Monday, December 27, 2004

The five financial investment companies (SIFs) have ended the first eleven months of the year with profits amounting to 2,539 billion ROL (65 million euros), three of these institutions having logged significant increases in earnings as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

Early this year, the SIF officials had forecast small profit spurs, or even drops. Last year brought smaller profits for banks, which reflected into the level of dividends they distributed in 2004. Banking stocks make up the bulk of the SIFs' portfolio, sometimes accounting for more than 50%, which means that the safest source of revenues for the financial investment companies in the past five years have been the dividends paid by banks.

Still, some of the SIFs managed to offset the drop of dividend-related revenues by selling stakes for higher prices than the levels registered in the accounting books.

SIF Transilvania, which posted the highest profit among SIFs in eleven months this year, sold almost 10% in Rompetrol Rafinare in 2004, which allowed it to log exceptional results. The company's profit amounts, after the first eleven months, to 823 billion ROL (21.1 million euros), the equivalent of more than 1,500 ROL/share.

The highest profit growth of all the five SIFs was posted by SIF Oltenia, which reported profit was up 163% after the first eleven months of 2004 as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

Source: reporter.gr
Posted by Mihai : 12/27/2004 02:23:00 AM

Saturday, December 25, 2004

Here are the latest investment news, courtesy of ZF.

- SIF Muntenia sold 5.1% of stocks in Banc Post to the bank's majority shareholder, Greek group EFG Eurobank Ergasias.

- Dan Adamescu, a Romanian businessman that is also owner of UNIREA Shopping Center, bought some stocks in the company that edits the Romania Libera daily newspaper. I wonder if this is going to affect the editorial policy of Romania Libera...small chances though, as WAZ still holds the majority of shares.

- The mergers and acquisitions conducted in Romania during 11 months from the beginning of the year amount to $717 million (approximately 651 million euros), 28.7% more than last year, according to the data provided by the professional service company KPMG.

- Slovenia-based Kemofarmacija put up an offer to buy Pharmafarm for 2.5 milion Euro.
Posted by Mihai Botea : 12/25/2004 10:14:00 PM

The Business-in-Romania Blog Team wishes you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR !

May you have great holidays and we wish you a very succesful year in 2005.

Thank you for reading our blog and we assure you that 2005 will be a very high quality year for the Business-in-Romania Blog and we hope you will all benefit from our efforts.

ALL THE BEST AND MAY SANTA TURN ALL YOUR DREAMS TO LIFE !

The Business-in-Romania Blog Team

Posted by Mihai Botea : 12/25/2004 01:29:00 AM

Thursday, December 23, 2004

President Traian Basescu yesterday nominated Liberal-Democratic Alliance (PNL-PD) politician Calin Popescu-Tariceanu as the country's next prime minister.

Tariceanu announced he will propose his government to the Parliament as soon as possible so it can be approved by December 29 at the latest.

The stake for having the government working before the first day of 2005 is issuing an emergency ordinance in 2004, so that the 16 percent flat tax proposed by the Alliance is applied in 2005.

Tariceanu announced the core of the future government is centered on the two components of the Alliance: Liberals (PNL) and Democrats (PD).

Resume: Calin Popescu-Tariceanu

Born: January 14, 1952, Bucharest
Married with 2 children

SCHOOLS:
1981 - Master of Science in Informatics and Mathematics
1976 - Technical University of Construction in Bucharest, Specialized Engineer at the College of Hydromechanics

POLITICAL ACTIVITIES
Oct. 2004 - present - Interim President of the Liberal Party (PNL)
1993-2004 -Vice President of the Liberal Party (PNL)
1990-1992 - Member of the Constitutional Assembly (Parliament)
1990 - Executive Secretary of the Liberal Party (PNL)
1990 - Founder of the Liberal Party (PNL)

STATE FUNCTIONS
1996-1997 - Minister of Industry and Commerce
1996-1997 - Minister of the State
2000-2004 - Deputy, Vice President of the Budget Commission, Finance and Banks
1996-2000 - Deputy, member of the Political- Economic Commission; Reform and Privatization

WEALTH
According to his declaration of wealth published on December 15, 2004, the prime minister nominee owns:
1 apartment, (120 sqm apartment with a property tax value of 511 million lei)

two holiday residences, (One of his two holiday houses, purchased in 2002, is 200 sqm and a property tax value worth 3 billion lei. The house is situated on 1,700 sqm land, but is 85 percent finished. The second holiday house was bought in 2004, is 136.91 sqm and a property tax value of 2.8 billion lei)

four cars (three Citroen cars bought in 1999, 1996 and 2002 and a Fiat he inherited in 2000)

400,000 euros in a bank account and 100,000 euros in dividends.

He is a shareholder of Automotive Trading Services and importer of Citroen vehicles in Romania, owning 1 million stocks worth 3.5 billion lei, a shareholder of Intervam, Financial Investments Companies (SIF) and Siretul Pascani.

