Astra

The interview of the President Valer Blidar for the Economist magazine

Octavian-Dragomir Jora: Mr. President, in post-December Romania, what would be announced as “original democracy” has become “original democracy”. And this would often be distinguished, among other things, by inhibiting the only force that could complement and strengthen genuine democracy: entrepreneurial, market capitalism. What do you think of the current Romanian capitalism, without too many capitalists, but with too many politicians?

Valer Blindar: I have been in business (if I may say so) since 1990, immediately after the publication of Decree 54. I was among the first to set up small businesses, as they were called then. I was extremely optimistic, although I had some fears. We knew something about the market economy only from hearsay, because the capitalist literature did not enter Romania and then we only learned from what we got from certain relationships or events, when someone came from outside and brought us a magazine or newspaper. After setting up the small enterprise, I opened a bank account at BCR. I started a first business and the great satisfaction was the moment I saw that the money appeared in the account. I still remember that the first invoice I issued was 301,898 lei. When I saw the money go into the account, I said, sir, things might work out. I had great confidence! Slowly, I made a strategy, I set up several small businesses. We had a shock in 1994, when there was a great devaluation of the leu.

Read the full interview in the PDF document