July 2006
Rulmenti Suedia, one of the main distributors of the SKF ball bearings brand
and of industrial solutions in Romania, estimates a 20% growth pace for its
business, comparable...
The foreign direct investments for the first five months of 2006 rose by
93.3% y/y, up to EUR 2.9 bn, according to data released by the National Bank
...
The companies that manage private pension funds must have at the moment of
submitting their authorization request a minimum share capital equivalent in
lei to the amount of...
Despite the enthusiasm of many Romanians for the Internet, many people
retain their suspicion of new ways of doing things especially virtual
ones. It is little surprise...
Almost.8 million bank cards are currently in circulation in Romania,
according to figures provided by the National Bank (BNR), according to ING
Financial News The increase rate in...
Romanian Softwin company's data security division BitDefender and the IT
experts of the Romanian Commercial Bank (BCR) uncovered early on July 18 a
phishing attempt - i.e. an...
The Ministry of Economy and Trade (MEC) has announced its intention to sell
51% of the social capital of Turceni energy complex to a strategic investor
or to...
The Rovinari power plant registered a gross profit of 89 million RON (
almost 24,69 euros) in 2005 to a turnover of 705,65 million RON ( almost
196,01...
The Nuclear company for Nuclear Activities (RAAN) will buy next month
electrical energy from Romelectro according to a contract signed on
Wednesday at the energy stock market, ACT...
The German MAN Ferrostaal consortium starts the construction of a farm and
of a biodiesel plant in the Sibiu county, ACT Media news agency reports.The
German investment will...
RAFO Onesti refinery in Bacau County (eastern Romania) produces 170,000
tonnes of petrol a month, company'smanging director Paul Ivascu told
Rompres, ACT Media news agency reports. According to...
Electricity distribution company E.ON Moldova will increase share capital by
2.6 million RON (some 740,000 euros), representing the value of some plots
of land brought in as contribution...
With a view to transposing into Romanian legislation the relevant EU
provisions, the Executive completed the Government's Ordinance no. 92/2003
regarding the Tax Procedure Code, a Government news...
The foreign capital will control over 80 percent of Romanian IT companies in
four years, according to estimations by Pierre Audoin Consultations (PAC)
consultancy company. Between 5...
The Board of Directors of the Orsova Shipyard approved on Tuesday eleven
contracts in the total value of EUR 17.09 M for the building of ships for
Dutch...
National Employment Action Plan adopted by the Government yesterday, focuses
the work of the relevant government organisations on rural employment. The National Employment Action Plan - PNAO 2006...
Ministry of Communications and IT (MCTI) was mandated yesterday, during the
Government session, to sign the contract providing for consulting activities
in relation to having the shares owned...
...jobs, increased living standard versus environmental issues without a
clear settlement. The public debate regarding the project on mining operations and drilling in
Rosia Montana region, required...
Faur, a company specialising in producing rolling stock, increased its share
capital by 3.5 million euros, according to a report of the General Meeting
of Shareholders. The capital...
Air carriers operating in Romania will have to send to the Border Police
data about their passengers, according to an act adopted by the Government
yesterday. The act...
In none of the sea resorts along the Black Sea cost, major investments were
registered and none has developed intelligent strategies, able to stimulate
tourism development and to...
Major shareholder in E.ON Moldova, the German company E.ON Energie AG, set
up, at the end of June, a representative office in Romania, called E.ON
Energie Romania, the...
Long-term credits in RON taken out by the population have surged, increasing
their volume almost eight times in the last 12 months, to 7.31 billion RON
(equivalent to...
Kaufland will open the company's eleventh hypermarket on the Romanian market
today, following an investment worth 8.5 million euros. The hypermarket has
a surface of 6,000 square metres...
Financial non-banking institutions (IFN), i.e. leasing companies, consumer
credit companies etc, will have to limit their loans to individuals, so that
the debtor's total commitment would not exceed...
An offshore company with unknown shareholders will make an offer for
Romexterra Bank's shares as part of Hungarian MKB Bank's attempt to take
control over Romexterra. Demera Investments...
Staff Collection company, which operates the House of Art chain of stores,
anticipates this year's turnover to reach about 61m RON (17m euros), an
increase of 15% on...
Varnish and paint producer Fabryo Corporation posted turnover worth 13
million euros (46 million RON) in the first half of the year, an
approximately 22% increase from the...
Apple Computer, which makes the iPod MP3 player and the Mac computers last
year sold products worth some three million euros on the domestic market,
double as much...
Cramele Recas, the largest winemaking complex in Banat recorded a 144%
increase in sales on the domestic market in the first half of this year,
compared with the...
Romania placed third in a ranking of Central and Eastern European countries
with the best prospects for the development of the retail crediting market.
The first two spots...
The market leader on the auto insurance segment, Allianz-Tiriac, introduced
a new system for calculating policy costs. The premium is established not
only by taking into account the...
The government promoted through an emergency ordinance stipulations included
in the law project regarding the completion of the privatization process of
the Romanian Commercial Bank (BCR), said Minister...
British real estate investment fund European Convergence Property Company
PLL, whose capitalisation stands at about 7 billion euros, yesterday signed
the acquisition contract for the Millennium Business Center...
Local operator of mobile telephony services Vodafone Romania last year
reported a gross profit worth 891.48 million RON (some 246 million euros at
the average annual exchange rate...
Millennium BCP bank plans to submit to the National Bank of Romania (BNR) an
authorization request for the creation of a credit institution in Romania,
according to Paulo...
Bursa writes today about the government measures in order to increase local
tobacco production; these measures are theoretically counteracted by the
fiscal measures taken in the business. ...
Foreign investors are increasingly worried they will not be able to find
the necessary personnel for the projects they want to develop in Romania,
said Ana-Maria Cristina, the...
Polish group Maspex, with operations in the field of consumer goods, will
bring its companies that operate on the Romanian market under one umbrella.
La Festa International will...
Neocity Group will invest 300 million euros in a residential project located
in the east side of Bucharest. The project is called NeoPeninsula and will
be located near...
The Greek owners of Cosmote succeeded in saving the Romanian mobile
telephony market from numbness by launching a recharge card with the lowest
credit, of three euros only,...
Romania is the most important trade partner for Egypt in the Central and
South-Eastern Europe, ACT Media news agency reports. Over the past years,
the balance of the...
Foreign workers could be posted in Romania for a period of up to three years
by an employer (company) headquartered in Romania or by a branch or
subsidiary...
The German group Bosch targets sales worth 100 million euros this year on
the Romanian market where it holds a 250-unit distribution network
nationwide, ACT Media news agency...
This month, Sixt New Kopel, the first specialised company which brought the
operational leasing concept on the Romanian market, has signed contracts,
among other companies, with Pagini Aurii...
One in the companies in the portfolio of the State Assets Realization
Authority, the Braila-based rolled goods producer "Laminorul," was acquired
by "Donau Commodities" Bucharest for 17.5 million...
Amrom Automotive 2006 plans to buy claims worth 1.5 million euros from
creditors of Aro Campulung plant, ACT Media news reports. ''We are holding negotiations with representatives of the...
BCR Leasing in the first part of the year recorded 42 percent higher results
as against the similar period of last year and is set to achieve a growth
...
The domestic courier services company Cargus increased its market share by
11.5 percent in the first half of this year, as a result of creating some
new services...
Rombat Company from Bistrita County (northern Romania), a car battery
producer, registered over the first six months of the year 12.7 million
euros (45.6 million lei) in turnover,...
Spanish investment fund GED Capital Investment is to take over the
controlling interests in the Dasimpex group of companies, which operates one
the biggest GSM equipment retail chains,...
Insurance company Allianz-Tiriac posted underwritten gross premiums worth
128 million euros in the first five months, an increase of 37 percent from
the same period in 2005, with...
Dedeman Bacau (east), a company operating a distribution network of
construction materials and a furniture factory, increased its share capital
from 4.1 million euros to 9. 7 million...
Shareholders in Turism Hoteluri & Restaurante S.A. Prahova (TUSI)
convened on July 18th and decided to increase share capital by 715,992 RON
through a capital injection by SIF...
Mechel Targoviste S.A. has procured from Mechel Campia Turzii S.A. scrap
iron, wire, towing cable, welding electrodes and other materials, totaling
14 million RON. The contract does not...
Roche Romania reported Q1 sales of 21.7 million EUR, up by 3 percent
year-on-year. The company also reported a market share of 7.18 percent, up
from the 6.84...
Altex owner Dan Ostahie inaugurated a new Media Galaxy store last week,
despite an overall market decline in H1. The 1.5 million EUR investment
materialized in an electronics...
ETA2U, one of the leading IT system integrators and infrastructure service
providers in Central and Eastern Romania, late last week became an Oracle
partner in Romania. The company...
Romaero will produce, for the Italian company Alenia Aeronautica, aircraft
components, on the basis of a five-year agreement whose value is estimated
to over USD 10 M, according...
The salary fund of the manager of the Romanian Lottery was increased this
year with 16.9 per cent, compared to the last year, from RON 118,000 to RON
...
It was highly predictable that reorganisation (rather than restructuring, as
it was presented) of the electricity production system - carried out by Mr.
Berceanu when he was a Minister of Economy several years ago, and which was
confined to the institutional separation by energy sources (hydro, thermal,
nuclear) - would be a failure. At least in that it made no contribution
whatsoever to enhancing efficiency and improving services to
consumers.
Termoelectrica, where the problems were, took over many of the issues which already existed in the energy colossus before the splintering. Until the European Union came up with its so-called ?energy market deregulation? things dragged along one way or another. And we exclusively refer to the operational aspect of the system. Nuclearo-Electrica and Hidroelectrica produced, for objective reasons, much cheaper energy, but the energy they supplied went into an integrated system and calculations were made as such. On the whole, i.e. in a system with both cheap and expensive sources, an average price resulted, which served as a reference point for calculating the sale tariff. Since, for social reasons, this tariff was under costs, the problem appeared: the need to gradually increase tariffs in order to cover costs.
The liberalisation requested by the European Union has completely upset things. The deregulation principle sounds good: each consumer (first the big-sized one, the so-called ?eligible consumers?, but later on the small ones too, such as the households) should be free to choose their supplier. The selection is presumed to depend on the price criterion. It all would be nice and smooth, only that in order to cover consumption, we need all the energy we produce, therefore the expensive one, too. So, with each consumer naturally choosing the cheap source supplier, those who produce energy from more expensive sources would go bankrupt and the market - rather than the Government?would wind them up. But thins are a lot more complicated, and we don?t quite know who should decide to wind up whim and who should buy the expensive, but necessary energy!
Before such crucial matters were figured out, the market deregulation was launched, with remarkable recklessness. What does it come down to? The worst! Intermediaries emerged - those believed to represent the market itself - which should facilitate the supplier choice by the consumers. Naturally, it all turned into a petty parody! The intermediaries - the ?smart alecs,? as Mr. Basescu called them once, long ago, before forgetting all about them! - only bought cheap energy, i.e. from hydropower plants, but also from some thermal power plants which are slightly more efficient, and started to sell it, for much higher prices of course, to various big-sized consumers.
Indirectly, household consumers who cannot choose their suppliers - and will not be able to, in practice, even when rated as eligible in theory - are only given access to expensive energy.
For ?eligible? consumers, no general cost/tariff calculation is made. Such calculations are only made for household consumers. Which is outrageous! And for such consumers, calculations say they have to pay ever higher tariffs. Of course they have to. Not only can they buy only the remaining energy, that is the one produced from expensive sources, but they also have to cover the losses generated on the whole by the fact that some buy cheaper energy, and the host of intermediaries cash hefty gains for doing nothing!
by Ilie Serbanescu
source
Termoelectrica, where the problems were, took over many of the issues which already existed in the energy colossus before the splintering. Until the European Union came up with its so-called ?energy market deregulation? things dragged along one way or another. And we exclusively refer to the operational aspect of the system. Nuclearo-Electrica and Hidroelectrica produced, for objective reasons, much cheaper energy, but the energy they supplied went into an integrated system and calculations were made as such. On the whole, i.e. in a system with both cheap and expensive sources, an average price resulted, which served as a reference point for calculating the sale tariff. Since, for social reasons, this tariff was under costs, the problem appeared: the need to gradually increase tariffs in order to cover costs.
The liberalisation requested by the European Union has completely upset things. The deregulation principle sounds good: each consumer (first the big-sized one, the so-called ?eligible consumers?, but later on the small ones too, such as the households) should be free to choose their supplier. The selection is presumed to depend on the price criterion. It all would be nice and smooth, only that in order to cover consumption, we need all the energy we produce, therefore the expensive one, too. So, with each consumer naturally choosing the cheap source supplier, those who produce energy from more expensive sources would go bankrupt and the market - rather than the Government?would wind them up. But thins are a lot more complicated, and we don?t quite know who should decide to wind up whim and who should buy the expensive, but necessary energy!
Before such crucial matters were figured out, the market deregulation was launched, with remarkable recklessness. What does it come down to? The worst! Intermediaries emerged - those believed to represent the market itself - which should facilitate the supplier choice by the consumers. Naturally, it all turned into a petty parody! The intermediaries - the ?smart alecs,? as Mr. Basescu called them once, long ago, before forgetting all about them! - only bought cheap energy, i.e. from hydropower plants, but also from some thermal power plants which are slightly more efficient, and started to sell it, for much higher prices of course, to various big-sized consumers.
Indirectly, household consumers who cannot choose their suppliers - and will not be able to, in practice, even when rated as eligible in theory - are only given access to expensive energy.
For ?eligible? consumers, no general cost/tariff calculation is made. Such calculations are only made for household consumers. Which is outrageous! And for such consumers, calculations say they have to pay ever higher tariffs. Of course they have to. Not only can they buy only the remaining energy, that is the one produced from expensive sources, but they also have to cover the losses generated on the whole by the fact that some buy cheaper energy, and the host of intermediaries cash hefty gains for doing nothing!
by Ilie Serbanescu
source
Cigarette producer Japan Tobacco International (JTI) Romania, a subsidiary
of Japan Tobacco, changed its management structure, the new General Manager
and Vice-President of the company being Martin Southgate,...
The amount of stock and bonds acquired by foreign investors in the first
semester from the Romanian capital market totaled 492.98 million euros,
reveals the data centralized by...
French Renault Group, which makes the Logan model, will boost the production
capacity of the plant in Ploiesti from 235,000 to 350,000 units by January
2008. This...
interview with Irina Socol, General Manager Siveco Romania by Nine O'Clock Ranking among the leaders of the local EAS and IT services market, SIVECO
Romania has big plans...
Trade, food industry, banks, telecommunications, car making and distribution
of gas and electricity are some of the perspective sectors of the Romanian
economy where an important infusion of...
The Chinese investments in Arad (western Romania) could witness an expansion
following the visit of a delegation of Hainan province, who explored the
business opportunities in the area,...
Non-banking financial institutions (IFN) will be forced to comply with the
settlements of the National Bank of Romania (BNR) included in the prudential
stipulations regarding the crediting of...
Mobile phone operator Vodafone Romania closed 2005 with a gross profit
amounting to 246 million euros, up 9.4% compared to 2004. This year's
company's turnover reached a total...
The activity performed by real estate agencies will be checked by the Office
for the Prevention and Fight Against Money Laundering (OPCSB), in order to
avoid the purchase...
The shareholders of telecommunications company RCS & RDS approved a
share capital increase to 12 million euros, in view of making an offer for
the acquisition of a...