He is also the unique shareholder of Romtrucks.

Tariceanu is both a member of the Director Council of Auto Vehicle Importers and Producers' Association (APIA) and of the Directors Council of Free Initiative Institute.


Posted by Iulia Stoicescu : 12/23/2004 11:31:00 AM

Shareholders of the Romanian oil giant Petrom will elect a new chairman of the company on January 11 next year, when they are also expected to confirm the members of the Managing Committee.

OMV, who last week completed the takeover of Romania's largest oil company Petrom, installed in accordance with the privatization agreement two Austrian managers on December 15 as interim directors.

They are OMV's Werner Schinhan and Hilmar Kroat-Reder.



Posted by Iulia Stoicescu : 12/23/2004 11:09:00 AM

Dan Corneliu Pascariu, HVB Bank president, will replace Teodor Melescanu on the board of directors of Rompetrol SA, the management division of the oil group, Rompetrol.

The president of the group is Dinu Patriciu.




Posted by Iulia Stoicescu : 12/23/2004 09:44:00 AM

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

The International Commercial Court in Washington will make a decision in the case between U.S. company Noble Ventures and Romania.

The company is claiming more than 350 $million in damages from the Romanian state for canceling the privatization of the Resita Iron and Steel Plant (CSR).

Mircea Ursache, president of the Authority for State Assets Recovery (AVAS), yesterday said the final pleading has a 30 day term to be analyzed and a 30 day term in which to make the final judgment.

The privatization contract signed with Noble Ventures was cancelled in December 2002 after the investor failed to pay two successive parts of the transaction.

The trial started in 2001. CSR has since been bought by the German company Sinara Handel.


Posted by Iulia Stoicescu : 12/22/2004 10:17:00 AM

The Romanian Agency for Foreign Investors (ARIS) yesterday confirmed a record 3.4bn euros in foreign direct investments (FDI) by yearend.

ARIS also said that foreign investors in Romania have recently changed their focus, leaving behind traditional fields such as textile manufacturing and related sectors in favor of sectors in the economy that use new technology.

According to ARIS, forthcoming investments will generate over 8,900 new jobs in Romania.

After ten months this year, the National Bank of Romania (BNR) witnessed FDI inflows worth 1.88 billion euros, about 45% up on the same period a year-ago, the release added.

Under these circumstances, the Agency confirmed FDI would exceed 3.4 billion euros record by the end of this year.

The record high index occurred thanks to the completion of Petrom's privatization, the Romanian oil giant that was taken over by Austria's gas and oil group OMV for 1.5 billion euros, and to an increase in greenfield and brownfield investments.

Other privatization contracts signed this year will also contribute to a surge in the index next year.

Power companies Electrica Dobrogea and Electrica Banat, which were taken over by Italy's Enel and the sale of gas producers and distributors Distrigaz Sud and Distrigaz Nord to Gaz de France to German Ruhrgas, will add over 700 million euros to the FDI volume in 2005.

ARIS also said it would support several greenfield investment projects that will be completed in 2005-2006.

Projects announced by the Agency for this fall include the German group Tengelmann, which will invest 200 million euros in Romania, generating 3,000 new jobs and France's Montupet, whose planned 120 million euros of investments will create 2,150 new jobs.

Celestica is set to inject 100 million euros in a project requiring 1,000 employees, Saint-Gobain will invest 100 million euros and create 200 jobs, whilst Coficab have said they will invest 25 million euros and create 200 jobs.

Furthermore, Ruwel AG will invest 80 million euros, while the Italian firm Pirelli will place 40 million euros in the Cord Romania plant and another 110 million euros in a plant to produce tires.

FDI per capita will amount to 150 euros this year, double the level reported last year.

However, Romania lags behind other countries from Central and Eastern Europe, such as Croatia - 331 euros, the Czech Republic - 190 euros, Estonia - 497 euros and Hungary - 185 euros.


Posted by Iulia Stoicescu : 12/22/2004 10:12:00 AM

CEC chairman Enache Jiru yesterday said investment bank JP Morgan, the privatization consultant, will develop the CEC privatization strategy by February 2005 when it will deliver it to the government.

According to the privatization schedule, the government plans to approve the strategy by the end of March 2005.

Romanian state will forward in the second half next year the bid offers to several banks and financial institutions interested in taking over CEC, and the entire process will be completed by the fall of 2005.

Posted by Iulia Stoicescu : 12/22/2004 09:52:00 AM

Wolfgang Schoiswohl, director of HVB Romania's Corporate Banking division, was appointed vice-president of the bank.

He will replace Helmut Bernkopf, who will direct the Bank Austria Creditanstalt coordination division for Central and Eastern Europe.

The new vice-president has been working as HVB Bank's executive director in Romania since 2002.

