ROMANIA’S PREMIER BUSINESS WEEKLY SEPTEMBER 8 - 14, 2014 / VOLUME 18, NUMBER 29

PROPERTY: The local residential market has growth potential andshould see more units delivered over the coming period, although aprice increase is unlikely, said Mindaugas Valuckas, the CEO ofHanner Group »page 10

NEWS

Losing energyRomania’s gas marketwill continue to fallbelow 12.5 bcm thisyear, as demand for energy remains sub-dued, says the head ofOMV Petrom » page 4

FOCUS

Back in the redRomania returned totechnical recession andrisks a deceleratinggrowth pace after newtaxes and a reductionof investments, warnpundits» page 6

NEWS

PM VICTOR PONTA

PREDICTS CHINESE

INVESTMENTS WILL

ACCELERATE IN

ROMANIA NEXT

YEAR, AFTER A

THREE-DAY

OFFICIAL VISIT

TO CHINA

» PAGE 5

STRIFE BEGINS AT 40

BR looks at how the increasing

retirement age impacts the prospects

of mature employees

» page 8

NEW S 3www.business-review.eu Business Review | September 8 - 14, 2014

NEWS in briefNEW S 3

BANKINGPiraeus Bank H1 gross profit atEUR 6.4 mln on lower risk costThe gross profit of Piraeus Bank Ro-mania amounted to EUR 6.4 million inthe first half of this year, sustained bya contraction in the portfolio of non-performing loans and the reduction ofprovisioning costs for bad loans. Thebank’s loan book rose by 11 percent toaround EUR 1.5 billion, with provision-ing costs falling by 2 percent. Deposits,meanwhile, grew by 17 percent to EUR1.1 billion. The lender had around300,000 customers at the end of lastyear, operating through a network of135 branches.

ENERGYRomgaz invests EUR 27 mln inUrziceni gas depotRomgaz Medias has invested EUR 27million in increasing the gas storagecapacity of its depot in Urziceni, Ialomitacounty. Its director said that Romgazwanted to get involved in as many nat-ural gas projects as possible, includingBlack Sea ventures. Romgaz SA recordeda net profit of RON 871 million (EUR198 million) in the first half of the year,up 40 percent compared to the sameperiod of 2013 when it stood at RON622 million, with revenues boosted bya recovering economy.

INFRASTRUCTUREPwC: Infrastructure spendingto rise 5 percent every year until 2025Local infrastructure expenditure willincrease by 5 percent every year until2025, much faster than in Western Eu-rope, but slower than the global average.The total allotted sum will reach USD30 billion by 2025, according to a reportby PwC and Oxford Economics. “Ro-mania’s infrastructure – transport in-frastructure especially – is in great needof improvements, which justifies thesubstantial increase in road expensesin the last few years. We expect trans-port infrastructure to continue to be apriority during Europe’s economic re-covery. Investments in roads, supportedin part through European funds, willcontinue to constitute the main trans-port infrastructure expense, with ascheduled increase from USD 4.5 billionin 2013 to USD 9 billion in 2025,” saidDaniel Anghel, service team leader atPwC Romania.

HUMAN RESOURCESCost of working hour up 3.7percent in Q2, says INSThe average costs to an employer ofone working hour grew by 3.7 percentin the second quarter of this year,against the first three months. Com-pared to the same quarter of last year,the sum is up by 5.0 percent, accordingto the National Institute of Statistics(INS), quoted by Mediafax newswire.The cost represents total direct andindirect expenses that must be paidby an employer for an employee. Thisdoes not include expenses incurredthrough training, recruitment and pro-tective equipment.

ITSoftelligence predicts EUR 1.5mln turnover this year, 60percent growth in 2015Softelligence is expecting a turnoverof over EUR 1.5 million and 14 percentprofitability in the current year. Since2011, the company has been postingan annual turnover of over EUR 1 mil-lion. The software provider attributesthe growth to more aggressive sales,operational efficiency, financial control,higher human resources competenciesand attracting new experts to the team.In 2015, the company aims to grow itsturnover by more than 60 percent andreach EUR 2.5 million. The Softelli-gence growth strategy over the nextthree years includes an internationalpresence by delivering services and exporting its own products, suchas the Softelligence EBS (e-BusinessSuite).

MEDIABDR Associates announces 25percent turnover hike, targetsMoldova consolidationBDR Associates Communication Groupposted revenues of over RON 2.8 mil-lion in the first half of this year, fromspecialized consultancy and strategiccommunication services provided toRomanian and foreign clients, accord-ing to company officials. In the firstsix months of the year, the agency’sturnover hiked by 25 percent comparedto the same period of last year. Ap-proximately 40 percent of revenueswere generated by consultancy instrategic communication and the re-maining 60 percent from specialized

services as well as public affairs proj-ects. In the first half of the year, BDRAssociates added 10 new clients to itsportfolio in Romania, including Chep,KPS Diagnostics Laboratory Hungaryand Vaillant Romania. In the Republicof Moldova, the agency’s new clientsinclude the Ministry of Justice, Financein Motion, the Moldova National Bank,the USAID BRITE Program in Moldovaand Intercontinental Hotels.

ONLINEGroupon exits RomaniaDeal-of-the-day website Groupon hasdecided to shut down its operation inRomania, effective Wednesday, ac-cording to Techcrunch. EMEA VP LukeMassery emailed the news to the firm’slocal merchant partners. “A combina-tion of the macroeconomic situationand the low internet penetration inthe country made it difficult forGroupon to gain desired critical mass.Shutdown of our operations in Roma-nia is in effect from 03.09.2014,” com-mented a company spokesperson. Thespokesperson confirmed that therewould be no further closures in othercountries, calling Romania a “specialcase” in the region. Customers whohave already bought Groupon vouch-ers and businesses that have offeredthem on the platform will have theiragreements honored until the dateoriginally stipulated. Alternatively,customers are entitled to refunds forany unused deals that they have pur-chased.

PROPERTYProfi rents 2,500 sqm in VGPPark TimisoaraLocal retailer Profi has rented 2,500sqm for a new warehouse in a tem-perature-controlled facility in the VGPlogistics park in Timisoara, westernRomania, according to Mediafaxnewswire. The new warehouse willsupport the retailer’s expansion strat-egy in western Romania, according toreal estate firm DTZ Echinox, cited byMediafax. Profi owns 244 supermar-kets in Romania but plans to expandto 400 outlets over the coming years. VGP Park offers 17,000 sqm ofclass A warehouse space and will addanother 17,000 sqm this year. It is lo-cated on an 18 ha plot of land nearthe Traian Vuia airport in Timisoara.Following the deal with Profi, VGPPark has reached 100 percent occupancy.

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5 China invited to invest in key Ro-manian projects

WEEK AHEAD

10-14 September

International Trade Fair for Furni-ture, Equipment and Accessories(BIFE-SIM)BIFE-SIM will take place at RomexpoExhibition Center, organized by Rom-expo and co-organized by the Roman-ian Furniture Manufacturers’Association, Romanian Chambers ofCommerce and Industry and EU-ROEXPO. Entrance costs RON 15.More information about the event canbe found at http://bife-sim.ro

September 12

Telekom Romania holds press con-ferenceTelekom Romania, the new brand thatwill unite Cosmote and Romtelecom,will introduce itself to the local mar-ket with a special press conference.Government officials, major share-holders and top management execu-tives are expected to attend.

