Business
Romania’s Black Sea Gas discovery needs ten years and euro-billions investment before exploitation
Romanian oil and gas company OMV Petrom and American Exxon have found 84 billion cubic meters of gas in the Neptune perimeter in the Black Sea, but production could only start in ten years, following investments of billions of euros. Romania’s existing reserves may cover consumption for the next ten years, according to data available. [...]
ING Bank Romania boosts profit on lower provisions, higher volume of corporate loans
ING Bank Romania’s gross profit was up 26 percent last year, to some EUR 37.9 million, triggered by a drop in risk provisions and a hike in revenues. The bank saw its assets boosting by 18 percent in 2011, to EUR 3.3 billion, equivalent of a 4 percent slice of the local banking market, ranking [...]
Romania wants to extend embargo on land acquisition by foreigners
Romania intends to block foreign access to its agricultural land market from 2013 onward, when the terms of Romania’s EU accession treaty deem that the market should be opened, allowing foreigners to buy land in the country without having to set up a local company first. The country’s Agriculture Minister Stelian Fuia said he plans [...]
State Patrimony Administration auctions hotel in Romania’s Neptun-Olimp resort for EUR 2.4 mln
The Romanian Autonomous Authority – Administration of State Patrimony (RA-APPS) has recently put several properties up for sale , with prices between EUR 48,000 and EUR 2.4 million, without VAT. The most expensive is the Dacia hotel and bar located in Romania’s Neptun-Olimp, which is auctioning at a starting price of EUR 2.4 million, followed [...]
Romanian OMV Petrom plans EUR 1 bln investments in 2012
Oil and gas company OMV Petrom plans to make investments of around EUR 1 billion in 2012, according to the company. OMV Petrom is also considering the allocation of dividends for 2011, based on the record preliminary results posted for last year. “The company’s investment budget and dividend allocation is subject to further approval by [...]
Romanian Government plans to liberalize notary tariffs
The Romanian Government recently adopted a memorandum for a pilot project that aims to liberalize tariffs on public notaries, and to foster stronger competition between notary offices, according to the Minister of Justice, Catalin Predoiu (in picture). Up until March 6 the Ministry of Justice will identify the notarial papers and proceedings subject to the [...]
France Telecom’s Orange reduces revenue drop in Romania
Telecom company Orange had revenues of EUR 937 million last year in Romania, down 3.7 percent compared to 2010. The company managed to reduce its year-on-year revenues decline, after the 7.8 percent drop in 2010. With 10.2 million customers at the end of the year and an average revenue per use of EUR 82, Orange [...]
Romanian lawyer leaves NNDKP to turn entrepreneur with tax and regulatory boutique law firm
Romanian lawyer Madalin Niculeasa, former partner with local law firm NNDKP, left to create his own law firm specializing in taxation and regulatory issues, under the name Niculeasa Tax & Regulatory. He plans to invest around EUR 300,000 in the business over the next two years. The law firm will have 10 lawyers maximum and expects [...]
Romanian airline Tarom to introduce self check-in service at Otopeni this March
Romania’s national airline Tarom will introduce this March a new kiosk check-in service at Henri Coanda Airport ( Otopeni ), for the company’s internal and international flights. This service will reduce waiting times at standard check in desks, according to the company. “The kiosk check-in application [...] will be first of its kind developed in [...]
Romanian railways company to lay off 1,000 in March
The state-owned passenger railways company CFR Calatori will axe over a 1,000 jobs in March this year. The measure follows the agreement between the Romanian Government and the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission and the World Bank. Laid off employees will receive six months redundancy pay. The government also agreed to close down railways [...]
Romania’s OMV Petrom posts EUR 886 million record profit in 2011
Oil and gas company OMV Petrom posted its highest net profit ever last year: EUR 886 million, up 72 percent on the year before. Its turnover stood at EUR 5.3 million, slightly below its record turnover from 2008, of EUR 5.4 million. The business growth slowed down in the last quarter of the year, when [...]
Romanian company The Group partners American communication group Omnicom
Romanian advertising and communication company The Group, owned by Romanian entrepreneurs Zoltan Szigeti and Mihaela Nicola merged with American Omnicom’s subsidiary in the country. The Group will become a shareholder in OMD and Phd, Omnicom’s media buying agencies in Romania. The two Romanians created The Group seven years ago. It includes 18 media agencies, in [...]
Romanian ticket booking website Vola.ro triples profit in 2011
Vola.ro online ticket booking company posted a turnover of over EUR 15 million in 2011, up three-fold over the previous year. Vola.ro reported a record turnover in June last year, of EUR 1.6 million, up from around EUR 490,000 posted in the same month in 2010. The company recorded over 6 million airline ticket searches [...]
Eolica: Manager started lawsuit against Romanian Transelectrica without shareholder support
The lawsuit initiated by wind park developer Eolica Dobrogea against Romania’s electricity carrier Transelectrica did not have the approval of the wind developer’s shareholders, as it was submitted in a unilateral move by the current company administrator. Transelectrica announced earlier today ( February 21 ) that Eolica had filed a lawsuit, asking for EUR 118 [...]