In addition, he has been working for Bank Austria Creditanstalt for more than 20 years.
Before coming to Romania, Schoiswohl directed the Central and Eastern Europe division of the Bank Austria Creditanstalt London subsidiary.
Bernkopf has been directing HVB Romania since 2001.



Posted by Iulia Stoicescu : 12/22/2004 09:46:00 AM

Mircea Ursache, president of the Authority for State Assets Recovery (AVAS), said yesterday that there will be a selection of public offers.

He added that the notice for the privatization offer will be published in local and international press by this yearend.

At the beginning of November, AVAS said it intends to negotiate to sell the shares it owns at Electroputere to the corporation formed by Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Transportation System, the ELPAS Craiova employees' association and DAB Greece.

In October, Ursache said AVAS was in final negotiations with the companies General Electric, Bombardier, Siemens and Electroputere employees' association.



Posted by Iulia Stoicescu : 12/22/2004 09:41:00 AM

“Taking into account that wine production increased this year to six million hectolitres compared to 5.4 million hectolitres in 2003, the total turnover of this sector worth approx. USD 300 M,” said Ovidiu Gheorghe, the General Manager of Vineyard and Wine National Employers’ Association (PNVV).

Romania exported 420,000 hectolitres worth approx. USD 25 M, but PNVV officials consider that, compared to 2003, in 2004 the value of exported volume is superior thanks to the reduction of the exported bulk wine.
The main countries for the wine exports in 2004 were Germany, Great Britain, Israel and Republic of Moldavia. According to PNVV General Manager, the reduction and the elimination of the taxes positively affected not just the wine market but more important it affected investments policy of the grapes and wine producers from Romania, who are able now, through fiscal abatement, to use those monies for programs of investments in vineyard and technology.

Thinking ahead of Romania’s accession to European Union, the Romanian legislature is updated in wine-making sector 100 percent. PNVV and Inter-professional Wine-making National Organisation (ONIV) and the National Office for Origin Names for Wines and Other Wine-making Products (ONDOV) collaborated in a project for changing and addition of vineyard and wine law.

Source: reporter.gr



Posted by Mihai : 12/22/2004 08:50:00 AM

Tuesday, December 21, 2004

This year, Oltchim Ramnicu Valcea estimates a raw profit of approximately ROL 600 bln (about EUR 14,8 M), 17 times higher than the initially estimated ROL 35 bln level, as a result to putting into operation new installations and to the International oil price increase.

“Our accomplishments regarding raw profit, amounting to ROL 600 bln, are mainly the result of putting into operation two installation, earlier than expected. At the same time, export prices have increased a lot, supported by the oil prices increase, also causing a higher price for derived products,” stated Vasile Mandica, Economic Manager for Oltchim.

Company’s income and expense budget (BVC) afferent to 2005 and approved by shareholders at the end of last week, includes reaching a raw profit of ROL 582 bln. “Next year we are counting on keeping the same ascendant trend for export prices or on their constant evolution as opposed to this year’s fourth trimester,” said Mandica.

According to company's calculations for 2005, the incomes will reach ROL 15,255 bln (approximately EUR 380 M) while expenses will amount to ROL 14,673 bln. Sums obtained from exports will represent more than two thirds from industrial complex’s total income, reaching more than ROL 11,380. The largest part of Oltchim exports are destined to countries in the Middle East, including Turkey and to West-European countries.

Posted by Mihai Botea : 12/21/2004 02:25:00 PM

Romanian off-road vehicle producer ARO, controlled by U.S.'s Cross Lander, will sell its vehicles in the U.S. as of next year, after American environmental authorities gave the go-ahead for the 244X model, equipped with a Ford engine.

According to a Cross Lander release, the model was approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The company plans to increase production in order to develop a stock that will be sold on the U.S. market.

The sale price is expected to be around $20,000.

Cross Lander announced earlier this year that EPA analysis targets the materials that the seats are made of. If the sale is approved, 244X will be the first Romania off-road model launched in the United States.

Cross Lander has already signed distribution partnerships with over 140 car dealers and built a network for connected services, such as spare parts distribution, service, warranties, promotion and personnel training, the release said.

The officials of the U.S. company estimated in January the American market could absorb 8-10,000 ARO vehicles.


Posted by Iulia Stoicescu : 12/21/2004 01:10:00 PM

Adidas, the world's second- largest sporting-goods maker, will cut almost 10 percent of the French workforce at its winter-sports division as it shifts production of snowboards and skis to China and Romania.

Salomon will cut 160 jobs over the next two years in its native France and reduce the level of production there to 35 percent from 55 percent, according to an e-mailed statement released today.
The business, which Adidas took over in 1997, employs more than 2,800 people, more than 1,700 of whom are in France, Adidas said.

Most of the transferred ski production will go to Romania, while Adidas-Salomon will begin making products such as inline skates and snowboards in China, the company said.
The elimination of jobs will be negotiated with labor groups and involve retirement packages, job transfers and other measures.