Russia, Ukraine and EU representa-tives meetRussia, Ukraine and the EuropeanUnion will meet in Brussels to discussthe Association Agreement betweenKiev and the EU, said the bloc’s TradeCommissioner, Karel de Gucht. Eco-nomic Development Minister AlekseiUlyukayev is expected to representRussia. Foreign Minister PavelKlimkin will speak for Ukraine and deGucht for the European Union.

September 13

Telekom Romania holds special VIPeventThe second part of Telekom Roma-nia's launch will be an interactiveevent in George Enescu Square inBucharest.

4 NEWSwww.business-review.eu

Business Review | September 8 - 14, 2014

Mariana Gheorghe, CEO, OMV Petrom

ENERGY

OMV Petrom CEO cautions over energy consumption malaise, rising investment costs

Mariana Gheorghe, CEO of Aus-trian oil and gas company OMVPetrom, said the local energy

market has been grappling with fallingconsumption in the past five years, whileinvestment costs for developing newfields have increased.

Gheorghe commented that the costsof exploration and production of newoil and gas fields have overshot initialestimates by 25 percent across the globalindustry. Energy analysts say that com-panies have to venture into dangerousfields with higher investment risks, suchas the Arctic, to find fresh resources.

In the meantime, one of the biggestchallenges for the company is the on-going reduction of energy consumptionby households and industry, partiallyunderpinned by increasing energy effi-ciency.

“We have seen market drops in all theproducts we are operating with: in retailfuels, of 2 percent (e.n. reduction) afterfive years of reduction, in gas of 5 percentand in electricity of 2 percent. If theywere limited to a single year, they wouldnot be that dramatic, but we are lookingat the evolution after five years, in eachof which we have had these drops,” saidGheorghe last week, during the launchof Deloitte’s Central Europe Top 500 re-port.

The CEO stated that the local gasmarket has fallen from around 17-18bcm in 2006, when she took the helmat the energy company, to 12.5 bcm in2013.

“This year, with the drop we haveseen I think we will go below this level.This change in demand is dramatic. Inaddition, also in the field of natural gaswe see the geopolitical impact and theshale gas revolution affecting the priceof gas,” added Gheorghe.

OMV Petrom saw its profits tumble

by 57 percent to RON 1.9 billion (EUR432 million) in the first semester againstthe same period last year, while salesfell 7 percent to RON 10.7 billion (EUR2.4 billion). The company said weak de-mand for oil and gas and the increasingtax burden for this sector triggered thesharp fall in profits.

Offshore gas requires massive investmentsThe CEO said the company was readyto invest over EUR 1 billion annually inthe years to come to find new hydro-carbon resources, provided that thefiscal framework is stable, adding to theEUR 10 billion already spent in the lastnine years.

OMV Petrom has also ventured intothe Black Sea region to find new re-sources in partnership with US oil majorExxonMobil. The joint venture found agas deposit off the Romanian coast in2012 estimated to contain around 42-84 bcm of gas, and is currently assessingthe commercial value of the discovery.

President Traian Basescu estimatedlast week that the two companies wouldneed to put up USD 4-5 billion to extractthis gas if additional evaluations of thefield confirm their find, according toReuters newswire. ∫

Ovidiu Posirca

IT

Atos aims for headcount, customer and portfolio growth

IT services corporation Atos is aim-ing to increase both its staff andits services, according to the firm.

“We ended 2013 with 660 employeesand since the start of the year, wehave grown our headcount by 40 per-cent, reaching a total of 920 employeeslocally. We are expanding intenselyand we aim to keep a similar growthrate until the end of the year, given the demand from local and in-ternational clients,” Catalina Dodu, country manager at Atos Ro-mania, told BR.

Last year, the company reported aturnover exceeding EUR 25 million inRomania. In Central and Eastern Eu-rope, its operations surpassed EUR380 million.

“Locally, we deliver solutions tocompanies in energy, telecommuni-cations and production. For them, we have implemented SAP solutions,mobile solutions for managing resources and activity in the field,desktop management services, infrastructure-related services as wellas specific business solutions,” saidDodu.

Atos is present in Romania in

three cities, Bucharest, Brasov andTimisoara, which together form one of the company’s global centers,delivering services to internationalcustomers.

“Since 2011, when Atos entered theRomanian market, investments have gone mainly into developmentand human resources. Apart from the offices we occupy in Bucharest,Brasov and Timisoara, we are mainlytalking about investments in the pro-fessional development of employees,which includes annual training and certifications,” said the countrymanager.

Atos IT Solutions has received EUR6.03 million in state aid to create 300jobs, according to information in thelocal media.

“Based on government decision797/2012, we have signed a contractin which we guaranteed a significantnumber of new jobs in centers inTimisoara and Brasov and we have committed to keep those jobs inthe company for three years after receiving the state aid,” added Dodu. ∫

Otilia Haraga

How has your organization trans-

formed since setting up a presence in

Romania?

In Romania we started from scratch andthat was our biggest challenge at thebeginning. Looking back at what weplanned when we launched this chapter,we had to change at least 70 percent. Tosome extent that is normal, as you needto adjust to the local environment in or-der to be able to grasp the opportunitiesahead. The threat to this is adjusting toomuch and finally ending up losing yourtrue identity. I’m very happy to say thatwe maintained that equilibrium and thatis definitely one of the main reasons whywe are successful today.

What are the common management is-

sues and challenges on the local mar-

ket?

We all agree that the skill level in Ro-mania is very high and that, by default,generates high expectations. Taking intoconsideration that the Romanian marketis quite young, plus the fact that gener-ation “y” is already “in office”, then weend up with a mixture that can be reallychallenging to handle. What works as acatalyst to all that is that people are en-thusiastic and hardworking and thatmakes them highly engaged wheneverthere is a clear and shared vision in place.

What do you consider the milestones

in developing your activity here?

In every startup, the first few monthsare the most challenging. The first mile-stone was ten months after our launchwhen we managed to get 35 membersand organize several meetings. Thatgave us the track record to move further.The second one was at the end of 2013,when we reached 100 members in justtwo years. ∫

3QSotiris Chatzidakis Executive VPCEO Clubs Romania

Catalina Dodu, country manager atAtos Romania

Courtesy of Atos R

omania

NEWS 5www.business-review.eu Business Review | September 8 - 14, 2014

Chinese PM Li Keqiang and RomanianPM Victor Ponta

INVESTMENTS

Ponta says Chinese projects to gain speed next yearPrime Minister Victor Ponta has

been on a three-day visit to Chinain a fresh effort to woo investors

to back strategic projects in transportand energy.

The visit came less than a year afterthe Economic and Trade Forum Chi-na-Central and Eastern Europeancountries, organized last Novemberin Bucharest, which was attended byhigh-ranking politicians from theworld’s second biggest economy. Proj-ects pitched by Romanians to Chineseinvestors include the construction oftwo new reactors at Cernavoda, withan estimated cost of EUR 6.4 billion,and the pumped-storage hydroelec-tricity plant at Tarnita, which wouldcost another EUR 1.2 billion. Pontasaid that Chinese companies have thefinancial and technical capabilities todeliver such undertakings.

According to media reports, Chinesefirms were also interested in construct-ing the Pitesti-Craiova motorway anda new high-speed rail line betweenBucharest and the eastern city of Iasi.