International parcel transportation company Trans Courier Service, the
exclusive agent of the U.S.-based company UPS in Romania, opened a new
outlet in Constanta. The new distribution center is...
Four hectares of terrain belonging to Aversa Bucharest will be sold through
tender for covering the debts owed by the company, its activity being
restricted to only six...
U.S.-based investments fund QVT purchased a new share package in Flamingo
International, the value of the transaction amounting to 300,000
euros. The operation was made in Monday's...
The Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC) demanded the government approve
the privatization of the Turceni energy complex through a direct sale of
shares followed by a share...
The two countries signed at the end of last week a bilateral agreement
regarding the liberalization of persons and commodities transportation to
take effect on August 1, according...
The Board of Directors of Uzina Constructoare de Masini Resita (Machinery
Building Plant - UCM Resita), a company controlled by the Swiss consortium
Inet Group, will make a...
Avia Motors, Skoda dealer on the domestic market, in 2005 tripled its gross
profit, which reached 2.1 million euros, compared with 670,000 euros in the
previous year. "The...
Leasing company International Leasing has signed contracts for funding worth
18 million euros, 80% of which will come from the BCR. The remainder of the
loan will be...
The sale of Cluj-based Terapia by the investment fund Advent International
to the Indians at Ranbaxy was the second largest transaction in Central and
Eastern Europe in 2006,...
Bogdan Putinica (29) and Bogdan Daniel (29) have sold the controlling
interests in software company IP Devel to Adecco Switzerland, the world
leader in human resources solutions. The...
The company will invest in the following period over 198 million dollars in
the construction of hypermarkets in Bucharest, Otopeni, Constanta, Iasi,
Oradea, Brasov, Sibiu and Craiova, according...
Balkan Petroleum (BkP) violated one of the provisions stipulated in its
privatization contract after selling the shares held in Rafo Onesti to
Calder-A, without the approval of the...
Petr Subrt, the general manager of Hame Romania, one of the leading players
on the canned pate market, says the Czech group is ready to buy any business
...
The Austrians at Raiffeisen are out of the race for the privatisation of CEC
(Savings Bank). They bid less than the Greeks at NBG and the Hungarians at
...
Authorities are trying to clarify legal issues surrounding the
Proprietatea Fund as soon as possible. Rather than planning a special
session in Parliament, authorities are preparing an emergency...
Vodafone Romania, the local operator of mobile telephony services, reported
6.73 million customers in the second quarter of this year (April - June),
351,248 more than in the...
Goldale Limited, a company of the Tiriac group and the Spanish developer of
real estate projects Riofisa Internacional have increased the share capital
of Goldale Real Estate by...
The Raiffeisen consortium, managing assets twice the total of the
Romanian banking system is out of the CEC privatization race. National Bank
of Greece and OTP Bank are...
Romanian auto exports increased by 75.7 percent in the first six months of
the current year, compared with the same period last year, according to
information provided by...
Cargill Agricultura (Cargill Agriculture), one of the local divisions of the
American food industry group Cargill, last year incurred losses worth 5.5
million euros (20 million RON), against...
International hotel chain Cendant is planning to enter the motel market in
Romania with its own brand, Super 8. This will make Super 8 the first
foreign player...
Romania's accession to the European Union is likely to affect the Romanian
film industry, one of the aspects being that the film production costs will
increase. Nevertheless, foreign...
French group Lagardere, which operates two radio stations in Romania, Europa
FM and Radio 21, intends to launch in the summer of 2007 two TV stations -
Europa...
Strong credit expansion and a procyclical policy mix imply an above-trend
GDP growth outcome this year for Romania, though at the expense of
exacerbating macro imbalances mainly via...
The Minister of Agriculture, Forests and Rural Development Gheorghe Flutur
said that due to the "Farmer" program, Romania succeeded in fully absorbing
the funds the European Union has...
Romania shortlisted Hungarian OTP and National Bank of Greece in the sale of
its fifth largest bank, CEC, which will move onto the second phase of the
negotiations,...
The binding bids for Romanian CEC will be opened today. National Bank
competes with Raiffeisen and OTP for a 69.9% stake in CEC. The Romanian government will announce the...
Balkan Petroleum Company (BKP) is very likely to receive a fine representing
100% of the sum paid for the majority stock of Rafo Onesti refinery due to
the...
The water and sewage company of the City of Pitesti - S Apa Canal 2000 SA
(?Apa Canal?) intends to implement an investment project, covering most of
the...
CFR SA and its subsidiary CFR Electrificare have received a loan from the
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and intends to use
its proceeds towards the...
Mobile phone operator Cosmote Romania has extended in the last three months
the distribution network through own and partner shops by 30 per cent,
reaching over 530 units...
Vodafone has registered during April-June, 2006 interval a USD 0.3 increase
in the average revenue per client, to USD 15.2, and the total number of
users registered at...
The refineries from Midia and Onesti have been for several years in the grip
of the judiciary investigations. Those who owned them or own them now became
issues...
The National bank of Romania (BNR) has published a number of draft rules and
regulations on classifying bank capitals according to their risks, under the
Basel II regulations,...
January-May FDI up to EUR 2.9 bln, 93.3 pc higher against earlier-year
period. The current account deficit of the balance of payments during the first five
month...
Liquidity on the term market in Sibiu, over July 17-23 2006 week continued
to follow an upward trend, more than 300,000 contracts being traded since
this month-start, Sibiu...
Moritz Holdings, a real estate company that entered the market discretely
last year, is developing a project estimated at over EUR 60 M in Victoriei
Square area in...
Romania is the most important trade partner for Egypt in the Central and
South-Eastern Europe. Over the past years, the balance of the bilateral trade exchange was
favourable...
The National Tourism Authority will launch a new campaign on Tuesday to
promote Romanian destinations on the internal market. The value of the
advertising material and their distribution...
Mobile operator Cosmote Romania extended its distribution network through
company-owned and partner shops by 30 percent, reaching 530 units
nationwide. The majority of the company's 20 chief partners...
Raiffeisen Bank expanded the maturity term for Flexi IMM and Credit Invest
loans to small and medium enterprises from five to ten years. Through the
Flexi credit, SMEs...
The French-Romanian joint venture Jules Verne Imobiliare (JVI) will start
the construction of a state-of-the-art block of flats this week close to
Piata Alba Iulia in which the...
The current account deficit increased to 3.33 billion euros, 53.2 percent
higher year on year. Current transfers decreased in this interval. Goods
trade led to a 3.48 billion...
By selling the Rafo Onesti stock to Calder-A without the authorization of
the Authority for the Recovery of State Assets (AVAS), Balkan Petroleum
committed an illegal operation specifically...
The soon to be privatized National Savings Bank (CEC) registered 4.88
million euros in net profit in the first half of the year, while the bank's
assets exceeded...
In its attempt to create a free and competitive telecommunications market,
the National Communications Regulatory Authority (ANRC) is trying to open up
the networks of large players for...
The milling and bakery producer Pambac Bacau closed the first six months of
this year with turnover worth 23 million dollars (18.5 million euros) and a
profit rate...
Individual investment accounts had amounted to almost 9% of the mutual fund
market at the end of the first six months, and assets corresponding to these
accounts doubled...
The Property Fund has collected dividends worth 18.5 million euros (65.7
million RON) from Petrom, accounting for a 9.89% stake owned in the biggest
company in Romania. The...
Shareholders of Romgaz Medias approved the extension of a credit facility
granted by ABN Amro Romania to 55.5 million euros (70 million dollars), and
the opening of letters...
Construction company Concas Buzau posted turnover worth 14 million euros
last year, an approximately 16% drop against 2004, according to company
financial data Contacted by Ziarul Financiar, Ionel...
Spanish group ACE, a manufacturer of electrical components for vehicles
announced it would begin construction work on a third facility in Dej next
month. The space allocated for...
Turbomecanica Bucharest, the only jet and turbojet engine producer in
South-Eastern Europe posted a net profit worth 5.08 million RON (1.43
million euros) in the first six months...
Romanians spent more than one billion euros on cigarettes last year. This is
almost six times more than they spent on cold cuts, while almost 900 million
euros...
Romanian International Bank, one of the smallest banks in the system, plans
to double its territorial network to 40 branches by the end of next year, in
order...
Works on the city's second overpass will start next month. The overpass will
ease the area traffic by connecting Colentina and Pantelimon neighborhoods,
going over the railroad in...
Wizz Air plans to open new flights between Romania and European cities
beginning January 15, 2007, after it recently launched an aerial connection
between Targu Mures and Budapest....
Finance Minister Sebastian Vladescu and World Bank South and Central Europe
Director Anand Seth signed a financing agreement for the upgrade of water
and sewage networks in the...
Bunge Romania, owned by the American group Bunge, will increase its share
capital by 41.2 million RON (11.5 million euros) through a cash contribution
by the sole shareholder,...
Businessman Cristian Burci is in talks to buy Astra Vagoane Arad factory
from the Americans at Trinity Industries. The deal also entails buying other
companies of the European...
Human resources managers are more hunted than ever. Currently, several dozen
companies in Romania have lost their human resources managers, and some of
the highly sought after managers...
Amelia Tataru, the head of the representative office of Slovenian generic
drug maker KRKA, says the launch of six new products will lead to an over
10% increase...
Property developer Engel East Europe N.V. said that it has signed a
memorandum of understanding to take a stake in the planned development of
several thousand residential units...
The recently released data by the National Institute of Statistics (INS)
regarding the inflation rate, seasonal indicators and the consumption price
index are indicating encouraging trends in the...
The Romanian government endorsed on July 12 the draft law on the
organization and functioning of a statistic system of international trade,
according to Rompres and ING financial...
As of August 15, Romtelecom changes and simplifies the tariffs structure,
reducing the number of phone subscriptions from the current seven to four,
according to Romtelecom press release....
In July 2004 during the Farnborough International Air show, Rolls-Royce plc
and Turbomecanica S.A. signed a long-term contract for the supply of
aero-engine components from Turbomecanica S.A., according...
ECI Telecom (NASDAQ:ECIL) implemented the XDM® Multi-Service Provisioning
Platform (MSPP) in Astral Telecom?s network, according to Astral's press
release. ; Astral Telecom is one of the most significant...
The Romanian law market is to have a sustained development pace in niche
segments after Romania gets integrated into the EU on January 1, 2007,
Ziarul Financiar daily...
Retail sales in Romania are expected to touch $41.9bn (E33bn) in 2006, up by
16% from the $35.9bn (E28.3bn) in 2005, according to a study by
Deloitte. ...
Eximbank expects the beneficiaries of a new instrument ? the partial
interest compensation for credits in lei raised by SMSEs ? to reach 500 at
year-end, declared Eximbank...
HVB Bank and Tiriac Bank launched a new credit for unspecified personal
needs that varies between 3,000 and 20,000 euros (or the equivalent in lei
or US dollars)...
ING Bank Romania, part of ING Group, accounted on June 30 for a 6.3 percent
market share in the Romanian banking system and ranked first in point of
...
The leasing market might grow by about 25 percent this year, but despite
that, the experts consider the Romanian leasing is still underdeveloped, ACT
Media news agency reports....
The banks will put up interest rates for credits in domestic lei starting
next week, following the decision of the National Bank of Romania to
increase the minimum...
The financial investment companies (SIF) reported at the end of the first
six months of 2006 an overall volume of net assets worth 6.52 billion lei
(1.827 billion...
Complex harnesses are using any combination of coaxial, multicore,
multiwire, ribbon and power cables and connectors and over-moulding of
connectors and cable glands can also be provided. ...
Former Minister for Finances Daniel Daianu acquired in April a stake
accounting for seven per cent in the stock of SAI Investica Asset
Management, a decision based on...
The Proprietatea Fund cashed dividends for year 2005 equal to 65.7 M RON
(EUR 18.5 M) from Petrom, corresponding to its stake of 9.89 per cent in the
...
The Ministry of Economy will close down over 50 mining exploitations by the
end of the year, with the costs necessary for this operation being estimated
at over...
A new tender for the privatization of AMIDIP Calan took place Friday, but
once again, no company expressed interest in taking over the plant. The
asking price had...
The Ministry of Health next year will spend 350 million euros obtained from
the collection of the tax on tobacco and alcohol products for investment
programs in the...
Bunge Romania, held by US Bunge group, will increase its share capital by 15
million dollars, to 15.3 million dollars, through a cash contribution of the
sole shareholder,...
The Iasi airport will be modernized by the Romanian government and
transformed into an international airport. A law project provides an initial
8.4 million euro investment for a...
The Palace of Parliament, the largest building by far in Bucharest and one
of the world's largest concrete structures, was designed by architect and
lawmaker Anca Petrescu (photo)...
The offer of Canadian company Gabriel Resources to the inhabitants of Rosia
Montana, to talk them into moving away from the location of the possible
future gold mine,...
Compania Nationala Loteria Romana (The National Romanian Lottery) budgeted a
gross profit worth 31 million euros (almost 106 million RON) this year, 9%
more in euros against the...
Tulcea County in Romania, covering most of the Danube Delta, is
traditionally known for its many windmills. A map of wind currents shows
that Tulcea is the best...
After years in court against Vodafone and Orange and a recent complaint to
the Competition Council on the unfair practices of the market giants,
Netmaster Communications, a small...
Alternative fixed telephony and Internet Dial Telecom last year had a
turnover worth some 5 million euros and an EBITDA of 14% according to
company officials. They estimated...
A consortium made up of Romanian software developer Siveco and Polish
systems integrator ABG Ster-Projekt has won a contract worth 4.7 million
euros following a tender organised by...
Amrom Automotive 2006, whose chairman of the Board of Directors is the
former vice-governor of the NBR (National Bank of Romania) Vlad Soare,
intends to buy receivables worth...
Romania Hypermarche, the company that manages the Cora network in Romania,
posted a turnover worth almost 640 million RON (177 million euros) last
year, a 56% increase against...
The second quarter meant a balancing of the capital inflows and outflows on
the market and of purchase transactions with sales transactions. Net inflows
and outflows in the...
Dunca Expeditii, a transportation and logistics company, this year plans to
boost its turnover and income, as well as enter the tourism business. Romeo Dunca, the general manager...
The ING Group real estate investment division, ING Real Estate, will open a
branch in Romania, which will become operational at the end of the year,
announced ING...
The domestic plasma display market, including both products that can be used
only as TV sets and multifunctional plasma screens, will witness sales of
9,800 units this year,...
BRD-SocGen, the second biggest bank in the system, has recently raised the
interest rate for the RON-denominated Expresson Lejer personal loan by two
percentage points to 12.9% per...
The representatives of Hungarian bank MKB are offering the shareholders of
Romexterra, one of the small banks on the market, a price of 6 RON (1.66
euros) per...
Dan Ostahie, the chief executive of Altex, the largest electronics, home
appliances and IT & C products retailer in Romania feels there is a slight
rise in sales...
The Irish Moritz Holdings, which discreetly entered the market at the end of
last year, is developing a real estate project put at over 60 million euros
in...
Romanians' migration will advance only 4-5 percent after Romania's EU
accession in January 2007, while the Romanian labour market will become
attractive even for the experts who left...
The life insurance contracts signed in Romania are gradually replacing
premium products (house and car insurance), the middle-class clients being
aware of their usefulness. In the opinion...
The Competition Council authorised the economic concentration operations
carried out by Romanian GSM Holding and Florin Sorinel Stoica Merlusca
through acquisition of joint control over trade companies Dasimpex...
