Joining our Kingdom
in Bucharest?
– A cheat sheet for newbies who want
to begin their Romanian saga in full swing.
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For those that go the extra mile
We know moving to another country is a life changing decision.
That’s why we’ve gathered everything essential in this easy-toread-guide so you don’t have to. This way you can enjoy your
time fully when you get here – like hunting for the real Dracula,
seeing Europe’s largest rock sculpture or driving the long and
winding Transfăgărășan road.
Joking aside, all we want is to be there for you. Whether you’d
like help filling out a tax form or need inspiration for places to
eat, live and sleep – King is at hand.
Contents
Bucharest – combining modern business with rowdy nightlife and stunning architecture 5
Nom nom nom, what’s boiling in the cauldron? 7
Benefits, vacation and learning how to pronounce ‘sărmăluţe cu mămăligă”
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Where the little monsters go
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How to keep your health bar full
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Where you hang your (witch) hat
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Ready to play?
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Romania – the bullets
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Wanna know more?
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Bucharest – combining
modern business with
rowdy nightlife and
stunning architecture
Bucharest, the capital of Romania, is located in the
southeast and with its 1.9 million inhabitants it is
the largest city in Romania. The city is also the most
prosperous city in Romania and the centre of Romanian media, arts and culture. It also has a pretty
rowdy nightlife with bars and clubs that don’t really
shut. The night life here is one of the most vivid, with
the city being voted the second capital of fun, after
Berlin. Beyond the bars and night clubs, there’s also
a great amount of festivals, concerts and events.
Furthermore, Bucharest is especially famous for
its stunning architecture – blending neoclassical,
Bauhaus and Art Deco and communist-era as well as
modern buildings. It has even been referred to as Little Paris, although many buildings were damaged or
destroyed during the Second World War. Still, many
buildings remain and throughout Romania you will
be able to visit divine castles, like the infamous Bran
Castle in Transylvania – ‘home’ of Bram Stoker’s
Count Dracula.
The famous region Transylvania, one out of nine, is
in the Carpathian Mountains. It offers opportunities
for skiing, climbing, hiking or driving. This is where
the challenging and 90 km long Transfăgărășan
road is, which runs at an altitude of 2,034 metres
with several twists and turns. But really, you can
go anywhere in Romania to find unbeaten paths in
bubble-bewitching and beautiful scenic landscapes,
for example along the Danube River (Europe’s
second longest river). The unspoilt nature and great
agricultural landscape serves the perfect resource for
local grown food and, especially, a long tradition of
wine-making and produce of some of the world’s top
wines and bubbletastic potions!
It’s also in the countryside you will be able to take
part in the traditional dance of Calusarul – dance
and try to keep your legs in order – and find many
historical places and seven UNESCO listed world
heritage sites. Some examples of these are the
wooden churches of Maramureș with their tall and
slim bell towers, the spectacular Voroneț Monastery
with its frescoes in an intense shade of blue as well
as the numerous Roman and Dacian sites.
Shaping Romania
The Dacians are some of the oldest known settlers in
the area of Romania. Still to this day king Decebalus
is considered a national hero for holding the Dacian
Kingdom over as many as three wars against the
Roman Empire. In the 1990’s he was commemorated
as a 40-metre tall carved rock sculpture by businessman Iosif Constantin Drăgan, the second wealthiest
man in Romania, who in turn made sure to leave a
humble legacy behind by ensuring ’Made by Dragan’
was carved in Latin in the inscription right beneath
the sculpture.
Not only has the region of Romania been invaded by
the Roman Empire, it has also been invaded by the
Ottoman Empire and gone through the World Wars.
Romania’s borders have therefore been changing
constantly. Not until the European Revolutions of
1848, with the political upheavals throughout Europe, did Romania gain autonomy from the Ottoman
Empire. It would last until 1877 before Romania was
recognised as a single state and from then on had a
40-year period of stability and progress. During this
period Romania gave birth to several engineering inventions, especially in aerodynamics, and in biology.
As soon as the First World War started, Romania –
trying to stay neutral – entered a time of tug of war
between the Central Powers that continued throughout the Second World War, when Romania was, to
a large extent, prompted to fight for the Axis until
1944 when they switched sides to the Allies. Following the end of the Second World War Romania was
occupied by the Soviet Union and led by communist
and totalitarian leader Nicolae Ceaușescu until his
government fell in 1989.