Some of these projects were alsodiscussed during the economic forumin Bucharest, but there has been noannouncement regarding their status.

“In 2015, after we have finished withthe elections and the other things thatusually hamper the (e.n. development)of projects in Romania, that will be

the moment when we can really moveforward with the energy and infra-structure projects, not only those withChina, but also those using EU fundsand public private partnerships (PPP),because up to now they have beensabotaged and impeded for political-electoral reasons,” said the PM afterboarding a high-speed train from Bei-jing to Tianjin. He is being backed bythe center-left ruling coalition for theNovember presidential race.

Ponta was joined by ministers hold-ing key portfolios, including transportand regional development.

Doru Lionachescu, chairman ofCapital Partners, an investment bank-ing consultancy, commented that thegovernment was “terribly superficial”in its relationship with the Chinese,citing the fact that no project hasmoved forward. In fact, some have been changed. Initially, the gov-ernment invited the Chinese to build a high-speed rail line linkingBucharest to Constanta, but this wasturned down by the European Com-mission, the executive arm of the EU,because there is already one in oper-ation that was modernized using EUfunds.

EDUCATION

Lawyer Mona Musat opens EUR 2.5 mlnprivate secondary school

Mona Musat, managing partnerat Musat & Asociatii, hasopened the Romanian private

school Aletheea on 7,000 sqm in northBucharest. The two-level building hasoutdoor basketball courts and footballpitches, a 500 sqm indoor sports halland small gardens outside the groundfloor classrooms where pupils can study.

“We believe that Romanian childrenshould be able to learn outdoors, a con-cept that has started to become morepopular worldwide,” explained directorDaniela Stoicescu.

“I started this project in 2011 withthe belief shared by every parent: tooffer his/her child the best, from edu-cation to the independence that a goodenvironment can provide. This was fol-lowed by the idea of having a differentbusiness, which most lawyers do. Butnone has a project like this,” said Musat.

She told BR that interest in educationruns in the family, as she has close rel-

atives who are or were teachers. The school, which can accommodate

almost 320 students, currently offersclasses from preparatory grade to sixthgrade for an intake of approximately40 students. Fees will be EUR 550 permonth, but are currently discountedto EUR 500 per month. The nationalcurriculum will be used, and pupilshave options such as creative writing,oral history, counseling and orientation,visual arts in Romanian fairytales, fash-ion design, human rights, environmen-tal protection, informatics, national mi-norities, yoga for children and intensiveforeign languages.

Clubs include theater in English,puppet theater, stage acting, volun-teering and civic involvement, quilling,animation, photography, origami, math-ematics, chess, financial education, andalso a selection of artistic and sportingactivities. ∫

Oana Vasiliu

Mona Musat, founder of Aletheeaschool

Daniela Stoicescu, the director ofAletheea school

Photo: M

ihai Constantineanu

Photo: M

ihai Constantineanu

Lionachescu pointed out that Ro-mania was not able to do anything inone year, adding that this was hardfor the Chinese to understand.

“They (e.n. the Chinese) are func-tioning in a structure in which the po-litical (e.n decision) solves everything,”Lionachescu told BR. “Everybodyknew that the Chinese model requiredderogations (e.n. from EU law): theydo not like tenders and for small andmid-sized projects they require stateguarantees – and Romania cannot af-ford gaps in the deficit.”He concluded,

“It is only talk with China.”Romania inked a USD 271 million

refurbishment deal with a Chinesecompany for a thermal plant and amemorandum of understanding withChina’s Development Bank for the fi-nancing of a new residential projectin Craiova city during last week’s visit.Another two agreements regardingthe peaceful use of nuclear energyand the enhancement of financial sup-port were signed under the watchfuleyes of the Romanian PM and his Chi-nese counterpart Li Keqiang. Thisadded to the raft of memorandumsigned last November. ∫

Ovidiu Posirca

gov.ro

Investment fatigue sendseconomy back into recession

been published about the two de-creases (0.2 percent in Q1 and 1 per-cent in Q2), we anticipate a continuedreduction of investments, includingin the public sector. At the same timeit is possible, at a quarterly level, forthe impact of next exports to havebeen negative in Q2 against Q1,” Du-mitru Dulgheru, coordinator of themacro research and fixed income ti-tles team at BCR, told BR.

The International Monetary Fund(IMF) forecasts that Romania’s eco-nomic growth will reach 2.8 percentthis year, while the World Bank re-cently improved its estimate to 2.8percent too. The European Commis-sion, the executive arm of the EU, saidin its spring forecast that the Roman-ian economy was set to grow to 2.5percent this year.

Foreign investors worriedby increased tax burdenMihai Bogza, president of the ForeignInvestors Council (FIC), reckons thatthe enforcement of the special con-struction tax and the levy of a newfuel excise tax of EUR 0.7 have furtherpushed up Romania’s tax burdenagainst the EU average.

“Considering that the private sectorwas already weakened after years ofcrisis, the increase of the fiscal bur-den has significantly reduced its po-tential to generate growth and thefirst results can already be seen. Al-though I do not want to make any es-timates for the rest of the year, I amworried about the danger of returningto a prolonged period of recession,”Bogza told BR.

The FIC president added that thecountry has to deal with a “harmfulcombination” of excessive taxationand inefficient use of resources by thestate.

The government raised over EUR300 million from the construction taxand new fuel excise in the first semes-ter, according to business daily ZiarulFinanciar, which cites data from taxcollection agency ANAF.

However, oil companies said thatthe new fuel excise has hurt theirsales of diesel and gasoline. Con-sumers will face higher electricitybills due to the adoption of the con-struction tax, which applies to any-thing from electricity poles totelecom antennas and gas transportpipelines.

Flavia Matei, senior consultant at

Ensight Management Consulting,pointed out that this year’s economicgrowth ought to have been primarilydriven by increased domestic con-sumption, which should have offsetthe slowing growth in exports.

She said this “beneficial context”was negatively impacted by the roll-out of the construction tax and thenew fuel excise, which impacted theinvestment plans of big companies inRomania.

Ponta suggested Romania shouldleave behind the austerity paradigmand focus more on growth. Among

the pro-growth measures he put for-ward were an increase in the mini-mum wage and a tax exemption forreinvested profit.

Earlier this year, the governmentapproved a scheme designed to lowerindividual borrowers’ loan repay-ments, which should have benefitedclose to 1 million people. The measurewas shelved, which the PM blamed onthe banks for lacking the “enthusiasm”to apply it.

Critics of the PM claim he is paint-ing an unrealistic picture of the econ-omy to boost his chances in the

∫ OVIDIU POSIRCA

Eurostat, the statistics office of the EU,announced last month that Romania’seconomy had posted the steepest fall,namely 1 percent of GDP, in the sec-ond quarter against the first. Al-though the flash estimate for the firstquarter indicated a 0.1 percent expan-sion of the economy, revised datashowed that in fact the economy con-tracted in the first three months too,by 0.2 percent.

Selective statisticsThe Romanian Statistics Institute(INS) sent the updated economic datafor the first semester solely to Euro-stat, which said the local economyhad gone into technical recession.Asked why the INS did not also makethe revision public in Romania, Tu-dorel Andrei, president of the statis-tics office, blamed it on youngminimum-wage employees in thecommunication department, accord-ing to news portal www.hotnews.ro.