According to press reports the Romanian Communications minister stated that
Romtelecom, OTE's 54% subsidiary, will be floated in October or November 06,
while Romania expects to collect circa...
LG Electronics group, leader in electronics, electrohousehold appliances and
mobile telecommunications launched on the Romanian market a new series of
Flatron monitors equipped with DFC technology to ensure...
The SAPARD funds aimed
at financing the rural development projects will be ceased as the
application forms request more money than the Fund can provide. The
requested...
Total net capitals that entered the Bucharest Stock Exchange and the
Romanian Securities Market (Rasdaq) attained 30 million euros at the end of
the first quarter of this...
The executive director of the company that complained to the
Competition Council and the National Communications Regulatory Authority
(ANRC) ; about the practices of Vodafone, Orange and RomTelecom...
The Romanian company Amrom Automotive 2006, whose chairman of the board is
former deputy governor of the National Bank of Romania Vlad Soare, plans to
buy a 1.5...
A Bucharest court decided that the prosecutor's order to freeze the shares
held by Balkan Petroleum in Rafo Onesti was unwarranted. The Prosecutor's
Office of the High Court...
Insurance company Ardaf Cluj-Napoca was back on the stock exchange, after
trading was suspended on Wednesday, only to lose 25 percent of it list
price. Over 42,000 shares...
Hyundai sales on the Romanian market increased by 96% in the first semester
of the current year, comparing with the same period of 2005 with
approximately 3,350 cars...
One year and one week since the launch of the Dacia Logan in Morocco by
Renault Morocco, the company has sold approximately 1,000 cars. The Romanian
car became...
The compromised summer season on the Romanian littoral and implicitly the
decrease this year of the receipts from tourism have conducted to the
launching of tough accusations by...
The companies working for the defence industry going bankrupt appears
inevitable in the context of Romania?s accession to the European Union,
despite Romania being a NATO member, therefore...
The company Romania Hypermarche, the administrator of Cora network in
Romania, registered last year a turnover of almost RON 640 M (EUR 177 M), up
56 per cent...
According to the National Bureau for Money Laundering Combating and
Prevention (ONPCSB), in 2006 nine money laundering cases reached the Court,
with 15 files in which 39 people...
Mobile phone operator Cosmote has launched for the Romanian users a new
offer for recharging card, the EUR 3 recharging card, the company announced
in a communiqué. The...
he last day for submission of SAPARD funding applications is July 31, the
Payment Agency for Rural Development and Fisheries announced in a news
release issued on Thursday....
Petrom officials claimed up to 54,500 tonnes of oil products are missing
from the stocks of oil products in the custody of Petrotrans and Conpet,
with damages amounting...
La Festa Romania, producer of natural juice brands Tedi and Tymbark, plans
to increase turnover by 20% this year, to some 43 million euros. "In terms
of sales...
Cargus, the main player on the domestic courier service market has boosted
its market share after the first six months from the 23.5% it held at the
end...
Since the beginning of 2006, the Spanish have sold almost 150,000
hectolitres of wine on the local market, worth over 1.3 million euros, which
is in stark contrast...
Akrom Akal Textile Romania (Akrom Akal Textiles Romania), one of the top
three players on the local textile market, has reduced its production
portfolio and has laid off...
The price for 69.9% in CEC (Savings Bank) may be lower than one billion
euros, but there is no way it can be lower than 500 million euros, says
...
Help Net Farma, the company operating one of the biggest pharmacy networks
on the market, registered 100% sales growth during the March 2005-March 2006
period compared with the...
Eximtur this year will derive turnover worth 25 million euros despite the
steep decline domestic tourism has been witnessing in 2006, believes Lucia
Morariu, general manager of the...
SIF Muntenia posted an income of 83.78 million RON (23.67 million euro) in
the first half of the year, over three times higher than the net profit from
...
ARDAF shareholders will have to contribute 30.9 million euros to the share
capital of the insurance company by September 30 this year, according to a
decision of the...
The Cluj-based Rondocarton company, a producer of corrugated cardboard, in
the first six months of this year registered turnover worth 12.8 million
euros (46 million RON), up 15%...
¤15 million to improve streets and transport in City of Sibiu The City of Sibiu, in central Romania, will have improved transport services
with the help of a...
Europe?s largest retailer Carrefour has announced plans to invest ¤82m in
Romania, following the purchase of key land sites in the country and the
recent acquisition of the...
ND SatCom has implementaed several innovative
broadcast projects in Romania. Dieter Dreizler, Sales Director of ND SatCom,
emphasises that since its market entry in 2000, ND SatCom has become the
market leader for innovative broadcast & media solutions in
Romania.
?Our business activities in the Romanian broadcast community have become quite diversified. As an outstanding example, ND SatCom recently integrated the biggest productionSNG in the company?s history for a privately owned TV station. The vehicle was constructed for six cameras and cutting facilities?, states Dieter Dreizler.
The company also delivered SNG uplinks based on ND SatCom?s SkyRAY antenna subsystems for a public TV station and an SNG service provider. Additionally, a 6.3m earth station and a 3.7m antenna facility supporting a cable operator?s uplink process, and three 3.7m uplink stations for a playout TV application of a pay TV channel were implemented.
source
?Our business activities in the Romanian broadcast community have become quite diversified. As an outstanding example, ND SatCom recently integrated the biggest productionSNG in the company?s history for a privately owned TV station. The vehicle was constructed for six cameras and cutting facilities?, states Dieter Dreizler.
The company also delivered SNG uplinks based on ND SatCom?s SkyRAY antenna subsystems for a public TV station and an SNG service provider. Additionally, a 6.3m earth station and a 3.7m antenna facility supporting a cable operator?s uplink process, and three 3.7m uplink stations for a playout TV application of a pay TV channel were implemented.
source
Romania could receive foreign direct investments worth 7.5 billion euros
this year in greenfield projects and big privatisations, according to a
survey conducted by the European banking group...
Alenia Aeronautica a company of the Finmeccanica group has announced a new
partnership in Romania. It said at the Farnborough Air Show that it signed
an agreement with...
The Romanian Agency for Energy Conservation will take part with 66,460 euros
to the programme Energy Intelligent Europe of the European Commission for
the period between 2006 ?...
The first photovoltaic power plant in Romania will be inaugurated on 28 July
at 12 :30 in Bucharest, according to ACT Media news agency reports.The power
plant of...
Companies operating mostly in the retail trade field (excepting the trade
with cars and motorcycles) recorded turnovers up by at least 25 percent
January through May this year...
Romanian companies have more bank deposits than loans, the opposite than the
rest of Europe, reads a report on financial stability recently presented by
the National Bank of...
Direct subsidies granted to energy services will have to disappear after
Romania?s accession to the European Union, as ,according to the estimates,
over 13,500 billion lei are destined...
Three foreign companies ? AES Corporation (USA), Prisma Energy (USA) and
Brikel (Bulgaria) ? have submitted interest letters for attending the
construction of a new production block in...
The minister of economy and Trade (MEC) will organise an international bid
for the choice of a consultant to design a study to be the foundation of the
...
Direct subsidies granted to energy services will have to disappear after
Romania?s accession to the European Union, as, according to the estimates,
over 13,500 billion lei are destined...
The World Bank is against the governmental draft of launching a compulsory
home insurance against natural hazards, under the form presented by the
government, stated on Wednesday general...
According to a press release sent by US Embassy in Bucharest, families with
aging parents, Roma schoolchildren, businesspeople from Ardeal and refugees
? with support from the U.S....
More than 3,000 suspect deals in terms of money laundering this year are
currently being investigated by the Romanian National Office for Preventing
and Combating Money Laundering (ONPCSB),...
Foraj Sonde S.A. (FOSP) closed last year with 84,336,300 ROL in profit amid
significant growth of oil & gas related services. FOSP shares peaked at
23 RON/share in...
Nada Florilor Altex S.A. will be taken over by Cometex S.A. Suceava in
keeping with a decision that Cometex shareholders made on December 28th,
2005. Cometex retails apparel...
Romania will have the possibility, after the EU accession, to assign
state-funded aid for the eight development regions, in the limit of maximum
50 per cent of the...
The company Sixt New Kopel Romania announced the signing of operational
leasing contracts of EUR 20 M, for groups of vehicles of over 500 units.
According to a...
Competition Council initiated, further to complaints filed by Netmaster
Communications Bucharest, an investigation into a possible abuse of dominant
position by the three telecom operators. Further to...
The Ministry of Transport, Construction and Tourism (MTCT) wants to speed up
infrastructure works by resorting to concession contracts on segments of
motorway, according to Minister Radu Berceanu....
Franchises generate 800 million euros worth of annual turnover in Romania,
say recent data from the Association of Franchise Chains in Romania. The companies on the alcoholic drinks...
The Italian analysts point to an inflation rate of 7 pc and an economic
growth of 5.5 pc for the current year. The continuous strengthening of the monetary policy...
The freight traffic through Constanta harbour grew by 89.44% in the first
six months of the year against the same period of last year, reaching
5,776,897 tonnes, informs...
The number of vehicles acquired in leasing grew by 46% in the first six
months of the year against the similar period of last year, to 58,438,
cumulating...
German-based GLL Real Estate Partners, administrator of Accession Fund,
which recently purchased the Charles de Gaulle Plaza building in Bucharest,
will invest about 70 million euros in two...
Netmaster Communications submitted a complaint to the Competition
Council accusing Vodafone, Orange and RomTelecom of abuse of their dominant
market share. The company also has trials pending with...
The Commission for Insurance Supervision (CSA) has placed Ardaf Cluj under
special administration, deciding to withdraw its support for the members of
the Board of Directors, and turning...
Ford has yet to make a decision about whether to bid for the controlling
interests in Daewoo Craiova, the head of Ford Motor's European division John
Fleming told...
"Conditions of contract documents for tenders have very strict criteria,
barring Romanian companies from winning major contracts," says Emil Timofti,
general manager of Hidroconstructia, Romania's biggest construction
...
In the first half of this year SIF Oltenia derived net income worth 91.5
million RON (25.8 million euros), the biggest profit of the four financial
investment companies...
Insurance company Allianz-Tiriac posted underwritten gross premiums worth
128 million euros in the first five months, an increase of 37% from the same
period in 2005, with the...
Spanish investment fund GED Capital Investment is to take over the
controlling interests in the Dasimpex group of companies, which operates one
the biggest GSM equipment retail chains....
The task book for future owners of 3G generation licenses provides they will
be obliged to develop telecommunications networks that should cover, by the
end of 2011, 11...
The government will take out a 41.5 million euro loan from the European
Investment Bank (EIB) for the rehabilitation of the water supply networks in
the cities. The...
American-based company Ford has not made a decision regarding the launch of
an offer for the local carmaker Daewoo Craiova, said the Ford Motor Europe
Director John Fleming....
The government will allocate 2.67 million euros for the payment of financial
aid to tobacco-producing farmers for the production delivered from the
beginning of the year until April...
Rominserv Valves IAIFO Zalau won two contracts for the production and supply
of equipment for American-based Emerson, their value amounting to 322,000
euros which amounts to a leader...
In the first six months, TBI Leasing closed some 2,500 contracts, with a
value of funded goods standing at 31.5 million euros without tax, witnessing
a 22.5% increase...
Since last year Alro Slatina, the biggest primary aluminium smelter in
Central and Eastern Europe, has closed contracts worth several tens of
million of euros with other companies...
Libra Bank launched the Visa Classic Libra Bank debit card. Features of the
service include no fees on deposits or withdrawals and no renewal fee. The debit card also...
Brokerage companies HTI Valori Imobiliare, Swiss Capital and SSIF Broker
renounced the proposal of the general shareholders assembly of the Sibiu
Commodities and Financial-Monetary Exchange (BMFMS). Petru Prunea,...
Romanian software producer Siveco Romania could list its shares by 2009 if
two of the company's shareholders, Intel Capital and Polish Enterprise Fund
(PEF 5), do not sell...
Galati-based Martens, one of the medium-sized producers on the beer market,
saw a 27% increase in the volume of its sales in the first half of this year
...
Tractorul officials requested Prime Minister Tariceanu support the granting
of an 837,000 euro subsidy, representing value-added tax (VAT)
reimbursements and to assist in the establishment of a clear...
The absorption capacity of European funds does not depend exclusively on the
government but also on the potential beneficiaries, the head of the European
Commission (EC) Delegation in...
Three-room apartments in the main residential areas of Bucharest
registered a year on year increase of 22 percent in the first quarter and
experts believe the trend is...
The Proprietatea Fund became a shareholder in the World Trade Center
Bucharest after buying a 19.9 percent stake in the company from the
Authority for the Recovery of State Assets (AVAS). The nominal capital of
WTC Bucharest remained unchanged at approximately 2.2 million euros
following the transaction. World Trade Center Bucharest was created in 1994
as a multinational company in which the Romanian party held 55 percent of
the shares, the rest belonging to several French companies. The company
registered revenues last year totaling 14.8 million euros, 15 percent less
than the previous year. Additionally, WTC Bucharest had debts owed to AVAS
amounting to more than 60 million euros.
The Proprietatea Fund submitted a legal complaint against the oil company Oil Terminal, as the latter allegedly has not paid the fund dividends owed for 2005. The Proprietatea Fund requested the annulment of a decision made by Oil Terminal's general shareholders assembly on May 26, through which it approved the payment of the dividends would go to the Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC), but only after the latter and the Proprietatea Fund determine a way to share the dividends. MEC is the main shareholder (59 percent) of Oil Terminal along with the Proprietatea Fund (10 percent) and the investment fund Broadhurst Investment Ltd.
source
The Proprietatea Fund submitted a legal complaint against the oil company Oil Terminal, as the latter allegedly has not paid the fund dividends owed for 2005. The Proprietatea Fund requested the annulment of a decision made by Oil Terminal's general shareholders assembly on May 26, through which it approved the payment of the dividends would go to the Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC), but only after the latter and the Proprietatea Fund determine a way to share the dividends. MEC is the main shareholder (59 percent) of Oil Terminal along with the Proprietatea Fund (10 percent) and the investment fund Broadhurst Investment Ltd.
source
¤6.2 loan, supported by EU, benefits Arges County The EBRD is lending the County of Arges, in southern Romania, ¤6.2 million
to support a solid waste management programme...
Hong Kong is the place to start for Central European companies that want to
start a business on the fast-growing economy of China, argued the Regional
Director of...
Accenture, a US outsourcing services firm, will effectively start operating
on the domestic market in December, says Alasdair Glen, chief of Accenture
operations in Romania. Accenture entered...
U.S. pork-processing giant Smithfield Foods, Smithfield, Va., will invest
more than $75 million in 2006 to retool Comtim, its pork processing complex
in Timisoara, Romania. Smithfield first entered...
"The Bucharest District 2 Hall launched public debates on the project
concerning construction of the Bucharest ? Brasov motorway, Nine o' Clock
reports. The motorway is to be...
The financial bids for the privatisation of the Loan and Savings Bank (CEC)
will be opened on July 25 and the final winnerwill be announced within two
months,...
Citibank believes it is not worth paying the high prices on the Romanian
banking market to expand by an acquisition, so that, at least for now, it
will...
The Greek bank EFG Eurobank announced their decision not to take part in the
CEC privatisation, choosing a strategy of growth on the Romanian market
through its branch,...
The enforcement of the Insolvency Law later this week will force a better
structuring of the units operating in the Romanian economic climate, since
their activity is going...
