Romanian Dailyhttp://romaniandaily.ro/cat71950fresh business news about Romaniahttp://romaniandaily.ro/cat719502010-07-30T01:16:54+00:00Romanian DailyenRomania is Egypt's Most Important Trade Partner in SEhttp://romaniandaily.ro/cat71950/art6707299062/
At the end of last year, the volume of bilateral trade exchange was266 million dollars, only 5.56 per cent higher than 2004.

In 2005, the exports reached 192 million dollars and the imports 73.90 million dollars.
 
In the last nine years, the trade balance was positive, reaching in 2005 118.19 million dollars (in favour of Romania). In the first five months of 2006, the Romanian exports to the Egyptian market totalled69.013 million dollars, while the imports of Egyptian products reached $52.075 million.

Bilateral trade exchanges were based mainly on tractors, automotive spare parts, equipment, tool and spare parts for the industry of cement and oil field, wood and wooden products, bearings, electrical engines and low tension apparatus, windows and glass products, paper and boards, plastic materials, chemical products, rubber products, synthetic fibres and threads (exported) and oil (until 1997, including into accounts of Romania's claims in this country), cotton, leather and semi-finished leather products, linen, rice, drugs, detergents and cosmetic products, vegetables and fruits, ceramics, sanitary products, consumer goods (imported).

With regards to the investments, 1,314 Romanian-Egyptian mixed companies with an invested capital of approx 12.2 million dollars were registered in 2005in Romania.
 
In terms of its share, Egypt is placed on the 40th place in the classification of foreign investors in Romania, a modest position taking into account the volume of bilateral trade exchange and the economic cooperation programmes developed by the two countries.

The economic cooperation between Romania and Egypt mainly focuses on the following areas of mutual interest which are the industry of oil, gas, chemistry and petrochemistry, processing and automotive construction industries, power and electricity, transports.

Given the evolution of the economic relations registered so far, but not only, the trade exchanges will continue to increase.

The two countries have an economic potential which would allow the extension of the range of products and the significant development of the bilateral trade exchanges.

Currently, in the context of Romania’s accession to the European Union, the Romanian-Egyptian economic relations need an increased attention and focus of efforts in order to extend the bilateral economic and technical cooperation, especially through the identification and achievement of new industrial projects of mutual interest.

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]]>2006-07-26T09:26:00+00:00Business As UsualIulianBulandraForeign investments focus on perspective sectors of Romanian economyhttp://romaniandaily.ro/cat71950/art7120955971/
If we were to take into account the country of origin of the biggest companies present on the local market, the natural conclusion is that Romanian economy has already entered the EU, writes the daily. European firms are present at each step in Romanians' life: starting with bug shop chains (Metro, Cora, Carrefour, Kaufland) and up to milk industry, telephony or construction, the main Romanian companies are subsidiaries of some European companies or groups. The biggest quantities of milk and yogurt bought by Romanians are produced by Danone (France) and Friesland (the Netherlands), while Austrians with Agrana ensure 33% of sugar sales and are followed by the French with Cristal Union. Three quarters of beer market is divided between Dutch company Brau Union, British Ursus, Belgian Interbrew and Danish Tuborg. Two companies share over 96% of mobile phone market: Orange and Vodafone. Behind Orange there is French operator France Telecom, while former Connex was re-branded Vodafone, after the name of its new UK owner. Even the small players - Cosmote and Zapp - originate also in EU member states.

The gas distribution in Romania is now managed by the Germans and French. Also in electricity, the privatizations were won by EU companies. In the cement industry, three companies are dominant: Swiss Holcim, German Heidelberger Cement and French Lafarge. In the oil sector, Austrian company OMV, which bought Petrom, rank first, while steel making is dominated by Franco-Anglo-Indian Arcelor-Mittal, after the merger of the two companies. The privatization of the electricity distribution networks, started in 2004, made five out of the eight regional companies to be owned now by some European companies. Italy's Enel bought Electrica Muntenia Sud, Electrica Banat and Electrica Dobrogea. The Czechs with CEZ bought Electrica Oltenia, while the Germans with E.ON bought Electrica Moldova. As to gas distribution, the Germans with E.ON Ruhrgaz bought the company that covers the northern part of Romania, while the French with Gaz de France bought the company that covers the southern part of Romania. Together with Petrom-OMV, the 23% of the market covered by E.ON Ruhrgaz-Distrigaz Nord and with other 32% from Gaz de France-Distrigaz Sud total 98% of the natural gas market of Romania, shows the Competition Council.