Andrei pointed out that the INSprovides data to political decision-makers, adding that the office is notunder any political pressure. The firsteconomist to discover that Romaniahad gone back into technical reces-sion was Andrei Radulescu, senioreconomist at Banca Transilvania.

“It a short-term technical recession,brought about by the underperfor-mance or the severe contraction ofthe gross formation of fixed capital ofinvestments in the economy (…) Inthe first and second quarter, produc-tive investments contracted at a verydramatic rate, with productive invest-ments falling by 10 percent againstlast year. The drop was determined bythe tense regional context, and, do-mestically, by the reduction of publicinvestments by over 30 percentagainst the first six months of lastyear,” Radulescu told TV station Digi24.

The government preferred to lookat the annualized GDP growth rate of2.4 percent in the first semester,down from 3.8 percent in the sameperiod of last year. Prime MinisterVictor Ponta went online to say thatRomania had been driving a car at 130km/h, but has now slowed down to100 km/h, although it is still “goingforward”.

“Although detailed data have not

Romania has slipped into its third recession since 2009, triggered by the rollout of new taxes and the slowdownof public and private investments, say economists.

6 FOCUSwww.business-review.eu

Business Review | September 8 - 14, 2014

Mihai Bogza, president,Foreign Investors Council (FIC)

Cristian Nacu, partner, Enterprise Investors

Flavia Matei, senior consultant, Ensight Management Consulting

Andrei Radulescu, senior economist,Banca Transilvania

Courtesy of FIC

Courtesy of Ensight M

anagement C

onsulting

FOCUS 7www.business-review.ro Business Review | September 8 - 14, 2014

stabilized at around EUR 2 billion an-ually, which is too low for an econ-omy with 20 million consumers. Hesaid that most of the FDI flows aregoing into the recapitalization of re-cession-hit companies and not to-wards the setting up of newcompanies.

“As I have said on previous occa-sions, I cannot even remember whenI last saw a really big investment inRomania, let’s say of around EUR 1billion,” said Bogza. “Romania has notyet been able to restart that virtuouscircle broken by the crisis, in whichthe positive expectations of investorsbrought money into the economy,creating jobs, which in turn increaseddomestic demand and attracted newinvestments.”

The FIC president warned that thepositive momentum created by Ro-mania’s accession to the EU back in2007 has run out of steam since the fi-nancial crisis, suggesting that a lot ofeffort is required to create a new waveof positive expectations.

FDI to Romania fell by 10.3 percentto close to EUR 1.2 billion in the firsthalf of this year, according to the Na-tional Bank of Romania (BNR). Econ-omists expect it to stay in the EUR 2-3billion band in the years to come.

Eurozone weighs in on domestic growthRomania’s industrial output may slowdown more markedly in the secondhalf of this year, especially if domesticdemand in the Eurozone slumps, sug-gested Dulgheru of BCR. He said thatthe overall growth of the economy in2014 depends on the agricultural har-vest.

The Eurozone reported zerogrowth in the second quarter, whilethe EU28 grew slightly, by 0.2 percent.With the Eurozone being the main re-cipient of Romanian exports, Pontasuggested Romania should tap othermarkets in Africa and Asia, as the Eu-rozone was “in recession”.

“Romania’s exports could be im-pacted by the weak growth rates in theEU28 area, but the growth forecastsfrom the start of this year did not relyon exports as the economy’s maingrowth factor this year,” said Matei ofEnsight Management Consulting.

According to BNR, exports of goodsrose by 5.4 percent in June comparedto the same month of last year.

ovidiu.posirca@business-review.ro

Q2 2014 -1.0%Q1 2014 -0.2%Q4 2013 1.2%Q3 2013 1.5%

Growth rate (comparedto previous quarter)

Although I do not want to make any estimates for

the rest of the year, I am worried about the

danger of returning to a prolonged period of re-

cession,” Mihai Bogza, FIC president.

presidential race this November.Ponta will be the candidate of thecenter-left ruling coalition, compris-ing his own party the PSD, the UNPRand PC.

Public investment apathyThe PM explained why public invest-ments came close to a standstill in thefirst seven months and urged the au-thorities to speed up expenditure inthe next three months.

“I am appealing to all ministers, andto all public institutions. We havebeaten an undesirable record. Afterseven months we have a deficit of 0.2percent – I think we can compare our-selves only to Germany,” the PM toldministers in a government meeting inlate August.

Ponta went on to say that Romaniahas money it is not spending, addingthat this year’s deficit target is 2.2 per-cent of GDP.

According to data from the Min-istry of Budget, investment expenses,which include capital expenditureand co-financing for projects devel-

oped through domestic or external(EU funds) financing, amounted toRON 11.8 billion (EUR 2.67 billion) inthe first seven months, accounting for1.8 percent of GDP.

This was down from RON 14.9 bil-lion (EUR 3.4 billion) in the same pe-riod of last year. However, theministry claimed investments wereflat year-on-year, and that the addi-tional expenditure last year was gen-erated by the payment of arrears.

Cristian Nacu, partner at Poland-based PE fund Enterprise Investors(EI), told BR that the drastic reductionof infrastructure investments hasdragged the economy back into reces-sion, with a “disastrous impact for theconstruction industry”. EI’s portfolioof holdings in Romania includesMacon, a producer of building mate-rials.

Country lacking mega-investmentsBogza of the FIC, which has over 130multinationals as members, said for-eign direct investment seems to have

Source: Eurostat

The professionalmidlife crisis

He believes that these differencesdo not affect senior employees in keymanagerial positions as much, buthave an impact on the professionalactivity and social relations of thosein lower positions, as they perceivethe differences between themselvesand younger colleagues as a threat,says Butunoiu.

“Very few of them are realistic,come to realize their situation anddeal with it. Most feel they have beendone an injustice (cognitive disso-nance) and so become frustrated.This is usually the beginning of theend. They enter into a vicious circle,and there is no getting out: the more frustrated they are, the moretheir chances of reintegration/read-justment decrease. This increasestheir frustration even more, it starts to become visible, and there you go! No one wants to hiresomeone who is frustrated,” he concludes.

For Bucur, the truth lies in themiddle. “Employers’ caution is dueboth to the lack of compatibility be-tween job requirements and the can-didates’ real skills, as well as theinability of many employees of thisage to be flexible, learn new thingsand adapt to new technologies,” shesays.

However, Bucur says that it greatlydepends on the individual. “I canthink of many examples of peoplewho have managed to do somethingelse and started from scratch evenafter 40 or 50. The reality is that everyindividual can make a difference,” shesays.

Florin Godean, country managerat Adecco Romania, tells BR that em-ployers do not discriminate. “Whenthey find a candidate that is up totheir expectations, the age, maritalstatus and sex of that employee donot matter. Prospects are high andreal.”

The Romanian state aims to dis-courage the overlooking of seniorcandidates and provides incentivesfor employers who give professionalsover 45 a chance.

Lucian outlines that Law 76/2002

on the unemployment insurance sys-tem and labor force grants employerswho hire someone over 45 for an un-limited period RON 500 monthly (thecurrent value of the benchmark socialindicator) a year for every such hire,provided the job lasts for at least 18

months. In Belgium and Bulgaria incentives

are also granted to employers whoprovide jobs or improve working con-ditions for senior employees, sheadds.