The share of the SMEs which raise banking loans rose from 31% in 2005 to 47%
this year, according to an analysis of the National Council of Private Small
...
The National Bank of Romana (BNR) considers that there should be issues of
public securities in the periods characterized by budgetary surplus too,
also appreciating as a mistake...
Value of commercial exchanges between Romania and Morocco attained at last
year-end the value of 93 million dollars, a level"far away of real
possibilities," Minister of Economy and...
The Romanian Ministry of Economy sold all 100% of the armament factory Uzina
Mecanica Filiasi for 5 million RON, the equivalent of 1.4 million Euros, to
the Retrom...
The Ministry of Administration and Interior prepares a draft law according
to which homeinsurance will become compulsory starting next year, according
to ACT Media news agency reports.Homeinsurance could...
The German group Bosch, producing electrical tools, spare parts and
accessories, and heating substations, is to double its business in Romania
in 2006, Ziarul Financiar daily reports. ...
US-based Smithfield Group will take over Agroalim Distribution and
Frigorifer Tulcea in full by 2008, Ziarul Financiar reports. Lebanese national Mounir Halawani, one of the leading players in...
The World Bank financially backs the implementation of the e-governance
project in Romania, said Prime Minister Calin Popescu-Tariceanu. He asked the competent authorities to draw up by year-end a...
Shareholders in Celhart Donaris S.A. - Braila on July 13th convened and
authorized a share capital increase by 7,412,545 RON, equal to 2,963,018
shares subscribed by Ecopack S.A....
Rasnov Power Tools (Fabrica de Scule Rasnov) will increase share capital by
5,533,245 RON to 14.22 million RON. The 2.2 million new shares have a face
value of...
The Petrila Mine on Friday inaugurated a new electro-compressor station that
will ensure the compressed air supply required in the mine. The investment
amounted to 2.5 million RON...
Sandoz will export the medicines produced in Targu Mures also to the United
States, according to Sandoz chairman of the Board Iztok Sever. "This makes
us very proud...
Fashion company TinaR plans to open 10 new stores in Bucharest and other
major cities in the country by the end of 2007. The company currently has 30
...
Faur, a company specialising in producing rolling stock, increased its share
capital by 3.5 million euros, according to a report of the General Meeting
of Shareholders. The capital...
Energy distributor Enel Electrica Banat, controlled by Italian utility giant
Enel, posted a gross profit worth 19.7 million euros last year, almost half
the 32.3 million euros seen...
Shares of the clothing manufacturer Braiconf Braila, were the object of a
large transaction on the RASDAQ market on Monday, through which a total of
5.8% in the...
Raiffeisen Bank, the third largest bank on the market, plans to make
investments worth about 6 million euros to expand the 40-branch network to a
total 255. In...
Less than a year since the merger between the Stock Exchange (BSE) and the
RASDAQ was completed, which led to the creation of a single stock market,
disagreements...
Kastamonu Entegre, the owner of Romania-based Prolemn Reghin and the biggest
player in the Turkish wood industry, was taken to court by the State Assets
Resolution Authority (AVAS)...
The biggest players on the domestic soft drinks market, Coca-Cola and QAB,
Pepsi's bottler, have expanded their portfolios on the non-carbonated drinks
market, which boasts four times higher...
The general manager of the Reinert charcuterie producer, Ovidiu Bocaniciu,
says that before starting production, the company needs to have functional
partnerships in place with companies operating in...
The Cluj-based SSIF Broker securities firm on Monday reported a 27% fall in
its gross income for the first half of the year, compared with the same
period...
RCS & RDS will buy from Ilie Stoichescu 2,100 shares, which is equivalent
to 4.179 percent of the share capital of Cable Communications Systems NV
(Netherlands), the principal...
Businessman Cristian Burci is in talks to buy Astra Vagoane Arad factory
from the Americans at Trinity Industries. The deal also entails buying other
companies of the European...
French Renault Group, which makes the Logan model, will boost the production
capacity of the plant in Ploiesti from 235,000 to 350,000 units by January
2008. This will...
The Insurance Monitoring Commission (CSA) placed the insurance company Ardaf
Cluj-Napoca under special administration yesterday, deciding that the
company's management has endangered the possibility of honoring obligations
...
The Romanian banking system recently saw an upsurge of fraud
cases. Fourteen people have been charged with fraud against Libra Bank while
BCR was the target of a...
The Competition Council decided to stop granting state subsidies for 45
companies who benefit from certificates of investing in disadvantaged areas
after investigations performed between March and June...
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have easier access to credits but the
cost of loans is still high, which has a negative impact on the
competitiveness of Romanian...
The percentage allocated to local budgets from income tax cashed from the
state will increase from 63 to 82 percent. In addition, the debt limit for
the public...
The agricultural machinery manufacturer Semanatoarea will continue
production in a new location outside Bucharest as the holder of the factory,
MYO-O, reassigned the land of the old facility...
The commodities transit in the Constanta harbor, over the first six months
of the current year, registered an 89 percent increase compared with the
same period of last...
Orange Romania launched yesterday a new service that allows its clients to
save the confidential data from their mobile phones on the company's server.
The service is called...
Health resorts will benefit from European funds for the development of
sewage networks while transportation for train station-health resort routes
will be assigned to private companies, said the...
Shares could be transacted on the Sibiu Monetary - Financial and Commodities
Exchange (BMFMS) if the institution's general shareholders assembly (AGA)
approves a proposal made by brokerage companies...
After the press revealed that German company Bundesdruckerei had
signed a memorandum approved by the Romanian government for providing
electronic passports, authorities have announced a tender will be...
The financial group Merkantil from Hungary, with divisions specialised by
consumer credits and leasing, could tap next year the Romanian leasing
market in collaboration with OTP Bank Romania,...
The Ministry of Economy and Trade (MEC) signed yesterday, with the
Secretariat for Economic Cooperation from Switzerland and the International
Centre for Trade from Geneva, an agreement for...
The Competition Council authorised the merger between Alcatel and Lucent
Technologies. As a result of this decision, the local branches of the two
companies may also finalise the...
Approx. 5-10 per cent of the patents issued by the State Patent Bureau
(OSIM) are eventually used in serial production, either because those who
register their inventions don?t...
Three foreign companies ? AES Corporation (USA), Prisma Energy (USA) and
Brikel (Bulgaria) ? have submitted interest letters for attending the
construction of a new production block in...
Leasing transactions in the Romanian automotive market picked up 46 per cent
in H1 as compared to the corresponding period of last year, to 58,438
vehicles, accounting for...
Automobile Dacia plans to increase the production capacity of its Pitesti
plant by January 2008 from 235,000 to 350,000 vehicles a year, Executive
Manager Francois Fourmont stated on...
The action is based on the improvement of Rompetrol group management,
including the consolidation of the managing team and the corporate
restructuring, Fitch Ratings improved yesterday the...
The CEC privatisation commission will announce the winner of the
privatisation process within two months. Some analysts see Austria?s
Raiffeisen as most likely to win the race. ...
To reduce the cost of energy ; and the polluting emissions, CFR C?l?tori
will develop a program of 1EUR 80m for the renewal of the wagon stock. The
...
Prime Minister Calin Popescu-Tariceanu stated that there is a big difference
between the privatisation of Banca Comerciala Romana (BCR) and that of the
Savings and Loans Bank -...
Ecologically cultivated areas in Romania expanded more than six times in the
last five years, from 17,438 hectares in 2000 to 110,400 ha in 2005 and for
2006...
A standard Rolls client has three houses in different places on the globe,
and out of these 60,000 potential clients in the world, some tens are in
Romania,...
The Danish-based Schreiber Tours Copenhagen has made the biggest investment
rural tourism in Mures county /central Romania/ has ever seen, by buying 12
houses in Bagaciu locality, the...
The online system for buying clothes is accessed by only one percent of the
Romanians, according to a survey made by the German research company GFK in
19...
The Bucharest business in office blocks and big retail complexes confirms
the evolution anticipated by experts, namely of becoming the most profitable
investments in the real estate sector,...
The number of employees (in the units with four employees and more) stood in
May at 4.604 million, by 14,300 persons more versus April, according to the
data...
During the visit he paid last week to Bucharest, the European Commissioner
for health and food safety, Markos Kiprianu asked the representatives of the
Romanian ministry of health...
The European Union will allocate in 2007 some 1.9 billion euros for the
modernization of Arad-Drobeta-Turnu Severin and
Drobeta-Turnu-Severin-Craiova railway sections, ACT Media news agency
reports.The investments...
The rate of mobile telephony penetration will reach approx 70 percent of
Romania's population, as compared to the 65 percent in March, when the four
mobile phone operators...
EvoBus GmbH, 100 percent held by Daimler Chrysler, have opened their
Romanian subsidiary, EvoBus SRL, to sell and handle warranty cases for
Mercedes Benz and Setra buses and...
Tri-play services provider RCS & RDS will issue stock in order to increase
share capital from 273,066 RON to 12 million EUR in RON-equivalent. The
shareholders will convene...
Consultancy firm Architected Business Solutions (ABS) has launched an ERP
solution for small- and medium-sized enterprises. The ARIS Smart Path
includes technology from SAP and IDS Scheer modules...
Shareholders in fertilizers producer Amonil - Slobozia on Tuesday authorized
the company's participation in the increase in the share capital of Amochim
by 1.15 million USD equivalent in...
Bucharest Fine Mechanics Co. (Mecanica Fina Bucuresti), a manufacturer of
measurement instruments, has set up Itagra, a farming company with a share
capital of 3.7 million RON, of...
Nuclearelectrica extended by six months the electricity supply contract with
companies in the Alro group, after the contract expired in late June,
Nuclearelectrica General Manager announced on Monday....
The Ministry for Public Finances and the Romanian Commercial Bank (BCR)
signed last week a loan contract of EUR 122 M, intended for the financing of
construction works...
Most small and medium sized enterprises (SME) forecast for this year an
improvement of economic indices. On the other hand, however, the number of
SMEs which see the...
Raiffeisen Bank intends to open 40 new units by the end of the year, thus
reaching 255, the credit institution informed on Monday. In the first six months...
PIC group based in Pitesti (south), a business developed from ground up by
Ilie and Cornel Penescu brothers, plans to invest 25 million euros per store
for creating...
Romania's general insurance market will reach 1.44 billion euros, up some
20% versus 2005, when it totaled 1.2 billion euros. According to the estimates presented in annual report of...
Starting today, Petrom rises the price of the fuels traded in the
distribution network, the new price of gasoline being nine bani per litre
higher, and that of...
As many as 7.8 million bank cards are currently in circulation in Romania,
according to figures provided by the National Bank (BNR). The increase rate in the first...
Financial institutions interested in acquiring 69.9 per cent of CEC shares
will learn in a few days whether they qualified for final stage. International financial institutions Raiffeisen Zentralbank...
"Expanding on the international market is an important part of Petrom's
strategy and the imminent integration in the EU will allow the company to
take full advantage of...
The management of Turism Felix (in Baile Felix Oradea), which has been
preparing the company's listing on the stock exchange in two weeks' time, by
selling 77 million...
Citibank believes it is not worth paying the high prices on the Romanian
banking market to expand by an acquisition , so that, at least for now, it
...
MKB, the second Hungarian bank to enter the Romanian market, intends to fund
Romexterra Bank's development plans through syndicated loans and bond issues
denominated in RON and euros,...
The National Radio-communications Company (SNR), Vodafone, Rartel and Orange
will install telecommunication centers in 100 villages that have no access
to phone services, according to an announcement made...
Members of the National Association of Insurance and Reinsurance Companies
from Romania (UNSAR) do not agree with setting up the Disaster Reinsurance
Company (CRID) and recommended to authorities...
The government decided to eliminate the ban on companies that provide
agricultural services to sell land, according to official sources. The
privatization contracts of such companies involve, according...
National Bank of Greece, Hungarian OTP Bank and the consortium formed by
Raiffeisen International and Raiffeisen Zentralbank yesterday made
commitment offers for the takeover of the National Savings...
Euronet Services, the local branch of Euronet Worldwide, will administrate
the credit cards issued by Piraeus Romania, according to the company's
representatives. Euronet will take charge of both...
The privatisation process of the Oltchim plant cannot be initiated this year
because it has to go through a series of legal steps, which will take a few
...
Total Lubrifin, controlled by the fourth biggest petroleum group in the
world - Total (France), saw losses worth 1.7 million euros (6.2 million RON)
in 2005, the company's...
Timisoara-based paint producer, Azur, a branch of ICC Industrie INC New
York, in the first six months of the year registered turnover worth over 4.7
million euros (17.1...
Officials of A & D Pharma, the biggest pharmaceutical group in Romania,
say the funding they have just secured will allow them to consolidate their
position on the...
The National Agency for Fishing and Aquaculture (ANPA) will benefit from
PHARE funds amounting to 700,000 euros, the sums being allocated for the
preparation of this sector regarding...
The Ministry of Finance and the Romanian Commercial Bank (BCR) closed last
week a 122 million euro loan contract to finance works on the second reactor
of the...
Wizz Air inaugurated its first flight in Romania yesterday on the Targu
Mures-Budapest route. The company will have three flights a week (Monday,
Wednesday and Saturday) leaving from...
Flights operator Blue Air will launch a new flight from Targu-Mures to
Valencia at the end of October, while departures are also being scheduled
for Bucharest and Arad....
BCR Leasing ranked 62nd last year in a classification of European leasing
companies by total value of contracts closed for financing purchases of
goods of all categories, according...
The cost-equalizing reorganization of the Romanian energy sector
needs approval from international financiers and the EU, making Economy
Minister Seres' plans to see the new system running this...
Most small and medium-sized enterprises forecast an improvement of economic
indices, but only half of those that proclaimed last year that the Romanian
economic environment encourages businesses still...
US company EON Reality, the world's leading supplier of 3D interactive
solutions, has entered the Romanian market, sealing a partnership with the
Cluj-based Brinel SA company. EON...
Three banks submitted their bids for the privatization of the Romanian
Saving House (CEC) on Monday. The third bank in Greece, Eurobank, pulled out
from the race, according...
Romania's nonferrous metal processing industry records significant growth as
a result of spectacular rises in world prices for raw materials, while the
quarrying industry swiftly heading for bankruptcy...
European steel giant Arcelor and Spain's Bamesa company, yesterday announced
they would invest 30 million euros in building a steel service centre in
Topoloveni (Arges County) for the...
Three foreign banks, including Austria's Raiffeisen Bank, the National Bank
for Greece and Hungary's OTP have submitted binding offers to buy a majority
stake in the Romanian National...
CATV and telecommunications company RCS & RDS Romania forecasts it will
reach turnover worth almost 300 million dollars this year, up approximately
50% year-on-year. The company's representatives told...
Romania's European Union accession is to boost demand for managers as a
result of the entrance of new companies on the Romanian market and of the
transfer to...
A stagnation of the Romanian importation from the Middle East countries and
a possible increase in winter of the imported gas price are the main
implications of the...
A survey conducted by the National Bank of Romania on the current situation
of industry and constructions found that ?the general outlook is positive?,
ACT Media news agency...
MOL Romania Petroleum Products is looking to consolidate its position on the
local market through acquisitions of gas stations and refineries, according
to BusinesRomania.com. ; From the profitability...
Piraeus Bank grants upgrades it's mortgage/estate credits to a broader
category of clients, ACT Media news agency reports. ; The credits are
made accessible to applicants employed with...