Most of Adidas-Salomon's shoes are made in Asia, where the company has benefited from lower labor costs and the falling dollar, which shrinks production costs as purchasing prices for materials taper off.


Posted by Iulia Stoicescu : 12/21/2004 01:01:00 PM

Monday, December 20, 2004

Montero Group - a Romanian group primarily occupied with distributing pharmaceuticals said on Monday it has invested 2.4 million euro ($3.2 million) in two real estate projects.

Montero Group said the projects total 42,500 square metres and will be sold once completed. The first is in a Bucharest suburb and includes 50 single-family and several commercial buildings. The project should take two years to build.

The second project is in the Snagov mountain resort and includes 12 homes. It should take just a year to finish.

This year, MONTERO celebrated 10th year of existence. They started the business in 1993 with a single pharmacy situated in the center of Bucharest. Over the years, MONTERO has gained a reputable national network for distributing pharmaceuticals and medical devices.

Their activities focus on the pharmaceutical sector which makes up 90% of MONTERO Group’s turnover and profits. They’ve also developed a chain of medical device stores, an IT business focused on pharmaceutical companies as well as a production sector of dental materials and medical equipment.

Montero has about 450 employees throughout Romania and a turnover of about 60 milion Euro (in 2002).
Posted by Mihai Botea : 12/20/2004 05:49:00 PM

The National Bank announced the seventh interest rate cut to 17% a year, that is 4.25 percent below the 21.25% wherefrom the downward trend started this June.

The central bank's Board decided to adjust the interest rate by 0.75 percentage points on December 16, six days after the national Statistics Institute had announced the twelve month inflation had gone down below the 10% threshold (9.9% November 2004 compared to November 2003) for the first time. This and the prospect of this downward inflation trend continuing in December were the arguments that lent support to NBR's decision.

"The annual inflationary rate fell to 9.9% in November 2004, with the near future forecast pointing to the continuation of the decline in December. In order to validate this inflation deceleration process, the National Bank of Romania's Board of Governors decided to cut the interest rate by 0.75 percentage points to 17%," a press release of the central bank says.

"The market had seen the decision coming. The cut is a bit more aggressive than I had expected, but it is probably the outcome of the impact of the ROL's appreciation on the positive inflation trend. NBR is therefore betting on the inflationary trend reversal anticipated for the first quarter of 2005 not being a very important one," Radu Craciun, ABN Amro Romania chief analyst commented.

Source: Reporter.gr
Posted by Mihai : 12/20/2004 01:34:00 PM

The Romanian Commercial Bank will start today to buy gold coins, medals, ingots, jewelry of at least 14 carats and dental plates from individuals and companies.

BCR is the only credit institution in Romania providing such services to private individuals and companies.

This services is available at BCR Lipscani branch in Bucharest. In the future, this service will be extended to other offices of the bank based in the capital and across the country.

BCR will also display every day, along with the exchange rates, the purchase price for 24 karat gold.

For the gold less than 24 carats, clients will receive money according to the number of carats. However, the bank will not buy gold of less than 14 karats, nor other metal or precious stones.


Posted by Iulia Stoicescu : 12/20/2004 10:10:00 AM

The merger between the Bucharest Stock Exchange and the electronic stock exchange RASDAQ was extended to the first quarter to mid next year.

BVB-RASDAQ merger is likely to be concluded at the end of the first half of next year, as several legal requirements need to be fulfilled regarding BVB turning into a shared capital company and the unification of the two markets.

According to the officials from the two institutions, the first step in the merger process - transforming BVB from an institution of public interest to shared capital company - will be concluded no sooner than next February.

The unification of the two institutions will require having both BVB and RASDAQ titles listed on the same technical platform.

Whereas all the companies traded on BVB meet the conditions for a joint trading, only a part of the firms listed on the RASDAQ meet the new conditions. Therefore, most of the RASDAQ companies will be traded on an alternative system, which would be similar to the BVB's section for unlisted companies.


Posted by Iulia Stoicescu : 12/20/2004 10:00:00 AM

Privately-owned Dutch steelmaker Ispat International, headed by billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, completed its acquisition of LNM Holdingse, which controls Sidex.

The company, which will trade on the New York Stock Exchange and Euronext's Amsterdam stock exchange under the ticker symbol "MT", said that following the completion of the transaction its name was officially changed to Mittal Steel Company.

The new industry leader will outstrip current global No. 1 Arcelor in terms of output.
Steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal announced in October that he had agreed to buy International Steel Group (ISG) for $4.5 billion and merge it with his other assets.

Ispat operates in six countries in Europe and North America, has annual raw steel production capacity of over 18 million tons and expects to have $8.3 billion in revenue this year. Ispat shares have more than tripled over the course of the year, mostly following news of the merger.