Since then Romania has been empowered by a large
economic growth, with great improvements of living
standard and reduced poverty. However, as many
other countries, Romania has suffered deeply from
the late 2000’s recession with big economic debts
that has led to a heavy emigration.
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Modern Bucharest and the tech community
Now, the image of Romania as being a poor country
with petty crimes is not a truthful portrayal. Romania
is as safe as any other country in Europe, if not safer.
And it’s important to remember that, while the economic recession obviously has affected the country,
Bucharest is still a very modern city with a young
and highly engaged tech community. Coming to
Bucharest, you will find it easy to meet a lot of tech
enthusiasts and join in on a number of regular tech
meet-ups, such as Tech Hub and Impact Hub.
Apart from the great tech community, you’ll also be
able to find expat communities that can make the
transition easier. At the same time, the Romanians
are very friendly and happy to meet people from other cultures. So making new friends will surely not be
a problem, as long as you’re not Rancid the Raccoon
from Farm Heroes Saga!
Nom nom nom, what’s
boiling in the cauldron?
With its rich history as a country – on its own, with
several neighbouring states and several invasions –
the Romanian cuisine has come to combine a plethora of flavours. You’ll be able to trace influences from
the Turkish, Hungarian, German, Russian and Latin
based cuisines. And in the countryside, you’ll find
that many people still cook using clay pots and castiron kettles – not unlike those used in Bubble Witch
Saga – infusing the food with a unique flavour and
bringing back memories of Romania as it once was.
Polenta, or Mamaliga as they say in Romania, has a
central position as a hearty and versatile ingredient
used for many Romanian dishes. This corn-based
porridge can be baked, fried and served as balls or
cakes and has been eaten in the region for centuries – it dates back to the time of the Roman Empire.
You’ll find this dish at several restaurants and it is still
served in Romanian homes. The same goes for the
now traditional Romanian dessert Alivenci, a custard
tart with cornmeal and cream cheese as well as the
traditional Easter pie Pască, filled with sweet cottage
cheese.
the Dacians. As such, Romania has some traditional
cheeses, especially from Transylvania, were cheese is
matured in bark – giving it a unique flavour.
Apart from Roman and century-old influences,
Turkish dishes has a strong presence in the Romanian
cuisine. You can find the spicy Chiftele (deep-fried
meatballs), Mici (barbecued ground meat rolls), various meat and vegetable soups or stews, the classic
Sarmale (meat and rice stuffed in cabbage) and
of course the yummy Christmas sweet bread filled
with – depending on the region – nuts, poppy seeds,
raisins, orange or lemon rind, rum or Turkish delight.
Delicious!
Benefits, vacation and
learning how to pronounce
‘sărmăluţe cu mămăligă’
Vacation
By law, every employee is entitled to at least 21 days
of paid vacation. However, at King we offer you a
total of 25 days. This includes 21 days throughout
the year plus four days to be used during Christmas.
Most Romanians usually enjoy their vacation around
Christmas and during summer.
Bucharest is perfectly located so that you can reach
either the Carpathian Mountains or the beaches
by the Black Sea by car in just a few hours. You
can therefore easily go skiing in the famous resorts
Sinaia, Predeal or Poiana Braşov or swimming and
sun-tanning at the beautiful beaches of Vama Veche,
Mamaia or even the Danube Delta.
Parental leave
The total days of paid parental leave is 126 days for
either the father or the mother. Out of these, the first
42 days after birth are compulsory. Paid parental
leave is 85% of the average pay for the last 12
months, but a minimum of 600 RON/month and not
more than 3,400 RON/month. A second year can be
taken, at a maximum of 1,200 RON/month. Fathers
not going on parental leave have 5 compulsory days
with full pay after birth plus 10 extra days, if they
take a child care course (only applicable once).
Cheesy goodness is at the centre of many Romanian
dishes and the word for it, Branza, dates back to
before the Roman Empire and the golden days of
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Community Day
To show our love to the community we also offer one
paid day a year to be used for community or charity
purposes. This is organised by the local studios
together with HR.
Learning English and Romanian
We offer free language courses in English and
Romanian (English is our of ficial business language)
as well as any other local studio language such as
Swedish, Spanish and German. Soon you will be
able to say “sărmăluţe cu mămăligă“ with perfect
pronunciation.
