26.05.2010

\"The crisis is an opportunity not only for us, but for the whole region, because it launches the real reforms. From now on the recovery will continue smoothly.\" That was what Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Simeon Djankov said before the participants in the 7^th Financial Forum held in Bucharest. Minister Djankov is key speaker at the discussion in the Romanian capital where his Romanian colleague Sebastian Vladescu, leading economists, bankers and others take part.  

The Bulgarian Finance Minister refuted the thesis that Central and Eastern European economies would be the ones most affected by the crisis. \"The truth is that they are the ones that handle the crisis best. Poland is the only EU Member State registering economic growth in a crisis environment and Estonia is to become the 17^th member of the euro area\", emphasized Simeon Djankov and he was adamant that Eastern European economies would be the ones that would make the European Union competitive  .

\"The euro will be here in a year\'s time and it will be stronger than now\", projected the Finance Minister when asked what was his opinion about the future of the single European currency.

He further commented that the previous Bulgarian government decided to hide the negative effects of the crisis on Bulgaria. \"That is why we encountered a lot of problems that had been hidden before. From now on we have two possibilities. The first one is to be pessimists and to think that it would take us a long time to exit the crisis. However, we think that the crisis is a chance for us to implement real reforms in order to proceed hence forward with sustainable economic growth\", Simeon Djankov stressed before the participants in the prestigious forum.

Within the framework of his one day working visit in the Romanian capital Minister Djankov will talk with Nouriel Roubini, professor of economics, New York University\'s Stern School of Business. At 14:00 the Deputy Prime Minister will have a meeting with his Romanian colleague Sebastian Vladescu. They will discuss joint actions to fight cigarette contraband from Ukraine and Moldova.