“The real issue, I believe, is the fact

∫ OTILIA HARAGA

“At 40, the first age-related problemsappear in employees’ professionallives: a clear separation from thoseunder 30, the feeling (on both sides)of belonging to different groups, nolonger working and collaborating thesame, including with those outsidethe company such as customers orproviders. The first physical differ-ences start to show as well: what theylook like, the habits and tastes spe-cific to this age category, the behav-ioral differences, energy levels andfatigue, plus social interactions,” ex-ecutive search consultant George Bu-tunoiu tells BR.

Which invites the question: whatare the chances of landing a good jobafter 40? Opinions are split among theHR pundits canvassed by BusinessReview.

Some of them, such as senior HRprofessional Andreea Bucur, believethis age group is indeed waging a bat-tle against ageism in Romania. “Thereis a discriminatory attitude on themarket in recruitment on certain sec-tors and for certain jobs,” she says.

Official data from the Ministry ofLabor, that Ileana Lucian, partner atMusat & Asociatii, outlined to BR,show that the 40-49 age group regis-ters the highest unemployment rateat national level.

Moving up the age axis, workersbetween 50 and 64 represent only 22percent of the economically activepopulation. “As a result, we can saythat employment prospects in Roma-nia are seriously affected by the agefactor,” says Lucian, commenting onthe data from the National Institute ofStatistics.

Butunoiu adds, “Prospects beginto decline between 40 and 50, but nottoo much. After 50, however, they fallfast. In Romania, this phenomenon ismore marked, because the widertrend to avoid hiring elderly people isexacerbated by stereotypes about thementality and frustrations of thosewho lived under and were shaped bycommunism.”

Increasing retirement ages at European level, which should counteract the effects of aging populations on over-burdened pensions systems, may also spell new opportunities for 40+ employees to secure a job and challengediscrimination – but the jury is still out.

8 FOCUSwww.business-review.eu

Business Review | September 8 - 14, 2014

Andreea Bucur, senior HRprofessional

Catalin Micu, managing associateZamfirescu Racoti & Partners

Ileana Lucian, partner at Musat &Asociatii

George Butunoiu, executive searchconsultant

Courtesy of Andreea B

ucur

Courtesy of Zam

firescu Racoti&

Partners

Courtesy of G

eorge Butunoiu

Courtesy of M

usat&Asociatii

FOCUS 9www.business-review.eu Business Review | September 8 - 14, 2014

that at this age, once one has a certaintraining in a field, it is quite hard toreadjust, take a step back in one’s ca-reer and move to another industry orto a new position that one believes isbelow one’s worth,” Godean tells BR.

The areas where the Europeanmarket has vacancies suited to moresenior candidates remain those thatinvolve knowledge of foreign lan-guages, and jobs in service centersand retail, which do not involve muchmovement, but conducting opera-tions at a desk and computer, saysGodean.

“The European market demandscheap and well skilled labor. Thereare fields where the offer is muchhigher, such as IT, production/FMCG,

agriculture, the medical sector, trans-portation and construction,” addsBucur.

Asked by BR, online recruitmentwebsite BestJobs provided some sta-tistics on senior employees lookingfor work in Romania.

In July, there were 600,000 jobseekers aged over 35, of whom395,000 were between 35 and 45, anda little over 200,000 over 45.

Out of the total number of jobseekers on BestJobs, 34 percent hadgraduated from a faculty, while 35percent had between 10 and 20 yearsof experience on the labor market.Most were looking for positions insales and engineering, representing23 percent each.

EU wants more workers active for longerThe public pensions system has beenregulated by Law 263/2010 since Jan-uary 1, 2011. The law will raise the re-tirement age to 60 for women and 65for men by January 2015. However,the women’s retirement age will con-tinue to grow gradually until 2030from 60 to 63, Lucian tells BR.

“Europa 2020, launched in 2010 bythe European Commission, reportsthat in the EU the population is aging fast, and the economically active proportion will start to shrinkin 2013-2014. This, combined with the growth in the number of retiredpeople, will put additional pressureon social protection systems,” shewarns.

An important target of EU memberstates is to grow the working popula-tion at European level, which in-cludes the greater involvement ofsenior workers. “In Europe, includingRomania, the ratio of retired people tothe active population is expected togrow,” Lucian says.

The debate agenda of the Chamberof Deputies features a bill that willbring changes to Law 263/2010, in-tended to raise women’s retirementage to 65. The trend is to graduallyequalize the retirement ages ofwomen and men over 2030-2035, ac-cording to the law firm partner.

She adds that this is a consequence

of the recommendations that the Eu-ropean Commission sent to Romania,

“in the context of a society with anaging population that affects the fi-nancial sustainability of the publicpensions system.”

The Commission also promotes, inits recommendations, the provisionof jobs for senior employees, she adds.

“The market has selection mecha-nisms. Each organization will haveways to choose between people whoare at the end of their professional ca-reer and those who are just beginning.Lately, we have seen that skilled per-sonnel are favored over those startingout. In spite of this, I doubt the in-crease in the retirement age will leadto market saturation, since there is adeficit of skilled employees,” CatalinMicu, managing associate ZamfirescuRacoti & Partners, tells BR.

He adds that the increase in activeworkers brought about by the risingretirement threshold will trigger newapproaches in life insurance and pen-sions schemes, but will ultimatelysave the state budget money.

Godean also argues that the rise inthe retirement age brings advantages in personal and psycho-logical development for workers, be-cause by carrying on with theirprofessional lives they will stay activeand engaged.

otilia.haraga @business-review.ro

“Prospects begin to decline between 40 and

50, but not too much. After 50, however, they

fall fast. In Romania, this phenomenon is more

marked, because the wider trend to avoid

hiring elderly people is exacerbated by

stereotypes about the mentality and frustrations

of those who lived under and were shaped

by communism.”George Butunoiu, executive searchconsultant

Vulcan Value Centre aims for EUR 4.1 mlnin rent, 7.5-8 million visitors in first year

∫ SIMONA BAZAVAN

Vulcan Value Centre is located insouth-west Bucharest, a lower-incomepart of the city that has so far provedunprofitable and unwelcoming to mod-ern retail developments. NEPI said itchose the location because of the area’s

“high development potential and highnumber of residents,” added Smaranda.The developers estimate the project’sprimary catchment area at 550,000 in-habitants.

The retail park, which has a 25,000sqm GLA, is branded as Bucharest’s first

“value center”, a shopping concept thattargets “average income shoppers” bybringing together several types of storesoffering “quality products at accessibleprices”.

Vulcan Value Centre is anchored bya Carrefour hypermarket which covers9,600 sqm and will feature a 2,500 sqmshopping galleria. This is the French re-tailer’s 26th local hypermarket and the9th in Bucharest. The entire center has

more than 50 stores and is presently 95percent leased, according to the devel-opers. Other tenants include H&M, C&Aand Lems.

Works on the site started in February.Following completion, NEPI has in-creased its commercial space portfolioto approximately 330,000 sqm (GLA). InRomania, it manages eight other shop-ping centers and owns several officeschemes. On October 16 the fund will

open a new shopping center – ShoppingCity Targu Jiu.

These two retail parks – Vulcan ValueCentre and Shopping City Targu Jiu – arethe only modern shopping centers to beopened this year in Romania. Accordingto a previous JLL report, their combinedsurface, 62,000 sqm, marks the lowestannual level reported since 2005.

simona.bazavan@business-review.ro

After opening the EUR 47 million Vulcan Value Centre retail park last week,the project’s developer, real estate investment fund New Europe Property Investments (NEPI), expects revenues from rents of EUR 4.1 million and between 7.5 and 8 million visitors in the first year, Tiberiu Smaranda, NEPI’sexecutive director, told BR.

