If the coronavirus epidemic lasts and the Romanian state does not get involved to support the bars and restaurants in Romania, whose businesses have dropped to less than half in the last week, many of them will go bankrupt and be closed in at most three months, and hundreds of thousands of employees will lose their jobs, stated actor Mugur Mihaescu, owner of three pubs in the Old Town of Bucharest.
He estimates that no bar or restaurant can last more than a few months without customers and estimates that, if the situation worsens and the state does not get involved to support companies in the field, within an interval of 1-3 months, the majority of bars and restaurants in Romania will have problems.
Mihaescu requests the Government to exempt bars, cafes, restaurants, and hoteliers from salary taxes until this crisis passes, in order to be able to keep employees, and especially to suspend the specific tax, which taxes bars and restaurants not based on profit, but on the number of seats.
He also requests the intervention of the NBR (BNR) on commercial banks to freeze loan installments for both companies in the field and the population, as is happening in other countries affected by the coronavirus.
Source: Profit
Frequently Asked Questions
What measures does Mugur Mihaescu propose for the HoReCa sector?
He requests salary tax exemptions, the suspension of the seat-based specific tax, and a freeze on loan installments through NBR intervention.
How long can restaurants survive without government aid?
According to Mihaescu, most bars and restaurants will face bankruptcy within 1 to 3 months if the state does not provide support.
What is the current impact of the crisis on these businesses?
Revenues have dropped by more than half in a single week, threatening hundreds of thousands of jobs across the industry.