The data provided by car makers and importers show that Dacia models represented last year 43.2% of sales. Even if the make is local, the owner of Dacia plant is France's Renault. In the banking sector, after the big privatizations - BRD, Bancpost, Banca Agricola and BCR - won by foreign investors, at present three quarters of the almost 35 billion euros (the value of banking business in Romania) are made by foreign banks.

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]]>2006-07-26T08:52:00+00:00Business As UsualIulianBulandraChinese businessmen are interested in investing in Arad Countyhttp://romaniandaily.ro/cat71950/art7135405435/
The paper informs that the delegation headed by Hainan Governor Wei Liucheng, and two vice-presidents of Hainan Airlines Group, the fourth air transport operator in China, visited the Arad International Airport, as well as an agricultural unit, voicing interest in the opportunities offered by Romanian agriculture. The members of the delegation said they were content with the business potential of Arad city and county, and said that the next delegation would include businessmen willing to invest in the county. The Romanian side was represented by Arad Mayor Gheorghe Falca and vice-president of County Council Gavril Buza. There is a twinning agreement, signed in 2000 in Beijing, between Arad County and Hainan province of the People's Republic of China. The visit was paid over July 19-29, being organized by the local authorities and the Chinese Embassy to Romania. The Chinese investments in Romania stood at 200 million dollars at the end of 2005, while the Romanian investments in China amounted to 178 million dollars. Most bilateral investments were done in the IT&C sector, agriculture, infrastructure and environment protection.

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]]>2006-07-26T08:50:00+00:00Business As UsualIulianBulandraRomania is Egypt’s most important trade partner in Central and South-Eastern Europehttp://romaniandaily.ro/cat71950/art0764003184/ Over the past years, the balance of the bilateral trade exchange was favourable to Romania. At the end of last year, the volume of bilateral trade exchange was 266 million dollars, only 5.56 per cent higher than 2004. In 2005, the exports reached 192 million dollars and the imports 73.90 million dollars. In the last nine years, the trade balance was positive, reaching in 2005 118.19 million dollars (in favour of Romania).

In the first five months of 2006, the Romanian exports to the Egyptian market totalled 69.013 million dollars, while the imports of Egyptian products reached 52.075 million dollars. Bilateral trade exchanges were based mainly on tractors, automotive spare parts, equipment, tool and spare parts for the industry of cement and oil field, wood and wooden products, bearings, electrical engines and low tension apparatus, windows and glass products, paper and boards, plastic materials, chemical products, rubber products, synthetic fibres and threads (exported) and oil (until 1997, including into accounts of Romania?s claims in this country), cotton, leather and semi-finished leather products, linen, rice, drugs, detergents and cosmetic products, vegetables and fruits, ceramics, sanitary products, consumer goods (imported). Concerning the investments, according to statistics, 1,314 Romanian-Egyptian mixed companies with an invested capital of approx 12.2 million dollars were registered in 2005 in Romania. In terms of its share, Egypt is placed on the 40th place in the classification of foreign investors in Romania ? a modest position taking into account the volume of bilateral trade exchange and the economic cooperation programmes developed by the two countries.

The economic cooperation between Romania and Egypt mainly focuses on the following areas of mutual interest: the industry of oil, gas, chemistry and petrochemistry, processing and automotive construction industries, power and electricity, transports. Given the evolution of the economic relations registered so far, but not only, the trade exchanges will continue to increase. The two countries have an economic potential which would allow the extension of the range of products and the significant development of the bilateral trade exchanges. Currently, in the context of Romania’s accession to the European Union, the Romanian-Egyptian economic relations need an increased attention and focus of efforts in order to extend the bilateral economic and technical cooperation, especially through the identification and achievement of new industrial projects of mutual interest.

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]]>2006-07-25T08:02:00+00:00Business As UsualIulianBulandraRetail Companies' Turnovers Increase by 25 %http://romaniandaily.ro/cat71950/art8791086878/  
The companies operating mostly in the retail and wholesale trade fields, in the maintenance and repairing of the cars and motorcycles, the fuels retail trade field in the said period, reached turnovers up by 17.4 percent as against the same period in 2005.