Hanner sells 30 pct of first phase of EUR 37 mlnThe Park Bucharest residential project

∫ SIMONA BAZAVAN

Hanner has previously been involvedas a partner in the development of CityCenter Residence and Carol Park Resi-dence in the capital, but The Park is thefirst project it is developing on its ownon the local market.

Construction of the first block beganlast year and was completed in the firstsemester of this year. Another threeblocks will be built as part of the sameproject by 2017. The Park will comprise460 apartments and will require a totalinvestment of about EUR 37 million,the money coming entirely from thedeveloper’s own funds, said MindaugasValuckas, the company’s CEO, lastweek.

The target is to sell at least fiveapartments per month, a level that hasbeen met so far, he added. Should salesgo above 10 units per month, the devel-oper will consider increasing prices. Atpresent, a studio in the project costs

EUR 55,000, a one-bedroom unit is onthe market for EUR 75,000 and pricesreach EUR 95,000 for two-bedroomflats and EUR 120,000 for the three-bedroom ones.

Hanner Group decided to start theproject last year mainly because itowned the land, said Mindaugas. Also,

although “the local residential marketis not booming, there is potential. Itshould improve, but more in terms ofquantity. I don’t expect a price increase,”said Mindaugas adding that he believeslocal buyers will start looking beyondthe price and become more demandingin terms of quality and energy effi-ciency.

The plot of land on which the proj-ect is being built was bought in 2006and the developer planned to start theproject before the crisis but was forcedto postpone it.

Hanner Group is currently develop-ing about 1,000 apartments in eight Eu-ropean cities. The firm has been activein real estate for more than 20 years andowns assets – residential, office, com-mercial and logistics – worth approxi-mately EUR 1 billion. It is present in theBaltic States, Romania, Ukraine, Russiaand Belarus and is preparing residentialprojects in Germany and the UK.

simona.bazavan@business-review.ro

Hanner Group has sold about a thrid of the 69 apartments that form part of the firstblock of The Park, a EUR 37 million residential project the Lithuanian real estatedeveloper is developing near Tineretului Park in Bucharest.

10 PROPERTYwww.business-review.eu

Business Review | September 8 - 14, 2014

Selgros Cash & Carry invests EUR 6 million inrefurbishing twoBucharest storesThe Romanian subsidiary of Germancash & carry company Selgros has in-vested EUR 6 million in refurbishingand redesigning two of its four Buchareststores, located in Baneasa and Berceni.The process started last year in Iasi and

“depending on the availability of funds”,will continue over the coming yearswith the remaining 16 branches Selgroshas in Romania.

DTZ Echinox: Retailersrunning out of space to expandThe vacancy rate of prime shoppingcenters in Romania dropped below 5percent in the first half of the year, ac-cording to a DTZ Echinox report. Localmodern retail stock stood at 2.787 millionsqm at the end of H1, 31 percent ofwhich was located in Bucharest. Modernretail space density stagnated at 138sqm/1,000 inhabitants, and by the endof the year DTZ estimates that it willreach 141 sqm. The density in Bucharestis 465 sqm/1,000 inhabitants.

Tagor appoints new salesmanager for Adora UrbanVillageAnca Dumitrescu has been appointedsales manager by real estate developerTagor. She will be responsible for theAdora Urban Village residential projectin south-western Bucharest and for an-other project the developer plans tobuild in Pipera, in the northern part ofthe capital. Dumitrescu has over eightyears of professional experience in realestate. She has previously worked forWest Park (Rom – Canada Group, partof BSG Investments) and CB RichardEllis.

Profi rents 2,500 sqm inVGP Park TimisoaraLocal retailer Profi has rented 2,500sqm for a new warehouse in a temper-ature-controlled facility in the 17,000sqm VGP logistics park in Timisoara,western Romania, Mediafax newswirehas reported. The new warehouse willsupport the retailer’s expansion strategyin the west of the country, accordingto real estate firm DTZ Echinox. Profiowns 244 supermarkets in Romaniabut plans to expand to 400 branchesover the next few years.

IPSO opens EUR 2 mln HQin Timis countyIPSO Agricultura, an importer of farmingequipment, opened a new headquarterson DN 69 near Sanandrei in Timis coun-ty last week, following a EUR 2 millioninvestment. The new site is part of anetwork of eight regional centers and seven working stations. It covers15,000 sqm.

BRIEFS

Mindaugas Valuckas, CEO of Hanner Group

Mall over: Vulcan Value Centre is one of only two modern shopping centers to bedelivered this year, both developed by NEPI

12 WOH’Swww.business-review.eu

Business Review | September 8 - 14, 2014

Ana Maria Andronic has been pro-moted to partnerat Biris Goran.She joined thelaw firm in 2008and heads the IP,IT & media prac-tice, areas where

she has vast experience. Previ-ously, she clerked for the Honor-able Judge James J. Brady fromthe US District Court, Middle Dis-trict of Louisiana, and was a re-search fellow with the PretrialJustice Institute in Washington, DC.Before moving to the USA, An-dronic was a lead attorney at theAmerican Bar Association/Rule ofLaw Initiative in Bucharest. Shewas admitted to the New YorkState Bar in 2011 and to theBucharest Bar in 2007. Andronichas an LL.M. in Intellectual Prop-erty and Internet Law fromLouisiana State University, BatonRouge. She graduated from theNational Institute for Magistrates,Bucharest, in 1998 and from theUniversity of Craiova, Faculty ofLaw, in 1997.

Stefan Bucataruhas been ap-pointed GM ofAgricover, thebiggest companyof agribusinessgroup Agricover,in early August.He previously

held the position of general man-ager of Transelectrica for tenmonths, according to ZF.Bucataruhas over 17 years of experience insales management and was for-merly general director of Canadianconsultancy firm Veldster Manage-ment and Consulting. He has alsoworked for South African Brew-eries International Management,Global Finance International andTranselectrica. A graduate of thePolytechnics University inBucharest, he holds a post-gradcertificate from Swinburne Univer-sity in Australia in business ad-ministration and a master’s degreein the same field from the Univer-sity of Durham Business School inthe UK.

Claudia Butacis the new VP of Raiffeisen Banca

pentru Locuinte following centralbank approval. She previouslyworked for Citibank Romania asVP responsible for the retail andpremium clients division. Between2009 and 2011 Butac was the di-rector of the private banking divi-

Accenture. He isreplacing AndreaMultari who hadheld the positionsince 2011. Mul-tari’s new posi-tion at the firmwill be infrastruc-

ture services, security domain leadfor the Middle East. Patrunoiujoined Accenture in October 2010 asfinance & accounting lead for theBucharest delivery center. In 2011he was appointed service deliveryoperations lead, responsible for allactivities in Bucharest. Three yearslater his role was extended to leadthe Timisoara delivery center aswell. Patrunoiu, 37, has profes-sional experience in finance andcommercial operations. He previ-ously worked for Tchibo Romaniaas finance and services directorand country director and for Zappas finance director.