Citigroup Corporate and Investment Banking - the corporate banking division
of Citibank Romania S.A - A & D Pharma and Deloitte Romania successfully
completed the syndication of a...
Nearly one quarter of the funding provided to Romania by the EU for various
projects have not been yet justified due to delays in works, exceeding the
submission...
In the first quarter of 2006, the number of
companies going bankrupt went up 15% while in Romania it topped 54%, and a
Romanian produces 2.4 times more...
The labour productivity in industry advanced 9.9 percent over the first five
months of the year, compared to the similar period of the last year, the
National Statistics...
The price of industrial products advanced 6.4 percent in May 2006 as against
December 2005, according to data of the National Statistics Institute. The ascendant evolution of prices in...
Arcelor, the world's second-largest steelmaker, is to set up a steel service
centre in Romania with Spain's Bamesa, the two companies investing 30
million euros ($38 million) until...
Transaction Systems Architects (www.TSAInc.com) is a leading international
provider of software solutions for electronic payment systems used by many
of the world?s largest banks, retailers and payment processors....
The conflict in the Middle East that weakens the placements of foreign
investors associated with the 30% increase of stock prices in the last three
weeks were the...
The central bank has drawn in 2 bn lei from the banking market (557.26
million euros) in three-month deposits with an average yearly interest of
8.68% (whereas the...
In the interval 2007 ? 2013 Romania will receive over 17 bn euros from the
EU budget to reduce development gaps; the rest till 30 bn euros (the total
...
The banks from Romania did not provide loans to the companies belonging to
Jovanovic group based on fake cheques, in spite of attempts to get loans
from three...
Fiscal Code, which is due for enforcement on January 1, maintains the levels
of the main taxes but brings raises, not very significant, in relation to
secondary taxes....
Shareholders of Dracula Park have recently approved floating the company on
the stock exchange, as well as increasing the investment limit on the
capital market from one million...
The World Bank (WB) has approved a 106 million euros credit to help local
governments in Romania develop their water infrastructure, the bank said in
a statement Friday....
Four of the seven members of BCR's Supervisory Board will hand in their
resignations early next month, while Daniel Daianu, chairman of this Board
will give up his...
The government has approved through an emergency ordinance that the debts of
the bankrupt Bancorex, resulting from possible litigation, be covered by
public money within the limit of...
The sales of domestic vehicles went down in the first half of the year
compared with the same time last year, while the number of imported vehicles
went...
Assets of mutual funds grew by 40% in the first six months of the year,
given the big number of companies managing bank investments that entered the
market...
Bancpost, controlled by the Greek group EFG Eurobank, will go ahead with its
expansion strategy, not taking into account the privatisation process of the
CEC (the Romanian Savings...
The Competition Council approved for Termoelectrica debts to be erased and a
Romanian delegation go to Brussels on July 27 to give more details to
European authorities. The...
The Bucharest Tribunal admitted last Friday the request for lifting the
distraint on the 25.8% shares belonging to the Rompetrol Rafinare SA Group
that were still under seizure....
The Proprietatea Fund could receive dividends amounting to 5.8 million euros
from Romgaz Medias with a 15% participation of the natural gas producer. The
fund can receive the...
Car sales amounted to 117,456 units in the first six months, up 7.8% in
comparison to the similar period in 2005. The commercial vehicles market
lowered by 7.9%...
Tobacco producer JT International Romania announced that starting June 1,
2006 Martin Southgate has taken over as the new general manager and vice
president of the company. Southgate...
The oil drilling and construction company Dafora Medias wants to increase
its nominal capital by approximately two million euros and float its shares
on the Bucharest Stock Exchange...
Lafarge Agregate Betoane shareholders will receive dividends for the first
time since the creation of the company, which was created in 1998. This
first payment of dividends totals...
Mega Image stores, owned by the Belgian group Delhaize, posted a turnover
worth some 54 million euros (196 million RON) last year, a 50% increase
against the 36...
Units sold by Tiriac Auto hiked 65 percent, to 12,207, in the first two
quarters of the current year, compared with the same period last year.
Company officials...
Milling and bakery industry producer Vel Pitar will increase the number of
specialised bakery shops to 50% of the company's total retail space in the
next three years,...
About one-quarter of the funds granted to Romania by the EU for various
projects have not yet been accounted for due to delays in works, late
submissions of...
Taxes on used cars outlined in the Fiscal Code could violate the EU Treaty
and could lead to "extremely harsh" financial penalties, according to
Leonard Orban, state secretary...
The National Savings
Bank is the fifth largest bank in Romania. ...
German group Bosch, whose business involves electrical tools, automotive
parts and accessories, and heating substations, plans to double its business
in Romania in 2006. "We want to...
Romania could face delays in fulfilling engagements such as
fighting swine fever and stray dogs but these problems should not impede the
accession, said Health and Consumer Protection...
Masterfoods Romania, the domestic arm of Mars Incorporated, one of the
world's biggest producers in the food industry, estimates it will consider
opening a production facility in Romania...
The market of stationery products, office supplies and office furniture
might double by 2010, amid the large number of companies entering Romania
and the rising number of "office"...
Controversy surrounds a Romanian steel plant bought by tycoon Lakshmi
Mittal, with a report on Sunday saying that scores of workers had died or
were injured in accidents...
Estee Lauder Romania, an importer of luxury cosmetics, is banking on intense
traffic locations, such as commercial centres or malls, to expand its
product distribution network. Marina...
Romania's government is likely to be disappointed on Monday when it opens
bids for the country's last large state-owned bank, raising the possibility
it may call off the...
Romania textile industry which used to be highly appealing for European
fashion houses owing to its cheap labor force and low-price raw material
will soon find...
MKB Bank Rt has revealed details of its planned acquisition of Romania's
Romexterra Bank. MKB said on Thursday it signed a contract on its intention to purchase at
...
A number of 4,902 companies with foreign participation to the social capital
were registered in Romania, during the first five months of the year, worth
of capital 1,...
Electrica Transilvania Nord concluded Q1 of this year with a gross profit of
17.183 million RON at a turnover of 217.552 million RON, according to the
data presented...
Electrica encounters harmonizing problems with the four privatized branches
( Electrica Banat, Electrica Dobrogea, Electrica Oltenia and Electrica
Moldova), stated on Wednesday in Cluj Tudor Serban, manager of...
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services announced having revised its outlook
on Netherlands-based oil refiner and marketer the Rompetrol Group N.V. to
stable from negative. At the same time,...
Interview with Natasa Kázmér, Director Corporate Communications & Public Affairs Wizz Air. Wizz Air, Central and Eastern Europe?s largest low fare - low cost airline
announced recently that...
State-owned or private companies, unions, employers? associations may submit
applications by September 13 to access European funds for personnel
training, in view of enhancing the competitiveness of labour...
Sanpaolo IMI Bank Romania registered in the first six months a net profit of
EUR 2.82 M, standing for 67 per cent of the revenues reported in 2005, reads
...
The National Communications Regulatory Authority (ANRC) will reduce the
monitoring tariff for electronic communications and postal service providers
from 0.3 per cent in 2005 to 0.13 per cent...
The Guarantee Fund for the Rural Credit (FGCR) could grant in 2006
guarantees in the amount of around RON 280 M, up 37 per cent over the past
...
The National Tax Administration Agency (ANAF) identified 1,226 firms that do
not operate at their declared HQ - inactive taxpayers - and warns that the
transactions made by...
At present it is estimated that over one million Romanian nationals work
outside Romania. The largest part work illegally in Spain or Italy. But there are many
...
The passenger traffic in Romanian airports increased by 28.45 per cent in
the first quarter of 2006 as compared to the corresponding period of 2005,
according to data...
The CCCF Bucharest construction company, which was once one of the top two
players on the market, last year posted 29 million euro (105.12 million RON)
turnover, down...
The management of the ARoBS Transilvania Software company estimates it will
reach turnover totalling around 2 million euros by the end of this year, 125
percent higher than...
The PIC group of Pitesti, which has annual revenues worth over 50 million
euros, is trying to work its way onto the highly competitive Romanian
hypermarket sector, with...
The A & D Pharma Group, which operates the largest chain of drugstores
in Romania, Sensiblu, and pharmaceuticals distributor Mediplus, has taken
out a syndicated loan worth about...
The viable units of Tractorul Brasov, after the restructuring of the
company, will be sold through a public auction that could be held in
September, said the deputy...
Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu asked the Bechtel company to speed
up works on the Transilvania Highway. The PM, Minister of Transportation
Radu Berceanu and US Ambassador Nicholas...
Romania's wine imports totaled 179,870 hectoliters in the first four months
of the year, up 37 times compared to the similar period in 2005 while
exports reduced by...
The Canadian Businessmen Association has a new board. John Saroudis was
re-elected president of the organization for a one-year term. The new
council is formed of Marc Bonnemains...
Premiums subscribed by insurance companies, including reinsurance policies,
totaled 4.417 billion lei (approximately 1.201 billion euros, based on the
official exchange rate in December 2005) last year, up...
The bidding organized by Finconta Consulting, the judicial liquidator of
Carom Onesti, for the assets sale of the synthetic rubber producer, will
start at 48 million euros. ...
The Bancpost management will suggest to shareholders a change of the budget
for this year, by increasing expenditure for an investment program in view
of opening 50 new...
Spanish group Mondragon, which has made 11 billion euros in revenues
worldwide, will invest some 5 million euros in an aluminium rims plant,
located in the West of...
The Buzoianu brothers, owners of the Cluj-based sweets plant Feleacul, have
announced that the plant will be moved to another location, and a real
estate project worth 30...
The prices for plots of land in the Capital, especially in central areas,
are the most expensive in the region, according to Marat Safin, president of
the Marr...
Authorities will put up for privatization the car manufacturer Daewoo
Automobile Craiova, immediately after the signing of the takeover contract
for a 51 percent stake of the South...
The value of funding applications submitted to the Special Accession Program
for Agriculture and Rural Development (SAPARD) in June 2006 was 391 million
euros. The amount is superior...
To encourage the production of renewable fuels the government decided to
exempt producers of biomass from the payment of excise tax, announced the
government's spokeswoman Oana Marinescu. Biomass...
Amonil Slobozia, a chemical fertiliser producer, will lay off 231 employees,
following a decision made in the Extraordinary General Meeting of
Shareholders. In the EGM that took place...
Austria-based Argana increased its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT)
by 91 percent in the first quarter, according to Reuters. The advance was
mainly due to the increase...
Iasitex, one of the top ten producers in the textile industry, is counting
on the expansion of production facilities and personnel growth, at a time
when most players...
Small companies complain most often that they need to bribe local
authorities, while multinationals and large companies have easier access to
the system, said Anca Harasim, executive director...
Vodafone Romania will defend its right in court following the decision of
the National Communications Regulatory Authority (ANRC) to apply a 40
percent reduction to interconnection tariffs by...
Pastry producer Fornetti last year posted a turnover worth 62.7 million RON
(17.3 million euros), a 47% increase against 2004, and a gross profit worth
12.8 million RON...
Metro will invest 5 million euros in "consolidating" the stores it owns
until next spring and will no longer rely on opening new outlets for
growth. "We...
; Gabriel Resources Ltd. has won two court decisions against opponents
of its plan to build a gold and silver mine in Romania. Romania's Supreme Court ordered a...
The effects of avian influenza on Romania's poultry sector provides a
high-profile case study for the rest of Europe on how the virus could affect
both the supply...
Premiums underwritten by insurance companies, reinsurance operations
included, totalled RON 4.417 bln in late 2005, accounting for a 27.07 per
cent increase since 2004, according to the annual...
The management of Avicola Crevedia has recommended shareholders to authorize
a loan of up to 10 million EUR to finance the implementation of SAPARD
programs. The shareholders will...
ICE Felix - Fabrica de Calculatoare (ICEF) ("The Computer Factory") has
increased share capital by 62 percent to 4,476,575 RON by issuing new stock.
Existing shareholders subscribed 685,224...
Shareholders in Hiperion S.A. (HION) will convene on August 8th to decide to
increase the company's share capital by 450,000 EUR to finance the
development of the industrial...
E.ON Gaz Romania has announced the completion of the three projects included
in this year's investment program for Iasi County. Totaling 400,000 RON, the
projects consisted in the...
GMP Advertising closed last year with a net profit of 2,373,934 RON, up from
1.2 billion ROL in 2004. "I have decided to reinvest most of the profit,
...
Less than half a year until the possible accession of Romania to EU, the
competition between imports and the local wines on the free market of the
wine...
The total business turnover of the most important advertising groups and
agencies in Romania rose by almost 100 million euros in 2005 compared to
2004, according to a...
Raiffeisen Bank may finance by the end of the year real estate projects
amounting to a total EUR 350 M. The banking institution has so far granted
real...
On a dynamic market where the number of mobile phone users is expected to go
beyond the 15 million mark by the end of the year, operators are trying...
Constanta-based harbour operator Socep has cut some of the losses it had
witnessed in the first three months of the year, in the second quarter, but
it may...
Brasov-based Europharm SA, one of the leading generic drugs makers in
Romania, owned by British giant GlaxoSmithKline, saw its profit plunge last
year (by almost 98%), compared with...
Danish industrial giant Danfoss, with yearly business worth 2.2 billion
euros, has acquired all the shares of one of the leading heating equipment
manufacturers in Romania, Schmidt -...
Cellulose and paper manufacturer Somes SA Dej, part of the Serviciile
Comerciale Romane (SCR - Romanian Commercial Services) group of firms, saw
turnover stagnate at about 8.6 million...
Remarul "16 Februarie", a Cluj-based company specialising in manufacture and
repairs of railroad vehicles, has announced it will provide services to the
Greek railway operator, Greek Railways and...
The number of bankruptcies in the Romanian economy doubled in 2005 compared
with the previous year, with about 10,000 of the 11,000 companies for which
insolvency procedures were...
The Simcor Oradea group of firms, which operate on the construction
materials market, expect this year's turnover to climb by around 10-15% to
about 52 million euros, according...
Romanian construction firms need to carry out massive investments in order
to be able to compete with powerful foreign firms that have entered the
domestic market, say players...
Furniture production in the first quarter of this year advanced slightly to
317 million euros, rising from the 301.2 million euros registered in the
similar period of last...
US-based Smithfield Group will take over Agroalim Distribution and
Frigorifer Tulcea in full by 2008. The two businesses were developed by
Lebanese national Mounir Halawani, one of the...
Businessman Ioan Popa, the majority shareholder and general manager of
poultry producer Transavia Alba-Iulia, says one of the sources of growth of
this business would be to seize...
Only 200 people whose homes were abusively taken away have received shares
in the Proprietatea Fund, of the 800,000 requests filed for the retrocession
of properties, said on...
Minister of Economy and Commerce Codrut Seres suggested the creation of
mixed industrial Romanian-Lebanese companies. Seres met his Lebanese
counterpart in Beirut and expressed the interest of Romanian...
Orange Romania launched a service that allows a company's employees to make
calls to one another at a reduced tariff, starting at USD 0.04 (.03 EUR) per
minute....
Wine producer Cotnari plans to invest approximately 3.5 million euros in the
modernization of the production capacities and the acquisition of new
equipment. The necessary financial resources will...
IT applications provider Softwin will invest over 100 million dollars by
2010 for international expansion of the BitDefender brand, by opening
branches on external markets and development of...
