Most of the Romanians consider the economic situation as worse compared to last year, according to a Gallup survey released on Wednesday. Although an improvement in products quality is expected, most of the Romanians also fear the effects of the country’s accession to the European Union.

80 percent of the educated urban population believe that corruption, taxes, unemployment and public services are the most important economic problems the country faces.

Companies complain about facing problems such as high tax level (86%), public utilities price (81%), competition (68%), and corruption (64%).

The Gallup survey shows there is still optimism for the following 12 months. 48 percent of educated urban population believe an improvement will occur in economy, compared to 22 percent which is more pessimistic. The companies’ managers expect the economy to grow (40%) or to drop (30%).

More than half of the subjects interviewed consider that Romania’s economy is weaker than other Eastern European countries’.

The survey also reveals that there is a lower confidence level in Romanian companies compared to foreign investors. Most of the Romanians (66%) believe that the national capital is poorly represented in Romanian economy.

The flat tax does not create a major support, as only 27% of the private companies considered it beneficial, whereas 53% saw no influence and 17 % found it had a negative effect.

Regarding the country’s accession to EU in 2007, expectations are rather pessimistic, 68% of the companies managers expect a negative impact of the small and medium companies. However, they expect a positive effect on their own companies as the EU market entails a bigger demand, despite tougher competition and slower adaptation to EU regulations.