In Rumania, Virginia tobacco is grown on approximately 40 % of the total acreage grown with tobacco. The fields grown with Virginia tobacco are located on sandy, leaching soils in the south and the north-west of the country and also on smaller surfaces in the Center - Ardeal region. The cultivars grown on the entire acreage are created by the Central Research Station for Tobacco Growing and Industrialization Bucharest and are suited to the conditions of growing and to the demands of the Rumanian consumers. The main characteristic of these cultivars is "the neutral type" regarding the flavour. Regarding the behaviour to the attack of some virosis, TMV and PVY, which frequently occur in the areas grown with Virginia tobacco, all of the Virginia cultivars possess genetic resistance to TMV and few of them, Virginia 196, Virginia 207 and Virginia L.I. 965 are tolerant to PVY in the field. The selection for TMV was performed by artificial testing beginning with F2 which resulted from hybrids F1 whose mother parent has genetic resistance to TMV. Concerning PVY, the breeding program for the development of Virginia cultivars with genetic resistance to this virus started two years ago, using as donor source of resistance some foreign cultivars (from Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland). The grown Virginia cultivars were artificially tested for resistance to PVY and they showed tolerance, expressed through chlorotic systemic symptoms, with pearled interveinal aspect. Research is being conducted on the transfer of the gene for resistance to PVY for the Virginia lines presently tested.