Minister of Labor Gheorghe Barbu proposed to the government a five percent
increase of the pension point, starting September 1, two percent larger than
the level agreed at...
General Motors Romania, the importer of Opel and Chevrolet, estimates for
the current year a total sales volume amounting to 90-100 million euros. The
sales for Opel are...
Marr Capital allocated 70 million euros to the construction of two
residential areas located in Corbeanca, according to the company's Chairman
Marat Safin. The first project is...
THE Central European University Business School (CEU BS), based in Budapest,
is to extend its Masters in IT Management program into Bucharest, with the
first intake beginning studies...
Cosmote Romania introduced a lower roaming tariff of 0.65 euros per minute,
with value-added tax included, for calls made to all destinations where the
company is present. The...
The penetration rate of mobile phone services will reach 70 percent of the
Romanian population at the end of this year, according to the general
director of Nokia...
The monthly subscription fee for the landline carrier Romtelecom will
increase by an average of 25.4 percent starting on August 25, as the
National Regulatory Authority for Communications...
Real Hypermarket Romania, the company that operates Real hypermarkets on the
domestic market, has invested over 12 million euros to open its second
Romanian outlet, in Constanta. ...
Ian Harrocks, the general director of KD Life Romania, spent 20 years
in the insurance business in the UK before coming to Romania six years ago
and has...
The new law on bankruptcy is to come into force on July 21 aiming mainly at
speeding up the exit out of the market of the non-viable entities upon
...
Romanian accession to the EU will establish the development of economic
activity and demand for new and more complex judicial services, believe
representatives of major law firms. ...
The Austrian-based Euro Invest Bank have sold the securities company Euro
Invest Vision to the Greek-based Fortius Finance for 759,551 EUR, which is
almost seven times more than...
"Cosmote is further focusing on investments in developing, upgrading and
optimizing the network in order to expand coverage," said Nikolaos Tsolas,
the CEO of Cosmote. He added that...
Electroutilaj Campina (ELJM) has reported a Q1 turnover of 2.1 million RON
and losses of some 4,242 RON, down from a profit of 8,321 RON in the
corresponding...
IT & S, a company that has been in the IT & C industry for over 10 years
as an importer and distributor of reputed brands on the Copy...
The shareholders of the Fagaras-based compression pumps manufacturer Upruc
Co. in end-June decided to increase the share capital by 232,412.5 RON,
through a capital injection /one euro trades...
Siemens will supply Transelectrica a 400 kV interconnection station at
Nadab, within a contract exceeding EUR 5.74 M, informs the company?s
communiqué, on Tuesday sent to the editorial...
Foreign investments have substantially increased over the past few years.
Moreover, as compared to the ?90s, the increase is astonishing. On this
basis, and considering estimates that the...
Alro Slatina shareholders approved the merger with Alum Tulcea during a
General Extraordinary Meeting, according to information remitted to the
Bucharest Stock Exchange. The operation was initially scheduled...
The National Authority for Tourism expanded on a draft for the modification
of the law that allows temporary and definitive constructions on the coast
of the Black Sea...
In the first six months of the year, the values of Turkish cars exported to
Romania and Bulgaria topped 263 million dollars, according to Turkish Daily
News. ...
The leading competitors in the Romanian mobile telecoms market, which
jointly account for over 95 per cent market share, challenged the decision
made early this week by the...
The Insurance Supervision Commission (CSA) has forbidden insurance companies
to sell auto liability policies (RCA) on the streets, at street stands or in
cars. "Companies must sell these...
Lafarge Arcom Gips, part of the French group Lafarge, this year expects
turnover to increase by 15% year-on-year, to 17 million euros. "For this year, we forecast a...
The increase in consumption prices in June stood at only 0.15%; one of the
lowest levels lately, making the target of 5% inflation possible by
yearend. Therefore...
Minister of Economy and Commerce Codrut Seres re-appointed Dumitru Ilinca as
general director of the Turceni energy complex. He was dismissed in June
after an investigation of the...
The Ministry of Transportations, Constructions and Tourism (MTCT) wants to
lease the stadiums that are its property so the future concessionaires will
make investments, said the MTCT minister...
The relocation of the Semanatoarea factory outside Bucharest, following the
decision of its major shareholder, company MYO-O, to start the construction
of the Sema Parc real estate project,...
Representatives of trade unions demanded, yesterday during the meeting of
the Commission for Utilities' Policies, the reduction of tariffs for
electricity and natural gas for both small and...
Trade between Romania and the members of the Central European Free Trade
Agreement (CEFTA) will increase to 1.5 billion euros this year, over 1.2
billion euros in 2005,...
The inflation rate diminished to 0.15 percent in June, after reaching 0.6
percent in May, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INS). The
inflation rate over the...
Farmers agreed to a 4,500 ROL per kilogram (12 eurocents) price for the
wheat in the new harvest, 500 lei under the initially set value, Minister of
Agriculture...
The Romanian Lottery will have to return state aid in the amount of 14.14
million euros illegally granted by the Ministry of Public Finance, yesterday
decided the Competition...
Whirlpool Romania reported for 2005 a net profit of 2.4 million euros, half
of the total reported for 2004, when the company registered a gross profit
of 4.8...
The Centro coffee shop chain is planning to expand by four more locations
this year, two of which are outside Bucharest, Tinu Sebesanu, general
manager of Trend Hospitality,...
American food industry giant Smithfield Foods, Inc. has so far invested 30
million euros to retool the meat processing plant in Timisoara. "By the end
of the year,...
The financial consultancy firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Romania, a
branch of one of the professional services giants, will advise Camelia Sucu
in the sale of the shares she...
The Ramnicu-Valcea-based Boromir Ind group of firms, one of the leading
bread manufacturers in the country, will invest 12 million euros in the
milling and bakery sector by...
The National Forestry Company (RNP) has so far given back about 250,000
hectares of forest to owners dispossessed by the communist regime. The total
amount claimed is 2.3...
The Ministry of Environment and Water Management will present an official
point of view on the Rosia Montana project only after public debate on the
investment have finished....
Minister of Transportation Radu Berceanu yesterday said the ministry would
resume the Dracula theme park project, according to NewsIn online. The
official said that although the project is...
The general manager of the Romanian branch of Nestle group, Paul Nuber, says
the competitive edge of Romania in terms of low production costs, allows the
company to...
Esplanada, the TriGranit developed project in the capital city that will
entail investment totalling over 1 billion euros, will generate rental
space, both for merchants, and for offices...
Africa-Israel Europe and New Century Holding (NCH) will invest some 165
million euros in a real estate project, developed on a 120,000 square metre
plot of land in...
The KFC and Pizza Hut chains will expand by another four units (two KFC
restaurants and two Pizza Hut restaurants) to the provinces by the end of
the...
The average salary in Romania is 260 euros, according to a survey of the
Vienna Institute, while in Bulgaria it is one hundred euros lower. In
Germany, the...
The average price of a three-room apartment in Bucharest has doubled in the
last two years, a survey made and published by Ziarul Financiar daily . The
findings...
Starting 2007, the Romanian farmers will see profits only if they invest in
the competitive, highly potential sectors supported in the European Union.
"As of 2007, the farmers...
The Romanian computer games market will exceed 6 million euros this year,
according to specialists in the field. Best Distribution's general manager
Michael Allardin says that in 2005...
Romanians are most interested in the brand's name of the clothes they buy,
according to a survey conducted by German market research company GfK in 19
countries of...
The European Commissioner for regional development Danuta Hubner,
congratulated the Romanian authorities for finalizing, before accession, the
EDIS process ? Extended Decentralised Implementation System -. As a
...
Four banks are expected to submit binding offers by July 17 for the
privatisation of the Savings Bank CEC, namely Raiffeisen from Austria, the
National Bank of Greece,...
Eurom Bank shares were withdrawn from transaction on the RASDAQ market of
the BVB starting Monday, according to a decision of last week by the
National Commission for...
The population of Romania was on January 1, 2006, 21,610,200 inhabitants,
out of which 48.8% (10,535,100) male and 51.2% (11,075,100) female,
according to the date of the National...
Autoliv Inc. (NYSE:ALV)(STO:ALIV) - the worldwide leader in automotive
safety systems - has opened an engineering center in Romania that will do
electronics development for European clients. ...
This year?s inflation target and inflation forecast remained unchanged,
National Bank of Romania governor Mugur Isarescu declared in an interview
for Bloomberg. ?We still maintain an inflation...
International experts endorse Romania's position on the Bastroe canal,
pointing out it will have devastating effects on the flora and fauna of a
region that is part of...
Radiocom, one of the main suppliers of communications networks and services
and leader of the local broadcasting services market, has started the
development of a second digital terrestrial...
The Pic group, one of the leading sugar distributors in Romania, and owner
of a hypermarket in Pitesti, will develop its retail business, planning two
more openings, one...
Pitesti-based furniture manufacturer, Alprom, estimates an increase in
profit by 142%, to 1.9 million RON (0.45 million euros), while turnover will
fall by 4.4% to 74.3 million RON...
Romania-based Alpha Rocas, a subsidiary of the British group Alpha Airports,
which provides catering services to airline and airport-based companies,
witnessed revenue worth 6.8 million pounds sterling (35...
Pitesti-based Building Astrom, which operates on the construction market,
estimates turnover worth some 20 million euros for this year, a 20% increase
against last year, according to company...
British cable assembly manufacturer, Quadrant Connections, will invest in a
production facility in Sibiu, in partnership with the German manufacturer
Odu. Company representatives have stated that the Romanian-based...
The government is planning on making drastic cuts in the number of
budget-paid employees, with the intention of saving 900m euros (1% of the
GDP). The initiative is...
Banca Transilvania yesterday repurchased 25 million of its own shares from
the group's insurance company, BT Asigurari, as part of a repurchase
programme designed to secure shares that...
Jiri Rizek, the former manager of the electronics, home appliances and IT
retail company Dixons / Electroworld that is based in the Czech Republic,
will become the general...
Industrial production soared by 15.7% in May 2006 compared with the same
period of last year and by 5.9% in the first five months of this year,
marking...
Microsoft Romania made 29% higher revenues in the 2006 fiscal year that
ended on June 30th, compared with the previous fiscal year. According to
company officials, Microsoft Romania...
The chairman and chief executive of Regal Petroleum, Paul Morgan, has quit
the troubled oil and gas explorer after just three months in the job, citing
"personal reasons"....
Charcuterie producer, Tabco-Campofrio, the domestic unit of Spain's
Campofrio Alimentacion, posted 10% higher sales in the first half of this
year compared with the same period of 2005....
The medical services company MedLife announced that it submitted a petition
to the Competition Council through which it accuses the Unirea Medical
Center (CMU) of anti-competition practices. MedLife...
The companies Africa-Israel Europe and New Century Holding (NCH) will invest
approximately 165 million euros in the construction of a 120,000 square
meter real estate project on Timisoara...
Romanian railroad company CFR Calatori has launched a 180 million euro
project for modernizing and renewing of the train car fleet. The investments
target the reduction of the...
Wine producer Murfatlar will take a short-term loan of up to 9.5 million
euros from OTP Bank for covering the working capital, issuing of letters of
guarantee and...
The National Regulatory Authority for Communications (ANRC) has forced the
mobile phone operators Vodafone and Orange Romania to reduce interconnection
tariffs starting in September 2006 and lasting until...
American company Smithfield will develop a network of over 70 large breeding
farms in Timis County, according to the company's Corporate Affairs Director
Mircea Ioan Cotosman. The first...
The producer of salami and sausages, which is celebrating its 30 anniversary
this year, set out to increase exports to the Czech, Slovakian, Greek,
Hungarian and Moldovan markets....
At the end of May, the number of unemployed people registered in Romania was
481,200, down 14,700 from last year, according to the National Institute of
Statistics (INS)....
The rate of increase of industrial production edged up in May, to 15.7
percent, compared with the 0.5 percent increase registered in April. The
advance after the first...
Romanians will pay lower customs taxes for an imported vehicle if the
cylinder capacity of the car is between 1100 and 3100 cubic centimeters,
according to a pronouncement...
The privatization of Romgaz could be considered again after three years, as
the government presently does not want to privatize the natural gas
producer, according to Mihai Catuneanu,...
The representatives of the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA)
member-states meet today in Bucharest to establish the new depositary of the
agreement, as a result of Romania...
Bucharest Mayor Adriean Videanu announced works on the Basarab
...
A Central European Bank report warns against the insolvency risk looming
over the credit institutions that will continue to make massive
disbursements in foreign currency, a threat that...
Banks might have to increase share capital following enforcement of BASEL II risk-calculation system
The introduction of the Basel II system for risk and capital-adequacy
calculation might result in the need for some banks to increase their share
capital, says Dragos Cabat,...
In a WB classification of the world?s 162 economies by last year?s GDP
expressed in US dollars at the market?s exchange rate, Romania ranks 49th
with 98.5 bn...
Budgetary revenues derived in June grew by 16.4 percent on the same period
one year ago, standing at 7.68 billion lei, according to figures centralized
by the Assessment...
Claudiu Doltu will be the representative of Romania at the World Bank, where
he will be replacing Anca Ciobanu, official sources told Mediafax. Doltu
will terminate his office...
The Ministry of Transport proposes to the Executive to pay damages of RON
5.65 M for the expropriation of buildings situated along the future
Bucharest-Ploiesti motor-way, a public...
Competition Council will analyse the take-over of RCI Leasing Romania by RCI
Banque, a member of Renault group, which is an economic concentration,
according to information released on...
Furniture manufacturer Famos SA from Odorheiul Secuiesc closed 2005 with a
turnover worth 28.5 million RON (7.8 million euros), up from 26.9 million
RON (6.6 million euros). The...
The French group Renault, owner of Automobile Dacia, intends to invest 178
million euros in the Pitesti plant, by the end of 2007, stated Jacques Abot,
commercial manager...
A number of Otelinox Targoviste shareholders, including Broadhurst
investment fund and the Property Fund, whose stakes total 19.84% together,
filed for exiting this company and are to get...
East Capital this month will launch a new fund targeting investments in the
South-Eastern European area, with a total capitalisation worth 100 million
dollars, the company specialising in...
French-Belgian group Dexia, whose assets stood at 509 billion euros at the
end of 2005, and which competed for BCR last year, has dropped plans to
submit a...
Agrirom, one of the top ten food distributors, estimates turnover worth 40
million euros for this year, more than the 34 million euros seen last
year. "Our...
The last valuable asset still in the state's portfolio, natural gas producer
Romgaz Medias made a net income of 39.8 million euros (139.3 million RON) in
the first...
The tender for the privatization of the Mangalia Shipyard could resume by
fall, as new evaluation procedures are under way, said the shipyard's
General Director Eugen Tudor. How...
Automated Teller Machines (ATM's) will continue to give both RON and ROL
because banks are avoiding the situation in which ATM's would be empty,
despite the fact that...
The short-term plans of Metro Cash & Carry Romania involve the expansion
of the activity to the Republic of Moldova, where two new hypermarkets are
to be opened,...
The foreign currency that entered the Romanian market and belonging to the
people living abroad totaled 22.5 billion euros, representing 28.5% of the
Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according...
Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu expressed his dissatisfaction, on
Saturday during his visit to the Danube delta, with the fact that hotels and
boarding houses in the area...
Opera Plaza, the first five-star hotel in Cluj-Napoca, was inaugurated on
Friday following a 4.5 million euro investment that took three years to
complete. The hotel has 52...