Posted by Iulia Stoicescu : 12/20/2004 09:53:00 AM

All car owners will have to pay by January 1 an annual public road tax, the amount of which will depend on the vehicle category, the vehicle weight and its pollution emissions.

The amount of the tax to pay for each vehicle category increases depending on the pollution emission degree of the vehicles, as they have been established for Europe.

The fines for not paying the road tax will range from 3 million ROL (76 euros) to 4.5 million ROL (115 euros) for car owners, from 15 million ROL (384 euros) to 25 million ROL (641 euros) for vans, from 30 million ROL (769 euros) to 45 million ROL (1153 euros) for coaches and from 10 million ROL (256 euros) to 70 million ROL (1794 euros) for merchandise transporters.

Currently, cars, vans, buses, coaches and merchandise transporters of less than 3.5 tons are currently exempted from this tax. The annual road tax can be paid at post offices, in Petrom gas stations and special stations along the national roads.


Posted by Iulia Stoicescu : 12/20/2004 09:48:00 AM

Sunday, December 19, 2004

Galati-based steel smelter Ispat Sidex, controlled by LNM Group, expects a 2004 turnover of 2.1 billion USD, nearly doubling its 2003 result, company officials said. The company's output could reach five million tonnes of steel, from 4.6 million tonnes last year.

In 2003, the company reported a turnover of 1.28 billion USD and obtained a profit for the first time since its privatization in 2001. According to Mediafax, Ispat Sidex general manager Narendra Chaudhary did not specify the value of this year's expected profit, but said it would exceed last year's figure, which stood at 114 million USD.

Posted by Mircea B : 12/19/2004 11:51:00 PM

Fragments from an interview by Seeurope.net with Mr Declan Murphy, Programme Director of the Investment Compact for Southeast Europe

Q: How do you assess the policies of Bulgaria and Romania as the most advanced EU applicants in Southeast Europe in achieving the objectives of the Lisbon strategy? Do they have a coherent policy of achieving a knowledge society, don’t they ignore this priority?

No, on the contrary, both Romaina and Bulgaria can point to some very interesting development. The investor of the year award in Bulgaria this year will be given to a software company. This is the only regional award given to a software company, unlike other countries where the award goes to more traditional spheres such as manufacturing. In Romania we have seen, for example, Microsoft taking over of two local companies. Having said that, there are enormous opportunities to build on these achivements. Of course, I am not saying the problems with educaton have been solved. All the countries in the region have not analysed yet what kind of experts they need, what educational disciplines are the most perspective and necessary for their development. But still, even some EU countries are struggling to meet the requirements of the Lisbon strategy, that’s why there is a good progress in Bulgaria and Romania.

Read full article at:
http://www.seeurope.net/en/Story.php?StoryID=53876&LangID=1

Posted by Mircea B : 12/19/2004 11:45:00 PM

Source: www.seeurope.net

Half of all the insurance companies active in Romania will disappear from the market before 2007, after a series of mergers and takeovers, said yesterday Dan Odobescu, general manager at Unita Group Wiener Stadtische.

According to Odobescu, after 2007, the top five insurance companies will control 80% of the market. "Many small companies will disappear, but it is still possible for a multi-national company to become active on the market. A market concentration is to be expected”, says Odobescu.

Read full article at:
http://www.seeurope.net/en/Story.php?StoryID=54165&LangID=1

Posted by Mircea B : 12/19/2004 11:33:00 PM

Friday, December 17, 2004

Quite some things are going on in Romania today.

First of all, Mr. Basescu refuses to go to Bruxelles in the same plane as Iliescu, following Iliescu's decision to set Cosma free. Instead, Basescu flies to Bruxelles with a TAROM plane.

But this is nothing. Just look what follows:

While in Bruxelles, mr. Iliescu decides to RETREAT the decrete he gave yesterday about setting Cosma free, and he says he will dismiss it for now and think about it later. But he doesn't publish yet (he's in Bruxelles) this retreat order in Monitorul Oficial. Still, the Police in Timisoara arrests Cosma (what for? he is, for now, a free man...).

In the same time, Mr. Voiculescu (leader of the PUR Party) and Mr. Marko Bela (leader of UDMR party) say they reached the conclusion to form an alliance with D.A. So PSD is "left outside alone".

Well, this is it for now. But there are some bad things that can happen:

1. First of all, all this politics up and down is looking quite bad in International Press. Mr. Iliescu managed, in 2 days, to make Romania look not only irresponsable but also chaotic.

2. Second, if Mr. Cosma now is arrested without any legal paper behind this, he can afterwards attack this decision in the Court of Law and WIN! And the entire process of retreating the freeing order mr. Iliescu did today will have no value.

Hopefully, all this will turn out well.




Posted by Mihai Botea : 12/17/2004 02:02:00 PM

Banca Transilvania signed a financing agreement of EUR 10 mln. with the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) to support SME, stated the general manager of the credit institution, Robert Rekkers.

