Effects Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Romanian Smes

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the SME sector in Romania was on an upward trend. In this article we set out to analyse the evolution of SMEs in Romania in the period 2017- 2020, in the context of the pandemic. In order to do this, we tried to analyse in parallel the economic situation of European SMEs compared to the Romanian ones. The research begins with an analysis of the economic situation created by the health crisis due to the SarsCov-19 virus. It analyses the evolution of macroeconomic indicators in Romania during the pandemic, a pandemic that caused the global economic crisis. We will show how the most affected sectors of the national economy were: transport, hospitality, agriculture, the medical system, the education system, light industry and non-food domestic trade. The research will show that in all the analysed economic sectors, difficulties related to access to capital for entrepreneurs, supply or sales chains were the most affected by the crisis. Because of the new level of uncertainty arisen new burocratic barriers and a limited capacity for adapting appeared in the new financial-economic context. The research will highlight that in the case of SMEs in Romania, the impact of the pandemic was felt in a significant way, the economic blockade and the social distancing of the population led to major decreases in income and turnover for entrepreneurs / managers.