Romania-based airline operator Eurolines Romania will offer this summer
direct flights from Bucharest Baneasa Airport to Madrid, in partnership with
Spanish airline company Air Europa. The flights are...
The Authority for the Recovery of State Assets (AVAS) decided to continue
the privatization of Electroputere by selling the company's assets and
creating four distinct units. Buyers will...
Globe Trade Center (GTC) Romania will invest 56 million euros in the
construction of two class-A office buildings, located in the Free Press
Square area. The project will...
Luxten Lighting will start producing electricity after it recently acquired
seven hydro-electric power plants located in Doftana Valley, with the
company's present contract with an electricity supplier set...
Owners of cars more than 12 years old wishing to scrap them in return for
compensation representing financial support to be used for the purchasing of
a new...
Hungarian foreign trade bank MKB, a subsidiary of German credit
institution Bayerische Landesbank, signed on Friday an agreement to take
over Romanian bank Romexterra. Representatives of the Hungarian...
Hendrik Notmeijer, trading area manager with IKEA Trading, says that in the
first half of the year the company's acquisitions in Romania were 10% higher
against the similar...
The textile industry will reach a level of 7.5 billion euros in 2010, two
billion euros lower than this year. Over the next four years, the number of...
Oil tycoon Dinu Patriciu is thinking of selling 10 to 35% in the Rompetrol
Group, prior to its listing on a foreign market by 2008. Such an operation...
The local subsidiary of Microsoft reported at the end of the 2006 fiscal
year revenue 29 percent higher that in the previous financial term,
according to the company's...
MKB Bank Rt confirmed on Friday that it had signed a contract to purchase a
majority stake in Romania's Romexterra Bank, but said it would reveal
further details...
The shareholders of Banca Transilvania subscribed shares worth 120.8 million
RON, that is 97.2% of the total shares offered, the lender announced. The
Extraordinary General Meeting of Banca...
Accenture is to employ 1,000 people in a new business process
outsourcing (BPO) centre in Romania. Over the next three months the company is recruiting people...
European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Danuta Hübner, today
congratulated the Romanian authorities on finalising, before accession, the
Extended Decentralised Implementation System (EDIS) process. The European
Commission therefore...
The central bank paid in June an average annual interest rate of 8.5% for
the money attracted from commercial banks, equal to the interest rate of
monetary policy,...
Ioan Micula, chairman of European Drinks, the biggest food group with
Romanian capital, says the company's exports doubled last year, and went up
70% in the first six...
The monthly number of Romanian buyers on the Bucharest Stock Exchange
increased by almost 2,300 last month against May, to 11,600 buyers, almost
reaching the 12,500 record high,...
The Romanian National Post Office Company (CNPR) witnessed a gross profit
worth 35.6 million euros in the first six months of 2006, a five-fold
increase against the 6.4...
The Authority for State Asset Resolution (AVAS) recorded in the first half
of the year revenues from the resolution activity of RON 244.26 M, according
to a press...
Metalicplas Dej, owned by businessman Ioan Tecar, budgeted investment worth
some 17.3 million euros to bring technological improvement to five of the
group's companies. "Through these investments, Metalicplas...
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), a part of the so-called Big Four professional
services companies that operate worldwide, is to collect a fee worth 1.5% of
the value of Electrica Muntenia...
The new Petrom Executive General Manager, Mariana Gheorghe, who took the
office on June 15, stated for Mediafax on Thursday that one of her mandate?s
objectives is to...
The Bacau-based Dedeman company, which sells construction materials, has
contracted a loan worth 15 million euros from ABN Amro Dutch bank, according
to the company's representatives. "We...
Banca Italo Romena, a member of the group Veneto Banca, carries on its
development plan which stipulates the presence in the most important cities
from the country, with...
Romania will contribute next year to the budget of the European Union as a
member state, by approx. one billion euros, but it will be, at least in the
...
Israeli investments in Romania amount to 1 billion dollars, with commercial
exchanges of over 400 million dollars in 2005, the commercial attaché of the
Embassy of Israel in...
According to a National Bank of Romania (BNR) report on financial stability,
Romanians consume and save more, as last year household bank deposits
exceeded 10 pc of GDP,...
The sales of Dacia reached 103,604 units in the first half of 2006, of which
96,571 cars were produced in Romania and 7,033 in Morocco. As compared to...
A big business centre whose dimensions are going to compete with those of
Casa Poporului is to be built in Bucharest (Romania's Capital), being set to
enter utilisation...
AIG Life, the second-largest insurance company in Romania, estimates it will
invest about 10 million euros to establish a company that manages private
pension funds. "We are...
The National Bank of Romania (BNR) showed in a statement that state security
issues should exist even in the periods when budgetary surpluses are
reported in order to...
Coca-Cola HBC Romania reported a 280.7 million euros turnover for 2005, up
15% compared with 2004, while the company's gross profit increased with more
than 30% to 40.2...
The shareholders of Griro Bucharest approved on Wednesday a revolving loan
contract through which the local company will obtain two million dollars
from Quatron International Investments of Amman,...
Bucharest municipal councilors decided yesterday to give the Basarab
overpass project a public utility status. Construction works should begin
fall this year. The councilor's meeting was marked by...
A share of minimum 60 percent of the profit obtained by the Romanian Lottery
this year will be directed at financing youth housing projects, construction
of gyms and...
The Romanian-based car producer Automobile Dacia will benefit from 178
million euros in investments during the 2006-2007 period after the company's
main shareholder, Renault, invested 650 million euros...
Cosmote Romania offers its clients the opportunity to make calls within the
network and pay only one eurocent per minute, regardless of the time or
subscription type. The...
The representatives of Hungarian bank MKB are preparing to sign the
acquisition contract for Romanian-based Romexterra Bank. The deal will be
sealed in Budapest in the next few...
Herve Bolot, the French ambassador in Bucharest, says the sectors of the
Romanian economy that will be extremely competitive on the European market
after Romania's accession to the...
The American investment fund QVT Fund has bought stakes in the
pharmaceutical company Zentiva Bucharest (formerly Sicomed) and the IT & C
retailer Flamingo International in the last...
Standard & Poor's improved the rating perspective granted to the
Rompetrol Group from "negative" to "stable" and confirmed the "B minus"
rating for long-term credits. "The modification...
The Ministry of Economy and Commerce suggested to Kazahstan authorities they
take part in the Constanta-Trieste oil pipeline project, together with other
states in the region. The two...
Premium Auto, the general importer of the Jaguar and Land Rover brands
expects to sell nearly 500 cars this year, up about 20% from last year, the
company's...
The Hungarian-based MOL wants to acquire a Romanian refinery in the
following 3-5 years, said the financial director of MOL Romania, Dumitru
Dragomir. Dragomir declined to say which...
The Cluj-based Tehnofrig company, a manufacturer of equipment for the food
and refrigerating industry, this year expects to witness growth in turnover
by approximately 8 percent from the...
The Chambers of Commerce and Industry Law was declared unconstitutional.
Therefore, the Registry of Commerce will continue to be administered by the
Ministry of Justice. Chambers of commerce...
Romania intends to respect the provisions of the Maastricht Treaty,
including that which refers to maintaining a budget deficit less than three
percent, announced Minister of Finance Sebastian...
Foreign investments in the nominal capital of foreign companies operating in
Romania totaled 410.3 million euros in the first five months of the current
year, down 56 percent...
The Romanian Finance Ministry will issue 800 million lei ($284 million) of
bonds in August and September in order to finance its budget deficit this
year, a J.P....
The share of light industry of all exported goods produced using imported
raw materials and cheap labor, locally known as "lohn," has dropped from 52
percent in the...
The chain of City Grill restaurants and City Cafe coffee shops is going to
expand this year outside the capital city in a franchise system, which is
easier...
Accenture (NYSE: ACN), a global management consulting, technology services
and outsourcing company, has opened a new delivery center in Bucharest that
will provide business process outsourcing (BPO) services...
The Danish-based Schreiber Tours Copenhagen has made the biggest invest that
rural tourism in Mures county has ever seen upon buying 12 houses in
Bagaciu. The Danes have...
Shareholders in the Fagaras-based compression pumps manufacturer Upruc
TAP-SDV S.A. in end-June decided to increase share capital by 232,412.5 RON
through a capital injection. The company will issue...
Israelis interested in coming to Romania for tourism or business will have a
new transportation option as of July 10th, as the Natour - Israir airline
will introduce...
Moeller Electro Productie, based in Sarbi, Maramures County, concluded last
year with 1.18 million RON in profit and 228.52 million RON in turnover. The
company also announced an...
Shareholders in Cocor S.A., the company that owns the Cocor Department Store
in Bucharest, will convene on July 20th to green-light an 8 million EUR
project intended to...
The share of the light industry in the total exports in Q1 this year dropped
from 52 per cent to 44.1 per cent, whereas machine building industry exports
...
The companies that are being monitored by the Ministry of Economy and Trade
(MEC) reported the largest amount of arrears, accounts receivable and losses
at the end of...
The Deputies on Wednesday passed a legislative draft for the modification of
the Government Ordinance concerning the merchandise sold in duty-free
regime, which restricts the area of duty-free...
Specialists say the substantial depreciation of local currency might lead to
a series of bankruptcies in the banking sector. The fast growth of foreign currency lending in the...
The National Post Corporation (CNPR) concluded the first half of the year
with gross profits of RON 35.6 M, up approx. 500 per cent as compared to the
...
Companies Procema, ComNord and Romanian Post will build in Calea Victoriei,
in Bucharest, an office building with a surface of 44,000 square metres. The
project will be completed...
Land prices up 35% in one year Cypriots look for investment opportunities Investors were presented with a range of ideas for investing in the booming
real estate...
The Authority for State Asset Resolution (AVAS) will sell tracts of land
belonging to companies, spreading up to 40,000 sq. m, partly occupied by
buildings and facilities. Such...
Companies running on French capital have so far invested some EUR 3.5 bln in
Romania, head of the economic mission of the Embassy of France in Romania,
Philippe...
The average net salary dropped in May by 0.7 per cent over the previous
month, to RON 833, according to the data published on Wednesday by the
National...
Trade on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) exceeded on Tuesday the level of
11.8 million euros, a record for the first half of July. According to brokers, the...
The government yesterday canceled the ruling through which the amusement
park Snagov had received the status of industrial park. The government also
decided the cessation of the usage...
The law for the chambers of commerce and industry is unconstitutional
because it infringes on two articles of the fundamental law, decided the
Constitutional Court yesterday. The institution...
The gross profit of IBM Romania last year amounted to about 11 million
euros, up 73.6% compared to 2004. The company's net turnover was up 14% last
year...
Revenues of the general consolidated budget went up 20% in the first six
months of the year, against the same period of last year. The main public
budget...
Ambient Sibiu, one of the leading construction material distributors, posted
sales worth some 63 million euros (220.3 million RON) in the first six
months of this year, an...
Unita Turism Holding, controlled by German businessman Josef Goschy, has
recently approved the merger by absorption with Traian SA from Drobeta-Turnu
Severin and General Auto in Mamaia in...
The Supervisory Commission of the Private Pensions System will spend the net
sum of three million euros for a promotional campaign for private pensions
that will start in...
PepsiAmericas, Inc. yesterday announced that it has acquired the remaining
51 percent of the common stock of Quadrant-Amroq Bottling Company Limited
(QABCL), making it a wholly owned subsidiary....
The online publishing company Vodanet is hoping that by launching some niche
projects it will reach turnover worth one million euros by yearend, growing
from the 380,000 euros...
The Caroli Food group, one of the top three charcuterie producers in
Romania, in the first six months of this year witnessed sales growth by over
50%, both...
Clifford Chance, the world's largest law firm, opened an office in Romania,
in association with the Romanian-based law firm Badea & Associates. "We
have joined the largest law...
Canadian Company Intelcan Technosystems Inc. is the majority shareholder of
the company that will administer the Brasov-Ghimbav International Airport,
holding 64.3 percent of the shares. Other stakeholders include...
The privatization of the National Savings House (CEC) will continue
according to schedule, as "an irresistible" takeover bid is foreseeable,
according to Minister of Public Finance Sebastian Vladescu,...
The National Securities Commission (CNVM) gave Semanatoarea the green light
to de-list from the Stock Exchange, after the company's shareholders had
voted for the de-listing in the General...
Energy Holding, involved in trade and electrical power production, estimates
a 36% growth in this year's turnover, against the 235.55 million euros (848
million RON) reported last year....
Greek-based software developer Profile Group will open an office in
Bucharest, following their intention to expand in Romania, said the general
director of the local branch, Cristian Balan....
In Romania, the average coffee consumption per capita is inferior to two
kilograms per year, while in the whole of Europe the average consumption is
over five kilograms,...
Electrica Transilvania Nord reported for the first quarter of the current
year net revenues of 85 million euros and a net profit of 4.8 million euros.
The company's...
Shareholders of Procter & Gamble Distribution and Gillette Romania
recently approved the merger of the two companies, under the framework of a
similar process that occurred with the...
The National Bank of Romania is forced to intervene on the real estate
market through its credit policies as the market is excessively unstable,
said Adrian Vasilescu, the...
Danone Romania, the domestic branch of the French foods group of the same
name, last year posted gross profit of 9.7 million euros (35.4 million RON),
an increase...
The average price of a three-room apartment in Bucharest has doubled in the last two years, a survey by ZIARUL FINANCIAR has found. The findings were based on ads published...
Ioan Marginean, financial manager with Bucharest-based Silvarom furniture
manufacturer, one of the main players in the industry, says no investments
will be made this year in order to...
PepsiCo Romania recorded an increase of 26.2% in sales volume in the first
quarter of 2006 vs. same quarter 2004, and an average annual growth rate
higher than...
Romanian soft drinks producer European Drinks could also obtain a syndicated
loan of 250 million euros from the EBRD. The sum is by 55 million euros
superior to...
Fleet Management Services, the first Romanian company active in the auto
fleet management sector, launched a new service for the rental of long term
vehicles. "Companies developed very...
The Chamber of Deputies yesterday approved the Fiscal Code project in
record time. The law project barely passed the Chamber, as 92 deputies voted
in favor while 89...
Transavia Alba Iulia started a EUR 10 million
investment in a 8,000 sqm poultry plant in Oiesti, Alba. The unit will be
situated close to a poultry abattoir...
The value of
subscribed pre-tax bonuses of BT Asigurari (Insurances) went up 268% to
20.65 million Euros in the first five months of the year compared to the
...
Ioana Garlea, regional director for the Payment Agency for Rural Development
and Fisheries (APDPR) in Alba Iulia, announced that tens of SAPARD financing
contracts in six counties in...
Romanian transporters are not sufficiently prepared to face EU competition
so they must take the proper measures in order to adapt, according to
president of the Cargo &...
The group Realitatea
Media has launched a new press agency NewsIn on the Romanian market on
Monday, which aims at competing with the other leading agencies such as
...
Farmers are not satisfied with Agricultural Minister Gheorghe Flutur's
proposal regarding the stability of the reference price for this year's
wheat. ; The minister has proposed 12 eurocents...
The Cefin Group will build the tallest building in the capital, to be
located in Sector 2. The complex will comprise office, retail and hotel
spaces. The total...
The BOD of the Pipe Metallurgic Company OJSC (TMK) has taken a decision to
convene an extraordinary general meeting, the Company informs. The meeting will consider the increase...