FMO was founded in 1970 as collaboration between the Dutch Government and the private sector in this country. The state holds 51% of the institution shares, and the Dutch banks 42%. In March 2003, Banca Transilvania signed an agreement with the Dutch institution on opening a credit line of USD 10 mln. for mortgage loans for the population with a maturity up to ten years.
"The EUR 10 mln. loan maturity is seven years. No matter the domain of activity, the SME will have the possibility to access credits with a maximum value of EUR 750,000 for investments or work capital. Credits can be assigned for a maximum period of seven years”, Rekkers added.

At the same time, Rekkers announced that Banca Transilvania would contract on Friday a unionist credit of EUR 22.5 mln. from several international banks, in order to diversify financing sources and to favor the credit activities development.

A part of the financing summing up EUR 7.5 mln. will come from the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and the rest from a commercial banks consortium. The credits’ maturity will be up to 5-7 years. The loan will allow the bank to assign medium and long-term financings to small and medium-sized enterprises to companies and individuals in Romania. Banca Transilvania, with the headquarters in Cluj-Napoca, will hold at the end of this year, 116 territorial units in Romania, according to Rekkers.

Source: Reporter.gr
Posted by Mihai : 12/17/2004 01:12:00 PM

Investments in Romania's Carrefour network this year hit more than 140 million euros. Following the first Carrefour, which opened in the first half of 2001 in the Militari area of Bucharest and which generated sales double the amount forecasted, the store opened last autumn in the Orhideea area of Bucharest has entered the ranks of the best performing Carrefour hypermarkets in the world.

"Orhideea is the world's third Carrefour hypermarket in terms of the daily number of people visiting it," says Andreea Mihai, marketing manager with Carrefour Romania. Mihai declined to specify the exact number of visitors, saying only that the amount of consumer traffic was higher than at other Carrefour stores in Romania.
Posted by Mihai Botea : 12/17/2004 09:17:00 AM

Thursday, December 16, 2004

NEWS UPDATE: Miron Cosma has left the Rahova prison at 16:30. Just one hour after the decrete has been published in Monitorul Oficial. So he did see it comming !!

******************

Ion Iliescu, (still) president of Romania, signed yesterday a decrete through which he is setting free Miron Cosma.

Miron Cosma has been emprisoned for conducting the revoltes in Romania started in Valea Jiului in 1990, 1991 and 1999.

In 1990 and 1991, under the leadership of Miron Cosma, the miners from Valea Jiului marched into Bucharest in protest against government opposition. In January 1999, Cosma again attempted to assert his power by calling the miners to protest once more.

Miron Cosma is known to be an ally of Mr. Iliescu, helping him in 1990 and 1991. At the same time, Miron Cosma is hated by the Romanian people for conducting revoltes that killed many people (specially students) in Bucharest, in 1990 and 1991.

Miron Cosma has been sentenced to 18 years of emprisonment in February 1999, under the presidency of Mr. Constantinescu.

The decrete that is setting up Cosma has been signed by Mr. Iliescu yesterday (15 december 2004) and will be applied when published in the Monitorul Oficial.

Most of the Romanian Civil Society, as well as lots of Romanians have to be extremely dissapointed by this decrete.



Posted by Mihai Botea : 12/16/2004 01:33:00 PM

It seems everytime a EU official congratulates Romania, in a couple of days some other EU official comes up and cool things down, reminding us that the EU accession is not something we have to take for granted.

This time, mr. Olli Rehn, the European Commissioner for Enlargement, said Romania and Bulgaria still have to do a lot before joining the EU. In an interview Helsingin Sanomat, the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter, and the Danish Politiken said:

"We should learn that the schedule must not supersede the content. Timetables must not force us to conclude negotiations before we are ready to do so", Rehn says in reference to Romania.

You can read the full article here: http://www.helsinginsanomat.fi/english/article/1101978018047

Thanks to Oana Brasoveanu for letting us know :)


Posted by Mihai Botea : 12/16/2004 01:00:00 PM

In his first interview since the elections, granted to EurActiv Romania, Stolojan expresses his trust in Basescu and underlines the new president's determination to rid the public institutions of all forms of political interference.

He said that he was "sure" that a new government will emerge in Romania out of the predictably tough coalition talks ahead, if only because "Romania needs a government".

Since the results of the November parliamentary elections in Romania were inconclusive, leaving no single party holding a majority, the political parties are now vying to set up a coalition.

Basescu is determined not to settle for a government led by a Social Democrat prime minister, since he believes that a 'cohabitation' would "lead to political instability".

Under Romanian law, if parliament proves unable to approve a government within 60 days, the president can dissolve the legislature and new elections would have to be called.

As to the chances for his staging a political comeback, Stolojan would only say that "I will see in a few days".

