Bucharest Stock Exchange CEO: 'We are glad Electrica is coming to the market, but we need more large transactions'

Electrica’s initial public offering (IPO) must be followed by other large transactions in order to keep international investors interested in the Romanian capital market, Ludwik Soblewski, Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) CEO said during the Euromoney conference in Bucharest. “We are very happy that Electrica is coming to the market. However, after Electrica the next scheduled IPO is Hidroelectrica which will hopefully happen in the second part of 2015, in an optimistic scenario. I hope that we will not have Electrica and then nothing for a year, but that between these two transactions we will have other events. I would like very much to see the Romanian Government be very proactive in privatizing the economy,” Sobolewski said. He pointed out that privatizing other large state-owned companies by using the capital market will keep international investors interested. “This brings benefits to the economy and to local entrepreneurs who can benefit from a more liquid market,” Sobolewski concluded. State -wned electricity holding Electrica announced it will sell 51 percent of its own shares on the Bucharest Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange via initial public offering (IPO). The IPO starts on Monday, June 16, and will have a minimum size of EUR 435 million. State-owned electricity producer Hidroelectrica was also supposed to be listed this year, but the IPO was postponed after the company reentered insolvency. Andrei Chirileasa, andrei@romania-insider.com