Companies active in the cinema sector could receive state aid, said yesterday Alexandru Petrescu, the minister for business environment, trade and entrepreneurship.

His ministry is now working on a memorandum and a state aid scheme to grant facilities to the cinema industry, he explained, reports local Profit.ro.

"Making a film is a far-reaching activity involving related industries such as the HORECA industry, tourism, fashion design,” said Petrescu.

The minister added that other states in the EU such as Poland, Hungary or the Czech Republic have similar measures to support the film industry. A state aid scheme will increase Romania's attractiveness for large production sites that prospect the Central and Eastern European market.

Petrescu met on Monday with film producer Raffaella de Laurentiis and Vlad Paunescu, representative of the local production house Castel Film Studios, who expressed their interest to shoot films in Romania.

editor@romania-insider.com