The turnover obtained from this activity in May 2006 as compared with May 2005 increased by 28.1 percent due to the increase in the turnover resulted from both the trade and the maintenance of cars, as well as from the retail trade of the engine power fuel (plus 35.6 percent, 19.3 percent respectively).

From the market services to population activity in the said interval resulted a turnover down by 8.4 percent as against the one in the same month in 2005.

There was recorded an increase by 36.6 percent in May 2006 as compared with May 2005.

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]]>2006-07-20T09:07:00+00:00Business As UsualIulianBulandraCompanies Have More Bank Deposits Than Loanshttp://romaniandaily.ro/cat71950/art3532222071/  
According to figures released by the National Bank of Romania (BNR) at the end of April, corporate deposits totalled 7.8 billion euros and the population's deposits stood at 7.6 million euros.

These figures point to a problem, the paper says, because economic theory has it that in a `'normal'' economy the population is the only money source for banks, through deposits.

Besides, savings should be a characteristic of the population and not of the companies, because investment in production yield, at least in periods of economic boom, higher profits than deposits.

The theory is confirmed by the reality of developed countries where the population's savings are 2-3 times higher than those of companies.

Another problem the Romanian National Bank mentions in its report on financial stability is the aberrant situation in which the total loans raised by companies is lower than the sums in savings accounts.

At domestic level, business operators became net creditors in 2005, reads the BNR report.
 
According to the reports, at the end of June 2006, loans to companies totalled 7.3 billion euros (26.12 billion RON) and in April their deposits exceeded 7.8 billion euros.

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]]>2006-07-20T09:06:00+00:00Business As UsualIulianBulandraFranchises generate 800 million euros worth of annual turnover in Romaniahttp://romaniandaily.ro/cat71950/art6276961904/
The companies on the alcoholic drinks and building materials segments make the biggest contribution, of 37.5 percent. Second come distribution and retail franchises - fashion, jewels, electric equipment and home appliances, oil products and cosmetics, with a turnover of 224 million euros. Next come the franchises in the field of financial services and publicity, human resources and maintenance works, with a turnover of 220 million euros, followed by the ones in the food industry and fast-food, with 32 million euros in turnover. When it comes to foods, the largest franchise chains are Fornetti and Gregory's. Dania Steiner, official of CHR Consulting Co., says that Romanian investors increasingly more attracted by franchising, which increased from 43 percent of the market in 2002 to 74 percent in 2006. "The year 2004 saw the most dynamic growth of the franchise market, with 45 new businesses imported, compared with 30 in 2003," Steiner said. When it comes to the operation of franchise chains, the most developed area is that of Bucharest, followed by central and northwestern Romania.

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]]>2006-07-20T07:00:00+00:00Business As UsualIulianBulandraInsolvency Law to Force Better Structuring of Economic Unitshttp://romaniandaily.ro/cat71950/art3343341350/According to the Law no. 85/2006, the debtor facing insolvency has the obligation to file an application with the court, 30 days since the situation arose, asking to be submitted to this law's provisions.
 
It is for the first time that the law stipulates that the debtor's failure to put forward that application as well as the delayed submission of the document is to be deemed bankruptcy and to be punished severely.
 
"The insolvency law enables the legal administrator/liquidator to file cases for the annulment of the fraudulent acts concluded by the debtor to the detriment of the creditors in the three years preceding the opening of the procedure", said Gheorghe Piperea, vice president of the National Union of Insolvency Practitioners.

Thus, the asset that had been sold fraudulently will return to the bankrupt seller's patrimony.

A novelty introduced by the legislation refers to the bilateral compensation (the netting agreements).

They refer contracts usually concluded with a bank aimed at operations with derivative financial instruments, like covering the interest-related risk.

"We expect this new principle, also recognised by most similar laws from the developed countries, to bolster transactions by derivatives in Romania", said lawyer Daniel Badea, chief of the Romanian-based office of Clifford Chance law firm.

The National Union of Insolvency Practitioners had nearly 11,000 cases ongoing at the end of last year.

According to Piperea, the Romanian economy does not have a culture of bankruptcy, which is still deemed a humiliating situation.
 
"On the other hand, the political decision makers are not yet aware of the bankruptcy's role", he said, adding that the Tax Authority resorts to "the unhealthy practice of replacing the insolvency procedures with foreclosure".