Rene Schob is the new coun-try managingpartner ofMazars Romania

starting Septem-ber. He replacesJean-Pierre Vi-groux, who is re-

tiring from the post but will take upan advisory role, according to thecompany. Schob, who previouslyserved as tax partner, has beenleading the tax advisory departmentsince September 2013, followingthe merger between Mazars andAdevaris, the firm that he repre-sented as managing partner andco-founder. Mazars has also en-larged its team with a new tax part-ner following the arrival of EdwinWarmerdam, who heads theMazars Dutch desk, a new servicelaunched to assist the Dutch busi-ness community.

Eugen Sumanis the new cre-ative director forKubis Interactive,the digital mar-keting agency.Suman has overeight years of ex-perience working

in advertising and joined the Kubisteam after working at agenciessuch as McCann Prague, Young &Rubicam Prague, Jandl Bratislava.He also worked as a copywriter inRomania for Graffiti BBDO, Grey, ExAequo and Godmother. EugenSuman returns to the country work-ing in Prague as a creative directorfor the local branch of McCann.

WHO’S NEWS

sion at Bancpost. After that, shemoved to ABN AMRO Securities Ro-mania as general director. Butac be-gan her banking career at the Na-tional Bank of Romania. She holds aPhD in economics and is a graduateof the Faculty of Finance, Insurance,Banking and Stock Exchange, part ofthe Academy of Economic Studies inBucharest.

Luana Crivatwas appointed HRbusiness leader forGSK Romania,which includes GSKPharma, GSK Con-sumer Healthcare,Europharm Distri-bution and the fac-

tory in Brasov. With over eight yearsin the pharma industry, Crivat joinedGSK Romania in 2006, as a medicalrepresentative. Two years later shejoined the Human Resources depart-ment as an executive. Starting withJune 2010, Crivat continued her ca-reer in GSK Romania from the posi-tion of regional sales manager, coor-dinating the sales team. One yearlater, she came back to the HR de-partment as HR manager of thePharma division. Crivat replaces Iu-lia Dobritoiu, who was appointed HRbusiness leader Middle East andAfrica Supply Chain.

Alexandru Dugaiais the new coordinator of the supplychain finance department at BCR. Hehas over ten years of professionalexperience in banking. Dugaia is re-turning to BCR after having workedin the factoring department of BRD.He is a graduate of the Faculty of Fi-nance, Insurance, Banking and StockExchange, part of the Academy ofEconomic Studies in Bucharest.Dugaia also holds a master’s degreein international business manage-ment from the same institution.

Jon Garrisonjoined UPC Roma-

nia in early Augustas financial director,after having workedas deputy financialdirector for Unity-media KabelBWGmbH since 2010.

The financial director position wasnot part of the cable operator’s hier-archy until this appointment. Garri-son is a graduate of Denver Univer-sity, from where he also holds amaster’s degree in finance and ac-counting. In 2005 he joined LibertyGlobal as a VP in technical account-ing, responsible for the group’s fi-nancial policies in Europe.

Stefanita Georgescu has been appointedsenior associate inthe real estatepractice of Biris

Goran. He joinedthe law firm earlierthis year as a sen-ior attorney prima-

rily assigned to the firm’s real estatepractice. Georgescu has over 11years of experience in providingtransactional and regulatory adviceconcerning a broad range of domes-tic and cross-border transactions.His experience includes five years asa de facto in-house lawyer with INGRomania and two years as chief in-house counsel for the Romaniancompanies belonging to KardanGroup.

Anke ter Hoeveis the new deputy head of missionand counselor of the Embassy of the

Netherlands in Romania, startingAugust 25. She is replacing PaulYmkers, who has completed his mis-sion and left Romania. Her previousposition was policy coordinator of theNorth Africa and Middle East (MENA)Department within the Ministry ofForeign Affairs, the Netherlands.

Stephen Karl is the new managing director ofBunge Prio Romania, starting Sep-tember. He replaces Giovanni Quaglia,whose temporary mandate ended onAugust 31. Karl previously worked asmanaging director for Almost GroupRomania, a position he held for twoyears. He has ten years of experienceworking for the BASF group, holdingvarious positions in the USA, Ger-many, New Zealand and Spain.

Markus Marquardtis the new food &beverage directorof the JW Marriott

hotel in Bucharest..Marquadt super-vises the teams ofthe six restaurantsat JW Marriott: JW

Steakhouse, Cucina, Champions, Vi-enna Lounge, Pavilion Lounge andthe summer terrace The Garden. Healso oversees the banqueting andevents division. Marquardt has 16years of experience in the industry,having previously worked as souschef of Panama Marriott Hotel start-ing with 1998. In 2005, he joined theBudapest Marriott Hotel as food &beverage director.

Razvan Patrunoiu has been appointed country manag-ing director of the local subsidiary of

BR welcomes information for Who’s News. Submissions may be edited fo r length and clarity.

Get in touch at simona.bazavan@business-review.ro

FILM 13www.business-review.euBusiness Review | September 8 - 14, 2014

The movie oracle

∫ OANA VASILIU

Since when have you had a passion for

movies?

I guess I always have. I could not tellyou the exact moment when I becameaddicted to cinema, but I remembermy college days when I used to huntquality movies in Bucharest’s cinemas.

How did you become part of the organ-

ization of the Rasnov Historical Film

Festival?

In the summer of 2012, I came to thefestival by chance, without knowingtoo much about the event. I was im-pressed by the unique combination offilms, events and special guests. Whatreally impressed me was that the or-ganizers managed to bring history intothe present. More precisely, theyscreened Steven Spielberg’s movieMunich – a drama based on the Israeligovernment's secret retaliationagainst the Palestine Liberation Or-ganization after the Munich massacreat the 1972 Summer Olympics. Forthat screening, the organizers brought

Sorin Mindrutescu, GM of Oracle Romania, was one of the organizers of the Rasnov Historical Film Festival,which took place in Rasnov, Brasov county, last month. He told BR how an apparent film industry outsider canbe part of the equation and shared his personal recommendations from the works screened during the festival.

to the festival Henry Herscovici, whohad carried the Israeli flag at the open-ing of the Olympics and witnessed theevents presented in the movie. Thatwas the moment when I decided to bepart of the festival, because of its abil-ity to combine past and present.

How was the sixth edition of the festi-

val?

This edition brought to the Rasnovcitadel and the Amza Pellea cinema

over 40 documentaries and fictionfilms, historical debates and witnesstestimonies, interviews with actorsand directors, concerts and book pre-sentations. This year, we celebrated100 years since the First World War, 25years since the 1989 revolution andalso the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984.Moreover, 29 students from Romaniaand the Republic of Moldova partici-pated in the festival, attending confer-ences held by Iulian Fota, BogdanOlteanu, Sergiu Celac, AdrianCioroianu, Theodor Paleologu, IonCaramitru, Sever Voinescu and manyothers, as well as the ambassadors ofSlovakia and the Czech Republic, JanGabor, and Jiri Sitler.

Why did you choose to feature Corneliu

Coposu?

One of the major themes presented atthe festival was the revolution of 1989,so we decided to organize a photo ex-hibition focusing on Corneliu Coposu– which turned out to be a winner – in-cluding pictures from his political lifeas well as his time in prison. It ranuntil the end of August.

What are your recommendations

for anyone who did not attend the

festival?