You can find the full interview at: http://www.euractiv.com/Article?tcmuri=tcm:29-133425-16&type=Interview

Posted by Iulia Stoicescu : 12/16/2004 10:25:00 AM

The building that hosts one of the oldest hotels in Bucharest, Hilton Athenee Palace Hotel shall be put on sale by negotiaton, a week from now. The six Romanian-French shareholders announced their intention to sell the 5 star hotel for almost 17 million dollars. The companies wishing to attend the sale of a symbol of antebellum Bucharest should have tourism as main object of activity, a turnover of 40 million dollars in 2003, audited accounts and ISO 9001 certificates, reads the sale announcement published by the Ministry of Transport, Buildings and Tourism. The nominal value of a share is of 3,000 lei and the bid will take place on December 21st, around 11:00 a.m.

The hotel is currently owned by Athenee Phenix Group, founded ten years ago as a joint venture between a state owned company - owner of the hotel - with a Romanian businessman - Mihail Circiog - and three French companies, divisions of Vivendi group. The shareholders at Athenee Phenix Group SA, the owner of the hotel, are three Romanian companies: SC Athenee Palace SA, CMC International, Hapcorp Romanian SA and three French companies: Compagnie Immobiliere Phenix, Feal International and Etudes Generales Constructions Internationales. In 1996, before the hotel was re-launched following 42 million dollars worth of investments, the shareholders signed a 20 years management contract with Hilton international hotel chain. Thus, the historic building became the first Romanian hotel operated by an international hotel chain and now it is the first hotel ever to be sold in Romania. Last year, the hotel had a turnover of more than 527 billion lei and a net profit of 113 billion lei (3.5 million dollars.)
Posted by Mihai : 12/16/2004 09:58:00 AM

The Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) and RASDAQ will suspend trading during the winter holiday, the institution said on its Web page.

The last stock transaction will be performed Friday, December 24, at 12 o'clock.

The activity of the two stock exchanges will be resumed on January 3, 2005, resuming their regular schedules.


Posted by Iulia Stoicescu : 12/16/2004 09:55:00 AM

OMV Wednesday installed the interim directors at Petrom, who will keep their positions until the next Petrom shareholders' meeting, scheduled for mid next month.

The two are OMV's directors are:

Werner Schinhan, who has acted as observer in Petrom since signing the privatization contract, and
Hilmar Kroat-Reder, head of OMV's Mergers & Acquisitions.

Schinhan will act as deputy CEO responsible for Corporate Development, Corporate Affairs, Treasury and Chemicals after his resignation as interim director scheduled for mid-January.

Also, the Managing Committee was reappointed. The Managing Committee includes four members of OMV and two members of Petrom.

The two Romanian are: Gheorghe Constantinescu, who will continue as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Florian Constantinescu who will oversee the Refining division.

In addition, OMV managers Reinhard Pichler, Werner Ladwein and Tamas Mayer, will resume positions in the Committee.

Pichler will act as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Ladwein will be in charge of upstream operations, Mayer will be responsible for the Marketing business of Petrom.

Pending the decision of the shareholders' meeting, the future Petrom Board of Directors will consist of seven members, four of which will be the OMV Executive Board Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer, Gerhard Roiss, David Davies, Helmut Langanger.

Two Board members will be appointed by the Romanian government and one member will be independent.

Posted by Iulia Stoicescu : 12/16/2004 09:45:00 AM

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

The Romanian millionare Ion Tiriac might approach Guillermo Coria, ranked 7th in the ATP chart, to coach him.

Tiriac has a very good experience in being a tenis coacher with Boris Becker and many other tenismen.

Still, in order to finalize the contract with Coria, Tiriac must wait for the tenisman to finalize his contract with the IMG company that handles him at present time.


Posted by Mihai Botea : 12/15/2004 07:30:00 PM

Well, it's final.

Austria’s OMV has finalized the takeover of the stake representing 51 percent in Petrom, an OMV release informed. The Austrian company paid EUR 669 million for the direct purchase of a 33.34 percent stake in Petrom and contributed another EUR 830 million in the equity increase operation to the majority stake. EBRD has 2 percent of the stock, as it also participated in the capital increase through a convertible loan extended in the past to Petrom, while minority shareholders get another 6 percent.


Posted by Mihai Botea : 12/15/2004 03:18:00 PM

Romania will start negotiations next year, after the elections, with the future government of Iraq in order to settle the $2.6 billion historic debt claim.

Tanasescu said that Romania is far from ready to commit to a deal to forgive 80 percent of that debt, as rich creditors did few weeks ago.

The issue was discussed as Iraq's Finance Minister, Adil Abdul Mahdi, and the governor of the National Bank of Iraq, Sinan Al-Shabibi paid a visit to Bucharest on their way to Washington, where they will start negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a reform program agreement.