Where the little
monsters go
School is free in Romania, except for the private
institutions that are partly funded by the government
to all Romanian and Moldavian citizens. Depending
on the university, foreign citizens will have to pay
taxes. The annual private tuition fees vary a lot, from
€5,000 up to €19,000. Students in Romania will
be able to utilise the various student discounts for
transportation, museums, theatres, medical care and
restaurants.
Child Care
While at work, you can leave your children at either
public or private day care. Day care is divided into
nursery schools (1-3 years old) and kindergartens
(3-6 years old), which in turn are divided into three
groups depending on age. Kindergartens also offer
three types of institutions; regular hours, after school
and weekly programmes.
A majority of the nursery schools are private whereas there are more public options when it comes to
kindergartens. There are numerous options offered
and your child will be able to have classes in foreign
languages (English, French and German) and
– depending on the facilities – swimming, gymnastics, ballet, painting, theatre, music and even science
and chess.
Schools
Kids can begin pre-school at 6 years’ old or wait
another year and start at 7. From that age education
is mandatory for 10 years (to the age of 18/19). The
school year runs from middle of September to the
end of June and is divided into two semesters with
several vacations spread throughout. This includes
one week in November for primary and pre-school
students, two weeks winter vacation, one week in
February, which makes up the mid-term after which
the second semester starts, an almost two week long
spring break around Easter and a longer summer
vacation of three months.
School is divided into Primary School of grades 1-4,
Gymnasium (not a sports focused school like native
English speakers might believe) of grades 5-9, and
High School of grades 10-12. In the last year of the
Gymnasium several final exams are taken of which
the results will dictate for what further education the
students can apply to. Continued education is divided into theoretic, technical and vocational (art, sport
or theology). Depending on the high school’s profile,
extra exams may be required. Students can also
go for less demanding options after Gymnasium,
such as schools of arts & crafts, which may range
between 2-3 years.
Some public high schools have a foreign language
profile and will offer a large number to all classes in
another language, such as English, French, German,
Spanish, Japanese or Italian. There are also international schools that offer specific language classes,
a diverse learning environment and numerous after
school activities. These options are largely available
in the bigger cities, Bucharest, Iasi, Brasov, Timisoara
and Cluj.
After High School, students can continue on by
applying for universities or post high school programmes (e.g. nursing school). There’s also a wide
array of institutes that offers specified classes in
everything from languages to sports and arts.
University, Masters and Ph.D.
Romania follows the Bologna Process, which means
that most university bachelor programmes last for
three years, from which the students can continue on
towards a masters’ degree (1-2 years) and then a
Ph.D. (3 years).
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On the weekends
Taking your children to the park after school or on
the weekend will be no problem at all with several child-friendly, and dog-friendly, options. In the
second biggest park, Tineretului park, you’ll also find
the beloved adventure playground. Other activities
include horse riding in the Baneasa area or just outside Bucharest, the Adventure Park in Brasov, skate
and water parks in the city. There are also the various
expat communities where your children can meet
other children with the same background.
How to keep your
health bar full
Health Care
The health care in Romania is highly valued, and the
medical staff is often recruited to other countries for
their expertise. Naturally, there are both public and
private hospitals and although the general belief is
that the private practices are of higher quality, that’s
not always the case. Further, as the public institutions
are steadily improving, there has been a motion for a
merge between the public and private systems.
Social Insurance
Public Social Insurance is compulsory and tax of
10.5% of your monthly salary will be deducted
automatically (tax base is capped at approximately
€2,550). As such, health care is free at any medical
private or public institution that have a contract with
the National House of Health Insurance (CNAS),
as long as you as a foreigner hold a long-stay visa.
However, if you are a EU citizen you might benefit
from medical services in accordance to specific
agreements. The free health care covers general
practitioner services/family doctor, medical emergencies, ambulance and SMURD services (comCost of living
Green areas
plementary special emergency services), hospital
services, medical devices and medications. Naturally, it’s possible to extend the compulsory insurance
with the various services provided by private health
assurance of fers.
Where you hang
your (witch) hat
Housing
King will help you find a permanent home and assist
you with short-term accommodation. In Bucharest
you will be able to find alternatives for renting or
buying either an apartment or a house. You will also
find that there’s a great variety of loans and that
there is a first home-buyer’s grant in place. Naturally
the prices for renting and buying are higher in the
capital and decrease in other cities or just outside the
cities, where you’ll find more houses. If you decide on
renting you should know that utilities (gas, electricity,
water) are not included in the price, but that you most
likely will find that furniture and electrical appliances
(such as fridge and washing machine) are included in
the monthly rate. In Bucharest prices ranges between
€200-300/month for a studio apartment and €600900/month for a three room apartment.
