THE IMPACT OF CRISIS SITUATIONS ON THE FINANCIAL INDICATORS OF ROMANIAN COMPANIES

Abstract

The society is always on move and to deal promptly with this dynamic, the only option of companies is rapid and continuous adaptation to changes even trying to transform certain challenges into opportunities. The purpose of the paper is to analyze the impact that the changes in the economic environment, from the last period, had on Europe, and then specifically on Romania. The unexpected situations that have happened in recent years, starting with the COVID 19 pandemic, then with the war between Russia and Ukraine, and in the last year, strong inflation rates and accentuated economic crises, are some of the topics analyzed in the paper, highlighting the effect that these events had on the economy. The paper contains theoretical approaches regarding the effects of inflation on the whole society, both on individuals and on economic entities. The research methodology is qualitative, carrying out a descriptive analysis of the financial information of five significant Romanian companies, through the main economic and financial indicators, in order to analyze the changes that took place at their level, in the period 2019-2022. The previously mentioned events will be briefly analyzed, as well as the possible measures taken at the national or global level. The results showed that both companies from production and trade of petroleum products were more affected by the COVID-19 pandemic than by the war in Ukraine, and the other three companies, in the field of industry, suffered an accumulation of consequences, the war aggravating the crisis generated by the pandemic. Whether it is transport, industry, services, or other branches of contemporary economy, they all need fuel, in larger or smaller quantities, depending on the field of activity. So, the fuel price changes affected the costs and implicitly the profitability of the companies, but for the entities in the field of trade with petroleum products, the crisis was an opportunity to evolve and become stronger in the market.