National Geographic no longer in print in Romania after 20 years

National Geographic Magazine will be no longer in print in Romania, after 20 years, editor-in-chief Cătălin Gruia announced.

The decision comes amid the financial problems of the publishing company, City Publishing, paginademedia reports, with the court ruling in the insolvency of the company last week.

The editor-in-chief of the magazine, Cătălin Gruia, wrote on Monday on Facebook that the City Publishing press trust will not continue publishing the National Geographic brand in Romania, and this means that, at least for now, the magazine dedicated to science, exploration and adventure will not will still appear in our country.

“There are moments in life – an accident, a revolution or the death of a child –  which shake your entire being, when you feel like taking the boat to the shore and finding a retreat. This is happening to me now, after 20 years with National Geographic, at the thought that the December issue might be our last in the Romanian language“, said the editor-in-chief.

“National Geographic remains a standard of excellence in journalism and a continuous story about discovery, exploration and the power of images to change the world (…) We have done our best for the last two decades,” Gruia added, revealing what Amy Kolzac, the manager of the National Geographic international issues in her good-bye e-mail:

“We are so sorry about this sad state of affairs from one of our brightest and longest-running teams and the difficulties and uncertainties you’ve faced over the last several months. The small Romanian team has an outsize legacy—it includes one of the first stories that was widely picked up by other editions (Dracula, of course!), the inspiration for the Bucharest wilderness park (Văcărești), and with the compelling Proofs and other pieces, what I believe may be the most stories picked up by the flagship edition from a local edition, not to mention countless other articles of impact and photography at the highest level”.

National Geographic Magazine appeared in Romania in May 2003, being published by Sanoma Hearst Romania. The company was later taken over by the German group Burda and, a year and a half ago, moved to City Publishing