Closer to the Moon, directed by NaeCaranfil; Hil789 The Last Stronghold(Nicholas Dimancescu), Behind theCurtain (Bogdan Mustata) and Pre-mier Noël dans les tranchées (MichaelGaumnitz) are among the must-sees.The festival also featured the premiereof Patrice Leconte’s latest movie, Unepromesse, and Jean Renoir’s Lagrande illusion. Other recommenda-tions would be La France (SergeBozon), Din Manner der Emden(Berengar Pfahl) and Walesa: Man ofHope (Andrej Wajda).

You were talking about a project called

the Romanian Cinema Museum. How do

you see this museum?

The Romanian Cinema Museum is adream built with the support of IrinaMargareta Nistor. I strongly believe inthe value of the Romanian film schooland that all these success stories de-serve to be under the same roof.

oana.vasiliu@business-review.ro

Food and film fuse at Divan

∫ OANA VASILIU

For five years now, the event has takenplace at Cetate Harbour, Dolj County,and is well known for bringing to-gether writers, artists and filmmakersto find creative solitude on the Danubeshores. The most eagerly awaited mo-ment of the festival was the appear-ance of Lucian Pintilie, who came tomark the 20th anniversary of hismovie Un été inoubliable (An Unfor-gettable Summer). The Romanian di-rector attended the event withMarie-France Ionesco, the daughter ofEugen Ionesco. She read some linesfrom Pintilie’s autobiographical booktitled Bricabrac.

A culinary cruiseFoodies who have enjoyed the sensor-ial gastronomic experience at Lacrimisi Sfinti restaurant in Bucharest knewwhat to expect from the feast preparedfor the guests at Divan. From local

The Divan film and culinary art festival brought thespirit of the Balkans to an old Danube grain-shippingport, with movies, documentaries, debates and workshops.

cheese specialties from the Danubianmeadows, local vegetables, Danubefish, pork and veal to fruit pies andplum dumplings, the local flavorswere put together by Mircea Dinescu,who managed to recast centuries-oldRomanian recipes in a new chapter inthe evolution of national gastronomy.

“Cetate Harbour can accommodate al-most 50 people in 18 en suite rooms,three apartments with two separaterooms and nine rooms in the centralmansion with shared bathroom,” MasaDinescu, administrator of Mircea Di-nescu Poetry Foundation and wife ofRomanian poet and co-organizer ofthe event, Mircea Dinescu, tells BR.

Five years ago, the Dinescu family,who own a vineyard of almost 100 hain Dolj county, started to invest in wineproduction. The grapes come from thewinery supplying Cetate and GaliciaMare, two young vines of 50 ha each.

“We have both local varieties such asRomanian Tamaioasa, Feteasca Whiteand Black Feteasca, and fine European

ones such as Chardonnay, Italian Ries-ling, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Mus-cat Ottonel, Pinot Noir, Merlot andCabernet Sauvignon. Our plantation inGalicea Mare also includes a parcel ofShiraz and has about 3 ha of old vines(planted in 1950), with hubs andFetească Tămâioasă Romanian Black,”says Masa Dinescu. Currently, the fam-

ily’s wine can be tasted at Cetate Har-bour and Lacrimi si Sfinti, and is onsale in a small wine shop in Craiova.

“Probably at the end of September wewill open another wine shop, this timein Bucharest, in the Old City Center,”she added.

oana.vasiliu@business-review.ro

Romanian poet Mircea Dinescu invites guests to a gastronomic journey

Courtesy of D

ivan Festival

Courtesy of R

asnov Historical Film

Festival

14 CITYwww.business-review.eu

Business Review | September 8 - 14, 2014

FOUNDING EDITOR Bill AveryPUBLISHER Anca IonitaEDITOR-IN-CHIEF Simona Fodor JOURNALISTS Otilia Haraga - seniorjournalist, Simona Bazavan, Ovidiu Posirca, Oana Vasiliu COPY EDITOR Debbie Stowe PHOTO EDITOR: Mihai ConstantineanuLAYOUT Beatric e Gheorghiu ART DIRECTOR Alexandru Oriean

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR George MoiseSALES & EVENTS DIRECTOROana MolodoiSALES & EVENTS

Sales managers: Ana-Maria Nedelcu,Oana Albu, Raluca ComanescuMARKETING

Ana-Maria Stanca, Ana Maria Andrei,Iulia MizganPRODUCTION Dan MitroiDISTRI BUTION Eugen Musat

PUBLISHERBloc Notes Media ADDRESSNo. 10 Italiana St., 2nd floor, ap. 3Bucharest, Romania LANDLINEEditorial: 031.040.09.32Office: 031.040.09.31EMAILSeditorial@business-review.rosales@business-review.roevents@business-review.ro

ISSN No. 1453 - 729X

The sounds of September∫ OANA VASILIU

September begins with the GeorgeEnescu International Competition,Romania’s sole classical music con-test of international renown. Theevent – a companion to the biennialfestival – keeps the composer’s spirit alive by providing a platform forthe younger generations of musicianshe inspires. More than 230 youngartists from 36 countries applied totake part. From Romania, ten violin-ists, fourteen pianists and two cellistswill compete. With 81 participants,the piano contest will be the toughest,with the violin and cello sections having 64 and 34 competitors respec-tively.

Moreover, 41 musical works havebeen submitted for the compositionsection. Participation is up 20 percent on 2011. The youngest Ro-manian contestant is violinist Mircea Dumitrescu, who, at 16, is alsothe second-youngest competitoroverall, after Briton Stephanie Childress, 15, a fellow violinist. The competition runs from September 6-27, at the RomanianAthenaeum and the National Music University.

Admission to the concerts and recitals was free based upon online reg-istration, but all seats have now gone.

Mid-September brings the Balkan spirit to Bucharest whenShantel & Bucovina Club Orkestar,Čači Vorba, Django Lassi, Kottarashkyand The Rain Dogs, Mahala Rai Banda and Kiril Djaikovski ft TK Wonder & Ghetto Priest will converge on the little known Uranus Garden for the BalKaniK! Fes-tival.

The fourth run of the event, whichbegins on September 12, comprisesthree days and three nights of ener-getic concerts and arts and craftsworkshops at Uranus Garden, a hid-den courtyard in the heart of

Bucharest, surrounded by surreal-looking architecture from the 19thcentury that survived the communist urban planning of the 1980s.

Tickets cost RON 65 for one day or RON 130 for a full subscription.

Towards the end of the month, from

September 20-27, Bucharest will hostthe second edition of RadiRo – RadioOrchestras International Festival.

The event will bring to the capitalfive radio orchestras, along with inter-nationally renowned soloists andconductors. The Finnish Radio Sym-phony Orchestra, Prague Radio Sym-phony Orchestra, Stuttgart SymphonyOrchestra, Orchestre National deFrance and the Romanian Radio Na-tional Orchestra will play under thebaton of world acclaimed conductorsJoshua Weilerstein, Ondrej Lenárd,Stéphane Denève, Case Scaglione,Vassily Sinaisky, Tiberiu Soare andCristian Mandeal.

Pianists Jonathan Biss, Jan Simonand Horia Mihail violinists AlexandruTomescu, Nikolaj Znaider and VadimGluzman, soprano Katarina Jovanovicand mezzo-soprano RuxandraDonose are among the virtuosos dueto perform.

Tickets for individual concerts arestill on sale at prices from RON 60-100.

oana.vasiliu@business-review.ro

Violinist Alexandru Tomescu will openEnescu competition

Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra will have two representations at RadiRo Festival

Mahala Rai Banda returns for another extravagant show