions for boosting the export of high value-added goods and services that help reduce the trade deficit.

However, given the current economic situation, any changes to public policies must be made only after open communication with all parties. The business sector also confirms its openness and desire to interact with the Government to lay the foundation for a long-term, transparent, digital, and predictable tax system.

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According to See News, Romania will receive 1.39 billion euros from the Modernisation Fund to build eight solar parks and two combined cycle gas turbine plants. The plants will replace lignite with renewables and gas for power generation and network modernization in Romania.

The Modernisation Fund, funded by proceeds from the EU’s Emissions Trading System’s auction of emission allowances, aims to assist ten low-income EU countries in their transition to climate neutrality by modernizing their power sector and broader energy systems, increasing energy efficiency, and facilitating the transition. Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia are the beneficiaries of these funds.

With revenues from the emissions trading system, it delivers concrete results on the ground, helping beneficiary countries reduce greenhouse gas emissions in key sectors and become climate neutral.

Frans Timmermans, European Commission Executive Vice-President

In addition to Romania and Croatia, countries like the Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia, and Hungary will each get one billion euros for similar initiatives.

As a result, the European Commission is awarding a total of 2.4 billion euros to 45 investment proposals in the areas of renewable energy generation, energy network modernization, energy efficiency in the energy sector, industry, buildings, and transportation, as well as the replacement of coal generation with lower carbon intensity fuels.

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