PM Orban tours tourist compound at Olimp, rehabilitated on private funds of over 35 million euros

Prime Minister Ludovic Orban on Thursday evening toured the Amfiteatru-Belvedere-Panoramic hotel compound at the Black Sea coast Olimp resort that was rehabilitated and upgraded on a private investment worth over 35 million euros, which Orban called "extremely important" to Romanian tourism.

"It is an extremely important investment to the Romanian Black Sea coast and tourism in Romania, a private investment made in a place that is full of memories, a very beautiful place, which, unfortunately, after unfortunate privatisation, fell into the hands of some owners who did not invest (...), these three hotels that were once a flagship for the Romanian Black Sea coast, not only for the Olimp resort, but for the entire Black Sea coast, were left in ruins. And there you have a man courageous enough to buy the hotels, although they were in disrepair, and take up the responsibility and risks of making an investment, and these hotels will operate again," Orban told a news conference.

The investor, the chairman of the Federation of Romanian Tourism Employers, businessman Mohammad Murad, underlined the importance of collaboration between the business community and the government.

"It was very important not only to me, but also to the people working in tourism to receive a message that you are with us. (...) I showed that it is possible in Romania as well. What many could not do in 25-30 years, we did in five months (...) We want to show, not to make a profit, that we can change Romania, We have stolen a lot of ideas in order to make a more beautiful Romania, we stole systems from multinationals to compete here and abroad. We will continue the same way of thinking, just give us a helping hand so we can do the job we all want, quietly," Murad said.

He also said that although the prime minister "did not show many signs that tourism is important," he is convinced that he wants to find solutions for the development of the field.

Asked why Mohammad Murad said the prime minister did not consider tourism important, Orban said that, on the contrary, tourism is very important.

According to him, the government will adopt next week an emergency ordinance on "one billion euros for companies, of which 350 million are working capital for the affected areas, in which HoReCa is included to qualify for working capital grants."

According to the private investor, the Amfiteatru-Belvedere-Panoramic hotel compound will open to visitors after August 1.