"Back in 1990 we signed an agreement with Iraq in which they accepted only $1.2 billion debt out of the $1.7 billion debt claims Romania had. Now the debt claim stands at $2.6 billion, and we are going to start negotiations to settle the issue. First we'll have to agree on figures, and other matters, such as when and how the debt will be recovered. We made it clear to Iraq's finance minister that Romania can't afford to write off the debt, following the Paris Club creditor's example, but we will have to work on a solution," said Tanasescu.

"We already contacted Ernst & Young to revise the debt figures and then we'll start negotiating at an experts' level," said Al-Shabibi, Iraqi's national bank governor.

Tanasescu said that after the elections, a Romanian team of experts from the Finance Ministry, the National Bank of Romania and the Romanian Commercial Bank will start technical negotiations with their Iraqi counterparts.

Iraq's debts date back to the communist rule of Nicolae Ceausescu, who had strong ties with Saddam Hussein. The $2.6 billion (over 1.9 billion euros) figure now accounts for approximately 3% of Romania's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), estimated at 55 billion euros this year.

"We understand Romania's position, but we agreed with Paris Club creditors on a framework based on the principle of comparable treatment, that means we can not negotiate any privilege with any other country," said Mahdi. In other words, Iraq will start negotiations with what he called an 80 percent benchmark on debt relief.

Iraqi officials didn't say clearly that they will start negotiation with Romania from the same base of debt relief as the Paris Club, and they did not elaborate on possibilities to recover the debt.
But Tanasescu said that "We are going to start negotiations from 100 percent debt value. Probably we will obtain a 75-85 percent deal. We hope to recover some 65 percent of the total debt claims, but only 20 percent will be in cash”.

Posted by Iulia Stoicescu : 12/15/2004 10:05:00 AM

After almost five years of tough negotiations Romania completed yesterday the negotiations that are to bring her into the European Union in 2007, a date EU leaders are expected to confirm at a meeting this week.

The EU did not guarantee the entry in 2007 by any means, because the accession treaties for Romania and Bulgaria contain "super safeguard clauses" that could delay their entry until 2008 if they are not deemed to be ready by 2007.

The negotiations with Romania began in February 2000. Officials said that Romania worked hard to bring his laws and economic practices in line with EU requirements, yet still have some way to go.

Geoana said "there will be no need to activate the safeguard clauses," because Romania will complete the necessary reforms.

In an interview with the BBC, the future president of Romania, Traian Basescu, said that his government will ask to renegotiate two of the EU accession negotiation chapters, energy and competition, in order to reach a better agreement for the country.

Basescu is dissatisfied with how the two chapters were closed which stipulate the reduction of steel production by 2 million tons per year and the alignment of energy prices starting in 2007.

In response, Dutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot, whose country is currently leading the EU, said that reopening negotiations would be to Romania's detriment.

Bot said Romania has the right to reopen the negotiations, but strongly recommended the country not to take this path.

The minister added that during the Brussels summit scheduled to take place this Thursday and Friday, the government leaders of EU countries will announce that they plan to sign the accession treaty with Romania and Bulgaria as late as the beginning of May, 2005.

He said that this date will be maintained even if Romania decides to reopen the negotiation chapters.

"That would mean four more months for the negotiations," said Bot, expressing his hope that the negotiations would be closed by the end of April. Romania and Bulgaria are tied together by one accession treaty, he concluded.


Posted by Iulia Stoicescu : 12/15/2004 09:38:00 AM

Tuesday, December 14, 2004

The Mercer Human Resource Consulting company recently released a report analysing the salaries growth compared to inflation in 63 countries.

For Romania, salaries will increase (december 2004 - december 2005) by 10.4% while inflation will reach 9.2%. This will result in a real growth by 1.2%.

This trend is also visible in many other Eastern-European countries, with Lituania having the highest mark, 7.7% REAL growth. Our friend in UE integration, Bulgaria, will have a growth of 5.6% in real terms.

Links: an excerpt of the report, purchase the full report.
Posted by Mihai Botea : 12/14/2004 10:51:00 AM

Monday, December 13, 2004

Posted by Cristian C. Francu : 12/13/2004 03:06:00 PM

Finally, all the votes are counted and cetralized and BASESCU WINS!

It's a spectacular victory, even though the score was very tight, Basescu winning about 2 percents in front of Adrian Nastase.

We all hope this will be the best for Romania.

You can read a fresh interview with mr. Basescu (from BBC) HERE (thanks, Cristi).
Posted by Mihai Botea : 12/13/2004 01:06:00 PM

The minimum wage is likely to increase from 2.8 million ROL to 3.1 million ROL as of January 1st, 2005, but may be even more than that as trade unions, employers and authorities have scheduled two more rounds of negotiations by the year-end.

Unions claim that, inflation and productivity increase considered, the minimum wage should be at least 3.55 million ROL and are asking for 4 million ROL.

The average amount of man-hours per month has been set at 171.33 hours per month.

Posted by Iulia Stoicescu : 12/13/2004 09:21:00 AM