Lufthansa introduces new flights to Romania after 20% increase in passenger volumes
The higher passenger volume to and from Romania last year prompted airline Airline to increase its capacity by adding more flights for Romania. Lufthansa carried 680,000 passengers on routes between Romania and Germany in 2011, up 20 percent over the previous year, according to the company. In 2010, the airline flew 615,000 passengers to and [...]
Subway fast food chain enters Romanian market with Iasi restaurant
American fast food chain Subway will open its first unit in Romania in Iasi, in the North-Eastern part of Romania. The 90 sqm restaurant will be part of the Palas Iasi multifunctional center that will open in April this year. The first Subway opening in Romania was announced in 2010, when the company said it [...]
Eolica Dobrogea sues Romania’s Transelectrica for EUR 118 mln over power grid connection
Wind power company Eolica Dobrogea has sued the National Regulatory Authority for Energy, the state-owned electricity carrier Transelectrica and Horia Hahaianu, former general manager of Transelectrica for having refused to connect Eolica’s wind farm developed in Cogealac (Dobrogea, in South – East Romania) to the national energy system, requesting damage of EUR 118 million annually. The court term for this file is March 16. Eolica Dobrogea claims that Transelectrica and the National Regulatory Authority for Energy [...]
Bucharest and Ilfov lead the pack in housing savings for BCR BpL housing bank
Housing bank BCR Banca pentru Locuinte registered an increase in deposits of over 85 percent during 2011 compared with the end of 2010. The bank reached 250,000 customers and savings of about EUR 200 million, with Bucharest and Ilfov county ranking first on deposits. Costumers from Bucharest and Ilfov County occupy the first position with a total amount saved of over EUR 35 million, followed by those in the [...]
Readership of print publications nosedives in Romania: only four with plus 0.5 million readers
Readership of printed publications in Romania went down last year compared to 2010 for all surviving publications, on a market which suffers from lack of advertising budgets. Only four print publications in Romania had more than 500,000 readers per issue in the second half of 2011, compared to 20 print products the year before, according [...]
Romanians pay for EUR 4.5 billion shopping spree by card
Card payments in Romanian shops reached EUR 4.5 billion last year, up 26 percent on the year before. December was the peak month of the year, with payments in shops exceeding 16 percent of the total card payments in the country. ATM transactions still make up the bulk of operations with cards, some 80 percent, [...]
Romania aims to boost foreign tourism by canceling VAT on visits
Romania’s Government wants to turn tourism into a more attractive business for travel agencies that bring foreign visitors to the country. Cristian Petrescu, Romania’s new Minister of Regional Development and Tourism, recently said that he will make a proposal to the Ministry of Finance to cut the VAT paid by travel agencies for bringing foreign tourists to [...]
Cold cuts producer Cris-Tim aims for 30% turnover increase with sausage carts and higher exports
Romanian cold cuts producer Cris-Tim will invest EUR 4 million in food production and preservation equipment, it has announced. The producer also plans to spend EUR 8 million on 200 Viennese-style sausage carts that will be on Bucharest’s streets from March this year. The carts will be branded Matache Macelaru, according to Ziarul Financiar. Cris-Tim [...]
Romanian paints and adhesives producer Duraziv’s 34% turnover increase beats 2011 target
Building materials manufacturer Duraziv, owned by Romanian businessman Daniel Guzu (in picture), posted a turnover of EUR 18 million in 2011, up 34 percent compared to the previous year, when the company posted a turnover of EUR 13.5 million. The company’s initial target for 2011 was for a 30 percent rise. For 2012, Duraziv expects its [...]
Romania aims to recover EUR 2 bln from tax evasion battle
Romanian Prime Minister Mihai Ungureanu has demanded that tax authorities in the country recover almost EUR 2 billion – equivalent to 1.5 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product- by fighting tax evasion on alcohol and vegetable trade in the next two months. The country’s GDP for the year is forecast to reach some EUR [...]
Romania bucks EU trend with 86% increase in car registrations
Romania had the largest increase of new passenger car registrations in the European Union in January 2012, up 86.4 percent, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA). Over 4,900 cars were registered in Romania in January 2012, compared to some 2,600 units posted in the same month of 2011. Overall in the EU, the [...]
Enter a city
Romanian court rules Prince Paul member of Royal House of Romania 
Jamie Oliver strikes gold in new restaurant basement - Top Gear’s James May (just about) presents new Dacia Lodgy during the TV show
Yum! switches to Coca Cola from rival Pepsi for its KFC, Pizza Hut restaurants in Romania - Subway fast food chain enters Romanian market with Iasi restaurant
Two Romanians awarded by Oscars organizers for Phantom high speed camera 
Romanian climber Coco Popescu sets world record for climbing tallest volcano in Antarctica 
Romanian actress Ana Ularu receives ‘Shooting Stars’ award at Berlin Film Festival 
Shakira to shake up Bucharest with May concert 
Lufthansa introduces new flights to Romania after 20% increase in passenger volumes