The Tax Authority last week published a list of over 1,220 firms that have been found to be inactive.

Following regulations on simplified procedures for the registration of the firms enforced two years ago, some 120,000 companies that did not have a single registration code were deleted.

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]]>2006-07-19T08:17:00+00:00Business As UsualIulianBulandraHalf of SMEs Raise Banking Loans for Investmentshttp://romaniandaily.ro/cat71950/art3785883795/At the same time, the share of the SMEs that finance their businesses from their own sources reduced from 80% to 77%.

Moreover, one can remark a shift in the SMEs' focus to other ways to finance the business, such asleasing - 29.71% and factoring operations - 3.29%.

The CNIPMMR study shows that the SMEs do not use non-repayable funds and issues of shares on the capital market for financing their activity.

In the past year, the SMEs sector has become increasingly more attractive for banks, which have diversified their products for this type of clients due to the bigger profit margins that can be obtained through these loans.
 
The reduction in interest rates for RON loans encouraged ever more companies, including SMEs, to raise banking loans.

The study also shows that most SMEs invested in new products (41%), whereas 0.8% of them upgraded their IT system.

According to the CNIMMR study, 82.08% of SMEs have computers, 70.1% log on to the Internet and 61.8% have e-mail address.

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]]>2006-07-19T08:16:00+00:00Business As UsualIulianBulandraMoroccan- Romanian Trade Exchanges Exceed $90 mln in 2005http://romaniandaily.ro/cat71950/art5315111263/ On January 31, 2006, the trade exchanges between the two countries amounted to 11.08 million dollars, Romania exporting to Morocco productsworth 10.68 million dollars and importing goods worth 0.40 million dollars.

Romania exports to Morocco Dacia Logan cars, wood, steel products, chemicals, fertilizers, sanitary equipment, consumer goods, synthetic fibres and yarns, etc. From Morocco it imports phosphates (more than 90 percent), tinned vegetables, tinned fish, citrus fruits, footwear, textiles.

The Romanian-Moroccan Business Forum was hosted on Tuesday by Romania's Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIR) and was an occasion for both countries' businessmen to identify new business opportunities and joint interest fields.

The event was presided by CCIR vice-president Aurel Vainer and included among the participants Minister of Economy and Trade Codrut Seres representing the Romanian Government, and Minister of Industry, Trade and Economy Upgrading Salahaddine Mezouar, Director of Industrial Production Jamal Eddine El Jamali and His Excellency Lahcen Azoulay, Morocco's Ambassador in Bucharest, representing Morocco.

The Minister of Economy from Morocco was keen on underlining the advantages the Romanian businessmen would derive from the relation of his own country, both with the Arab world and with African countries.

"Morocco's geographic and geo-strategic position is interesting and attractive for exports. As well, it can widen the business range for Romanian investors," said Salahaddine Mezouar.
 
The Forum was followed by a session of bilateral discussions between businessmen from the two countries.

The economic relations between Romania and Morocco dropped until 2000 (from 53.1 million dollars in 1995 to 40.7 million dollars in 2000) and then they followed an upward trend, attaining the level of 93.38 million dollars in 2005.

Imports of phosphates stood at 850,000 tonnes annually in 1989, recording asharp drop until the end of the 90s (89,000 tonnes in 1998). In the past two years, there has been a growing tendency, with 300,000 tonnes in 2005.

Romanian Foreign Ministry's state secretary for global affairs Teodor Baconschi and visiting Moroccan Minister of Industry, Trade and Economy Upgrading Salaheddine Mezouar expressed the wish to expand their two states' economic cooperation during a meeting here on Tuesday.

The Romanian side reiterated the domestic companies' readiness and capability to take part in infrastructure projects in Morocco, like port works and welfare constructions. Also mentioned was tourism, which is another area of cooperation having a particular potential for the bilateral relations.

Baconschi and Mezouar highlighted the excellent political relations between Romania and Morocco, but stressed that the economic cooperation should be boosted so as to make better use of the two countries' potential.

Therefore, the two officials pronounced for stepped up contacts between the Romanian and Moroccan business circles, to be conducted on a regular basis. The Romanian side voiced satisfaction that the Moroccan minister is accompanied by a group of important business executives.

Mezouar is paying an official visit to Romania at the invitation of Economy and Trade Minister Ioan Codrut Seres.


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