Romania went down seven places to 52nd in the World Bank’s Doing Business 2019 ranking, which analyzes the ease of doing business in 190 countries worldwide.

Romania has a score of 72.3 points in the new ranking, down 0.53 points compared to last year, when it ranked 45th.

“Romania made starting a business more cumbersome by introducing fiscal risk assessment criteria for value added tax applications, thereby increasing the time required to register as a value added tax payer,” reads the report.

Romania ranks low for starting a business (111), dealing with construction permits (146) and getting electricity (154).

Although it is ahead of countries such as Hungary, Cyprus, Croatia, Bulgaria and Greece, Romania ranks lower than Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey, Armenia, Belarus and even neighbors Moldova. Georgia (6th) and Macedonia (10th) are the regional leaders in the Doing Business 2019 ranking.

New Zealand, Singapore and Denmark are the top three countries in the world for doing business.

editor@romania-insider.com