K Tech ? Ultra Pro is, as of June, the authorized distributor of Pinnacle
Systems, a world leader in supplying complete video editing solutions. K
Tech _Ultra Pro...
Over 36 percent of the domestic demand of sugar in Romania, approx. 450,000
tonnes, might be supplied from the internal production this year. The year
2006 is the...
Still in an early phase, the rent-a-car services with limos are increasingly
demanded by businesspeople, hotels and embassies, and the estimated number
of such cars is some 100...
Corridor 4 is the main government priority in the field of road
infrastructure, premier Calin Popescu Tariceanu declared on Wednesday, in
Parliament at the debate of the no-confidence...
Approx. EUR 308 bln, i.e. 35.7 per cent of the total budget of the European
Union will be available as structural funds in 2007-2013. The European
Parliament endorsed...
Investment in the Industrial Park in Timisoara has reached EUR 14.5 M, about
60 per cent of the plots beings taken by eight companies in the auto,
industrial,...
The sales of Avicola Focsani have grown by 80% last week, when the sources
of bird flu in Vrancea county disappeared. Following the identification of
bird flu sources...
Almost 26 percent, namely 482 of the projects in progress under the Farmer
Programme, were submitted to the Payment Agency for Rural Development and
Fishery (APDRP), until June...
The dynamics of Romanian-US bilateral trade have witnessed a significant
upward trend, over the past five years, both in terms of the Romanian
exports and imports, with record-high...
Romania will receive after she becomes an EU member some 17.317 billion euro
structural funds for the 2007-2013 period, the European Parliament decided
on Tuesday. Romania was...
Deputies in the Budget - Finance Committee yesterday endorsed the Fiscal
Code draft by a majority vote, with a series of amendments. These
modifications primarily regard the levying...
Foreign currency reserves of the National Bank of Romania continued to drop
in June following payments made on the foreign debt, reaching 18.177 billion
euros. This figure is...
Businessman Alistair Willis has become the majority shareholder of Snack
Attack, with 60% in the share capital, following a capital contribution of
about 200,000 euros, show data published...
Transelectrica shares that were put on sale through an initial primary
public offering were oversubscribed by 6.46 times, with investors submitting
bids for 47.38 million shares, totalling a...
Mineral water and soft drinks producer Perla Harghitei has recently begun
bottling mineral water for water cooler systems "We intend to have the Cristalina mineral water for water...
Romania will receive a 47.2 million euros loan from the World Bank for the
financing of a social integration project. The World Bank Directors Council
approved the loan...
Tri-play services provider RCS & RDS will issue stock in order to increase
share capital from 273,066 RON to 12 million EUR in RON-equivalent. The
shareholders will convene...
Consultancy firm Architected Business Solutions (ABS) has launched an ERP
solution for small- and medium-sized enterprises. The ARIS Smart Path
includes technology from SAP and IDS Scheer modules...
A number of stakes in state-owned utility companies, which include Transgaz,
the four privatised branches of Electrica, Nuclearelectrica, and the two
Distrigaz will be put up for sale...
Israeli-based Shabum International, in association with the Iscar company,
announced that they are interested in the privatization of Rulmentul Brasov
company. Shabum submitted a letter of intent...
The Romanian branch of the Chinese-based Lenovo wants to become one of the
first three producers of computers in Romania by expanding its distribution
network and launching new...
The Ministry of Public Finance has annulled the benchmark bonds issue of
July and the two treasury certificates issues scheduled for July and August.
The measure was brought...
Raiffaisen Bank opened a credit line of 30 million euros from the German
bank Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KfW) for local small and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs). The operation is...
Shareholders in fertilizers producer Amonil - Slobozia on Tuesday authorized
the company's participation in the increase in the share capital of Amochim
by 1.15 million USD equivalent in...
Orange Romania and Vodafone Romania announced that, starting today, their 3G
clients can communicate through video calls. The tariffs for the calls made
between the clients of the...
Companies that invest more than 500,000 euros within a five year period
could be exempted from payments of land and building taxes to local
councils, according to a...
The trade deficit was up 1.2 billion euros in May and reached 4.63 billion
euros in the first five months of the year. Exports reached 10.379 billion
euros,...
Part of the share packages of utilities companies controlled by the state
will be sold through the stock exchange, announced yesterday Minister of
Economy Codrut Seres. The move...
Halewood Romania group forecasts turnover will top 11.5 million euros this
year, an increase of 10% from 2005, in the context where more than half of
the wine...
ING Asigurari de Viata (life insurance) in the first five months of this
year sold policies worth 177.4 million RON, up 12% in comparison with the
January-May 2005...
Bucharest Fine Mechanics Co. (Mecanica Fina Bucuresti), a manufacturer of
measurement instruments, has set up Itagra, a farming company with a share
capital of 3.7 million RON, of...
Businessman Ion Tiriac is one of the biggest landowners on the Bucharest
market, owning, directly and indirectly, up to 150 hectares of land, sources
on the market told...
A Romanian governmental delegation led by the state secretary in the
Ministry of European Integration, Leonard Orban, will begin today in
Brussels, negotiations for joining the European Economic...
The European Union will support the National Plan for Rural Development for
2007 to 2013 with an average of one billion euros annually in the first
seven years...
Minister of Agriculture Gheorghe Flutur dismissed the general director of
the Payments Agency for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fishing (APDRP),
Samoila Szabo, for lack of efficiency. The minister...
Extensive borrowing in foreign currencies by consumers and businesses in
aspirant European Union member countries could escalate dramatically local
financial crises, a central bankers? task force has warned....
Mobile telephony operator Cosmote Romania posted a gross profit worth 85.64
million euros (310.34 million RON) last year, over 12 times as much as the
net turnover, worth...
Life insurance company Grawe Romania has started talks for a new
acquisition, after taking over Sara Merkur last year. "Discussions started a
few months ago. We are currently...
Deposits attracted by Raiffeisen Banca pentru Locuinte (Raiffeisen Housing
Bank - RBL) as part of saving-crediting contracts could exceed 70 million
euros by the end of the year....
Gas distributor Distrigaz Sud, controlled by Gaz de France, separated its
gas distribution operations from its supplying operations at the end last
week. All the company's activities are...
Electricity distributor Electrica Muntenia Nord, which is still state-owned,
posted a net profit worth 33.5 million euros at the end of last year, over a
five-fold increase against...
The recruitment in the trade sector, administration and technology-related
industries has taken the number of employees in the economy to the highest
level reached since November 1999, that...
The two plants Austria's Kronospan group owns in Sebes last year posted
cumulated turnover worth 140.3 million euros and gross losses standing at
approximately half a million euros,...
MediaPro is reorganising its Internet business into a separate company,
MediaPro Interactive, run by Orlando Nicoara. MediaPro Interactive will be
in charge with the Internet dimension of the...
Rompetrol Petrochemicals, the petrochemical division of Rompetrol Group,
100% owned by Rompetrol Rafinare (Rompetrol Refining), will build a PET
plant (PET - raw material from which plastic objects...
Danish pharmaceuticals producer Nycomed recently bought the Romanian company
Ruby De Tacos, previously its distributor on the local market, according to
a press release. The value of the...
Shell Gas Romania registered a gross sales growth in 2005 of 11 percent,
from 57.38 million euros in 2004 to 63.34 million euros. The gross profit of
the...
The Romanian Police and Orange signed a protocol on the live, streaming
broadcast for mobile phones with images of traffic taken over from the video
surveillance system on...
Deputies from the Budget-Finance Commission decided yesterday that small
enterprises would have the possibility of choosing the payment of a two
percent tax from their turnover, the figure...
Romania ranked 43th in the league of 162 largest economies in the world in
2005. The classification was made after the GDP calculated by purchasing
power parity (PPP)...
The companies that constructed the Otopeni overpass and the one that crosses
the capital's northern ring will be fined because of the poor quality of
works and delays...
Local landline phone operator Romtelecom launched yesterday the new data
service VPNoI (Virtual Private Network over Internet) for small and
medium-sized enterprises. The VPNoI technology offers improved security...
Augsburg International, the importer and distributor of car parts and
accessories, expects business to reach 35 million euros, an increase of 30%
from the previous year, as a...
Real estate company Globe Trade Center Real Estate Investments Romania (GTC)
acquired a land north of Bucharest for 10.24 million euros. The land is
located on Poligrafiei Boulevard...
Atlas Corporation, a Greek producer and distributor of construction
materials, forecasts turnover will reach 34m euros this year, about 36%
higher year-on-year. "Atlas Corporation is growing due...
Benoit de Lavarene, marketing manager with Danone Romania, says the French
group's target is to turn Romania into a regional hub.
"The Romanian market is witnessing the fastest growth pace in the region, which is also propping up the regional expansion of the Balkan market. I believe the growth pace of the Romanian market of fresh dairy products will be 50% higher than the one registered by Bulgaria," he says.
Lavarene explained that the idea of a regional business was not specific to the French group, but specified that such a form of organisation was based on the possibility of transfers between the plants the group owns in these countries.
In his opinion, the elimination of customs duties in the wake of EU accession will lend support to this regional construction, having its centre in Romania.
"EU integration will generate lots of export opportunities and will also open the Romanian borders to strong competitors," he believes. The elimination of custom duties will certainly boost exports. In the region, Danone has plants only in Romania and Bulgaria.
"Everything depends on demand coming from the markets we could export to. We have to develop the domestic market and take into consideration any opportunity that may arise on neighbouring markets," he says. Lavarene specified Romania was playing a crucial role in the Balkan region owing, on the one hand, to the growth potential of its market and to the rising number of consumers, on the other.
"In Romania we must make sure we are not missing any opportunity of speeding up our business," he adds.
Benoit de Lavarene has been with the Danone group for almost 20 years, having filled various positions in marketing departments, especially in France. Before coming to Romania, he worked as a marketing manager in Morocco for three years. Lavarene has been marketing manager with Danone Romania for almost one year, working at the same time as marketing manager for the Balkans.
"I'm spending most of my time in Romania because I have both operational tasks here, as well as the task of integrating marketing teams," Lavarene said. His duties in Romania include boosting turnover and profitability and the building of a top position for the brands in the group's Romanian portfolio. Since he came to Romania, Danone has entered a new segment of the dairy market, of fresh milk.
This year, Danone Romania has increased its marketing budget by 25% from 2005. For the company to successfully cope with market movements, brands need to be constantly renewed, according to Lavarene. At present, over 95% of Danone products displayed on the shelves of Romanian stores are manufactured in the plant of Bucharest. According to company officials, the 13 brands Danone produces in Romania are present in 80% of the stores selling fresh dairy products.
Danone Romania
# Part of Danone French food group, one of the world's biggest food industry players, present in 120 countries
# Last year registered turnover worth 70 million euros, 45 percent higher compared with 2004
# Has entered a new segment, of fresh milk
# Over 95% of Danone-branded products present on the shelves of Romanian stores are manufactured at the plant of Bucharest
# The 13 brands Danone produces in Romania are present in 80% of the stores selling fresh dairy products.
source
"The Romanian market is witnessing the fastest growth pace in the region, which is also propping up the regional expansion of the Balkan market. I believe the growth pace of the Romanian market of fresh dairy products will be 50% higher than the one registered by Bulgaria," he says.
Lavarene explained that the idea of a regional business was not specific to the French group, but specified that such a form of organisation was based on the possibility of transfers between the plants the group owns in these countries.
In his opinion, the elimination of customs duties in the wake of EU accession will lend support to this regional construction, having its centre in Romania.
"EU integration will generate lots of export opportunities and will also open the Romanian borders to strong competitors," he believes. The elimination of custom duties will certainly boost exports. In the region, Danone has plants only in Romania and Bulgaria.
"Everything depends on demand coming from the markets we could export to. We have to develop the domestic market and take into consideration any opportunity that may arise on neighbouring markets," he says. Lavarene specified Romania was playing a crucial role in the Balkan region owing, on the one hand, to the growth potential of its market and to the rising number of consumers, on the other.
"In Romania we must make sure we are not missing any opportunity of speeding up our business," he adds.
Benoit de Lavarene has been with the Danone group for almost 20 years, having filled various positions in marketing departments, especially in France. Before coming to Romania, he worked as a marketing manager in Morocco for three years. Lavarene has been marketing manager with Danone Romania for almost one year, working at the same time as marketing manager for the Balkans.
"I'm spending most of my time in Romania because I have both operational tasks here, as well as the task of integrating marketing teams," Lavarene said. His duties in Romania include boosting turnover and profitability and the building of a top position for the brands in the group's Romanian portfolio. Since he came to Romania, Danone has entered a new segment of the dairy market, of fresh milk.
This year, Danone Romania has increased its marketing budget by 25% from 2005. For the company to successfully cope with market movements, brands need to be constantly renewed, according to Lavarene. At present, over 95% of Danone products displayed on the shelves of Romanian stores are manufactured in the plant of Bucharest. According to company officials, the 13 brands Danone produces in Romania are present in 80% of the stores selling fresh dairy products.
Danone Romania
# Part of Danone French food group, one of the world's biggest food industry players, present in 120 countries
# Last year registered turnover worth 70 million euros, 45 percent higher compared with 2004
# Has entered a new segment, of fresh milk
# Over 95% of Danone-branded products present on the shelves of Romanian stores are manufactured at the plant of Bucharest
# The 13 brands Danone produces in Romania are present in 80% of the stores selling fresh dairy products.
source
Romstal Leasing, the biggest independent leasing company, now that
Motoractive has been bought by GE Money, plans to attract a strategic or
financial investor, in a bid to...
The market of sportswear, nutritional supplements and the number of sport
clubs will double by 2010, as Romanians will be willing to spend
increasingly more money for a...
Alka, one of the leading wafers and biscuits producers on the Romanian
market, estimates business worth over 33 million euros for this year, a 35%
increase against last...
Human resources experts expect the gap between the wages of an expat and
that of a local manager to narrow, as Romania is no longer a difficult
country...
Local company Romaero signed a contract for the delivery of plane parts
worth 20 million dollars to the Greek company Hellenic Aerospace Industry
(HAI), one of the contractors...
The impact study for the environment and last details regarding the Rosia
Montana mining project, in the Apuseni Mountains, were presented last Friday
at Alba Iulia in a...
Romania occupies the 43rd place in the rank list of the 162 biggest world
economies drafted by the World Bank, Romanian newspaper Ziua reads
today. With a USD...
Mihai Tudor was appointed general director of IBM Romania, effective July 1,
2006. Tudor replaces Vladimir Aninoiu. The latter was promoted to the position of general director for IBM...
Romania has employed good strategies in the energy sector over the years,
but investments are needed to make the domestic market competitive and
efficient, argues Corina Mica ...
Mutual funds investing on the Bucharest Stock Exchange have experienced
their worst period of the last six years, going from profits of 12% to
declines that even exceeded...
The Greek company Marianopoulos, which owns franchises for Marks & Spencer Beauty Shop and Sephora in Eastern Europe and Greece, will bring the
Starbucks coffee shop chain to Romania...
Construction company Energoconstructia posted a gross profit worth 4.8
million RON (1.3 million euros) last year, which, given the turnover, means
it achieved a 3% gross profit margin,...
Author of Blog Marketing, Jeremy Wright, presented, during the "Blogs
Revolution" event yesterday in Bucharest, the idea that people involved in
different activities should use blogs in order...
The Polish software producer ABG Ster-Projekt, in a consortium with Romanian
company Siveco, won a tender for the construction of an IT system for the
Romanian IACS. The...
