From the 28th to the 30th of May the Vending Expo took place in the fairground of the Romexpo in Bucharest, hosting 30 stands of both Romanian and International companies. Erwin Wetzel, Director General of the EVA, visited the fair and took the opportunity to meet various players of the Romanian market who informed him about recent developments and legislative challenges.

This was also a good moment to liaise with the Board and the staff of PRIV, the Romanian Vending Association, with whom the EVA has a strong relationship especially when it comes to advocacy activities. Indeed, the vending & OCS business is constantly growing, but the Romanian government has recently drafted some measures that could hamper this positive development and hence create some unnecessary issues. Therefore, the authorities’ awareness about the industry needs to be increased so that companies can keep on investing in new machines and businesses. Nevertheless, the show was very high quality and exhibitors were satisfied about the number of visitors.

Vending Expo as a vending exhibition is a reasonable size, but it is a great event to get in touch with the main players in Romania and for local operators to discover new suppliers, products and services. We already look forward to the next edition, planned for 2 years time.