The study with the mentioned title outlines the specifici ty of the Romanian world related to its level of development and to the interest of foreign capital in capitalizing the potential of the Romanian economy. In the middle of the 19th century the foreign capital penetrates the Romanian economy only in form of some state loans awarded under onerous conditions. In the second half of the 19th century, the foreign capital is present in the Romanian economy in form of direct investments in the large manufacturing industry but it has not a decisive role in the economical evolution of our country. Foreign capital manifested an extreme interest and was very present in the oil industry, especially after passing the Mine Law in 1895. Thus, after approximately one decade and half from enacting the mentioned law, the capital investments in the oil industry had the following structure: German – 39,3%, French – 15,0%, Dutch – 10,1%, American – 6,8%, Italian – 6,1%, Belgian – 3,6%, English – 2,7%. In this structure, the Romanian capital owned 14,1%.

The accumulation of capital, which, in our country evolved under the circumstances mentioned and through the known methods, determined the gradual transformation of the market economy in a capitalist economy. The shortage of own capital, accumulation of which was limited by the fac tors reminded above, offered the foreign capital the opportunity to penetrate the market and at the same time it imposed the resort to this one.

The foreign capital contributed as well to maintain the Romanian economy, in the context of its gearing into the world’s economical circuit, in a status of a peripheral and dependent economy, movement of which took place also under the influence of foreign economical powers. Watched in time, the consequences of the foreign capital’s penetration represented a part of the cost of modernizing the Romanian economy.