Other living costs
As always pricing on international brands and car fuel
doesn’t differ that much. However, when it comes to
entertainment, food and drinks, living in Bucharest is
generally cheaper than major Western European capitals. The average price for a beer is €2-3, €1 for one
litre of milk and €15 for a three-course lunch. An €11
per month transport card will get you around the city.
Creativity
Clubbing
Family oriented
Baneasa - Pipera
Dorobanti - Aviatiei
City Center
1 Mai - Charles de Gaulle
Cotroceni
Tineretului
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Ready to play?
Romania – the bullets
You do not need a visa to enter Romania if you are
from within the European Union, Iceland, Norway,
Liechtenstein or Switzerland. However, you need to
register with the Romanian Office for Immigrants when
you plan to stay for employment. If you are a NonEU citizen you need to apply for a visa issued by the
Romanian Embassy/Consulate in your country.
• Capital: Bucharest (București),
2 million inhabitants
• Population: 21.7 million, 9th largest population
in Europe.
• Area: 238.391 km2 (92.043 square miles)
• Language: Romanian; most widely spoken minority
language is Hungarian.
• Currency: Romanian Leu (RON)
• Time zone: GMT+2
• Climate: Continental
• Main industries: Chemical (petrochemical,
paints and varnishes), metal processing, machine
manufacturing, industrial and transport equipment,
textiles, consumer goods, lumbering and furniture.
• Form of government: Semi-parliamentary democratic republic based on a bicameral parliament:
the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate.
• Head of State: President of the Republic.
• National Government: Led by the Prime Minister,
confirmed by the Parliament on the nomination of
the President of Romania.
• Electoral System: Parliament is voted for each
fourth year, and President each fifth year. The
President is allowed to serve two consecutive terms.
Voting is from the age of 18.
• Religion: Christian Orthodox (81.9%), Protestant
(6.4%), Roman Catholic (4.3%)
• Counties: Romania is divided into 41 counties,
each run by its own Council.
• Regions: Romania has nine major regions:
Dobrogea, Moldova, Bucovina, Maramurs,
Crisana, Transilvania, Banat, Oltenia si Mutenia.
Follow the link at the end of this document. Your friendly local HR team will help you with this as well.
Taxes
The general tax is a flat rate of 16%. You need to
register for tax purposes within 15 days after your
first day of employment. As always, your friendly local
HR team will help you with the registration.
On a general note, foreigners are only subject to
Romanian income tax for income earned in Romania
during the first year of staying in the country. The
following year, however, you might be taxable on your
worldwide income. Beyond income tax, you will pay
10.5% of your monthly salary for social security (tax
base is capped at approximately €2,550), 5.5% for
health fund contribution and 0.5% to the unemployment fund. However, as a EU citizen the EU social
security regulations will apply when it comes to social
security. In other cases of non-EU citizenship, both
the employers and employees must contribute to the
social security system.
Driver’s permits
If you hold a drivers’ license (that still is valid) issued
in another EU member state you will be able to drive
in Romania. The same goes for national or international driving permits issued by relevant authorities in
countries that have signed the International Convention of Traf fic (Vienna 1968).
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Wanna know more?
Romanian Times
Romanian news in English
www.romaniantimes.at
Eures
European Employment Services
ec.europa.eu/eures
Hotnews
Romanian news in English
english.hotnews.ro
Solvit
Solving problems on the EU/EEA market
ec.europa.eu/solvit
ZF English
Regional business news in English
www.zfenglish.com
Romanian Office for Immigration
ori.mai.gov.ro/home/index/en
Your Europe
Useful information and checklists
europa.eu/youreurope
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Where the magic happens
The Bucharest studio opened in 2011 and is the home of our hit
and first social game to be synced on both Facebook and mobile,
Bubble Witch Saga. Bucharest, famous for its cold winters and
hot summers, is the centre of Romanian media, arts and culture
as well as a city that provides a stunning architecture, blending
neoclassical, Bauhaus and Art Deco and communist-era as well
as modern buildings. From our studio in Opera Center you are just
a short walk from the Palace of the Parliament, some of the main
university faculties and, of course, the Bucharest National Opera.
You’ll also reach the tourist spots and nightlife in the old town in
no time. Don’t forget to join in on the regular Studio Updates on
Thursdays!
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