Chapter 222： At the end of one thousand nine hundred and fifteen

Time passed in a hurry, and 1915 came to the end of the year.

However, the European war still shows no signs of recovery, and all participating countries are preparing for the coming year. The two camps of the Allies and the Allies regard next year as the year to decide the outcome. Especially in the Allied camp, because Romania provided them with the necessary daily necessities and military supplies, the German army showed even stronger momentum this year.

However, this strength is also rapidly consuming its domestic wealth. Within a year and a half of the war, the purchase of materials from Romania alone reached 2.43 billion marks. Romania is now the largest importer of Germany and Austria. With such a high import volume, a large amount of wealth of Germany and Austria-Hungary was transferred to Romania, which prospered Romania's economy.

Now as long as there is capital, one person can make money. This is basically the production of materials needed by the Allies along with the flow. Now Romania will purchase as much as it produces, so there is no need to worry about sales. Those wealthy German and Austrian businessmen waved their checks to make purchases in Romania, so now the Romanian economy is completely supported by German and Austrian purchases.

As for Russia on the other side, I am sorry that Russia now has no financial resources to purchase large-scale purchases from Romania. Just picking up important material purchases, these are not large amounts. Because the Russian government is still expecting that after the Allied forces landed in the Dardanelles and defeated Ottoman, they would receive large-scale material assistance. They are not currently interested in materials whose prices are markedly higher by Romania.

However, some long-term businessmen have already seen the hidden dangers behind this economic boom. While earning the profits of Germany and Austria, they began to consider the problems after the end of the war. But at present Romania can only trade with Germany and Austria, because the Black Sea Strait is currently impassable and Romanian goods cannot be shipped out.

However, by the end of the year, the Romanian economy, which relied solely on German and Austrian procurement, had reached a new level. According to government statistics, Romania’s Gross National Product (GDP) reached 9.673 billion lei, an increase of 26.5% over the previous year.

Because of the strong demand from Austria-Hungary, grain exports have regained Romania's position as the largest export category. A large part of them are based on Romania's large and small grain processing plants that have sprung up like bamboo shoots after a rain. These factories earn profits from low-value grain, processed food or semi-finished products. Now in the German and Austrian markets, 85% of foreign food is produced in Romania. It is these large and small grain processing plants that have pushed grain and its deep-processed products into the largest export category.

The second largest category of Romanian exports is still petroleum and its chemicals. Thanks to the large number of vehicles used for military transportation in Germany and Austria, traditional American oil could not be imported in the past, so Romanian oil could only be purchased. This year, oil is still the main force of Romania’s exports, and the total gap between oil and food is not too big, only 40 million lei.

This year, automobile exports fell to the third place. Among them, the closure of the Black Sea Strait caused the automobile manufacturing industry to lose the market in Western and Southern Europe. And because Germany and Austria imported high-priced oil, it further suppressed the desire of the two countries to buy vehicles. Now the main force of Romania's automobile manufacturing industry, Volkswagen is not as strong as before. It can only produce trucks at low speeds and sell some auto parts to ease the pressure on the company. At present, the number of employees in the Volkswagen factory has dropped from 87,000 at its peak to 79,000 at present. If it were not for the rapid wear and tear of vehicles on the battlefield, the automobile manufacturing industry would almost be unable to keep its third position.

The German and Austrian purchases prospered Romania’s contribution, and Prime Minister Bretia contributed a lot. So at the end of the year in order to commend the Prime Minister for his achievements, Edel personally awarded him the Royal Knights Medal. When the medal was awarded, General Prieshan, Chief of the General Staff and General Courtois, Secretary of the Army, also congratulated the Prime Minister on the spot. This is Edel's attempt to ease the relationship between the government and the military, which is a bit stalemate because of the militia expenses.

Of course, the Romanian economy is rising fiercely, so the government's fiscal revenue growth liquid will not slow down. According to statistics from the Ministry of Finance, Romania’s fiscal revenue reached a record high of 1.24 billion lei in 1915, an increase of 27.4% over the previous year.

Among them, customs tax is still the largest tax in Romania. From here, we can see the importance of exports to Romania, which is also what Edel worries about. Because the country has a population of 10 million, it is completely impossible for the industry to develop and grow. The domestic population is not enough to support economic development, and it will become the most urgent problem that Romania needs to solve after the war.

So, except Transylvania and Bessarabia, where Romanians occupy the majority. Seizing more territory from the collapsed Austria-Hungary and Russia will become Romania's primary goal in the future. Among them, the rich Ukrainian granary, Romania also needs a part.

Except for customs taxes, which have always been the top one, the second largest tax category that has been taxed five years ago is the industrial and commercial tax. Especially in recent years, industrial and commercial tax has gradually increased its proportion in taxation. It is now close to 85% of the customs duties, which is the second largest tax revenue in Romania.

In addition to these two taxes, then there are agricultural taxes, personal income tax, value-added tax and so on. Financial revenue, apart from various taxes, of course, there are other revenues. For example, the profit paid by state-owned enterprises, income from land and so on. These are powerful supplements to government revenue, especially the profits paid by state-owned enterprises, which account for the bulk of supplementary revenue.

Now Constanta Steel Plant, Romanian Chemical Plant, etc. A group of state-owned enterprises that have been established with German loans have all grown and grown. Although these state-owned enterprises have factors such as bloated enterprises, improper management, and slow market response. However, relying on its rapid economic development in Romania, these companies have grown.

For example, the Constanta Iron and Steel Plant, from the initial establishment of 2,400 employees, 62.5 million lei assets. It has grown to 5,800 employees and assets of 165 million lei. This is all because Romania now only has this steel plant, and its steel production depends entirely on the protection of tariffs to grow and develop. Therefore, in Romania, the products of the Constanta Steel Plant have always been the main force used in various industries. Other steel mills are completely competitive, but the Constanta steel mill, which is escorted by the government.

In fact, in addition to good economic development this year, Romania has also invested heavily in people's livelihood. There have been significant improvements in areas such as medical care, education, transportation, public security, etc. These are all aspects related to the people, so now the Romanian people are full of expectations for the future. This is also very beneficial to Edel's future plans.

PS; Sorry for the late, my brain hurts when this chapter is written, it is completely the Romanian Economic Development White Paper, it is so difficult to write. ()

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