Indian CineGrand to open first cinemas in Romania's Botosani and in Cocor store, Bucharest

Indian cinema multiplex operator CineGrand will enter the Romanian market with a first unit in the future Uvertura Mall which will open in the city of Botosani, in Romania's Moldova region in spring this year, followed by a second in Bucharest in early summer. The CineGrand multiplex in Botosani will have five cine halls with 500 seats, and three of them will have 3D projection capability. The operator aims to attract viewers not only from Botosani, but from neighboring Suceava as well, which currently lacks a cinema. The opening in Botosani is set for March 2013, according to the cinema operator, while the one in Bucharest, in Cocor store, for June 2013. The Cocor multiplex will also have five screens, according to CineGrand. CineGrand will run the latest Hollywood productions, as well as films from the region and from India's Bollywood, according to Amitabh Vardhan, CEO of CineGrand. The operator runs units under the brands Cine Grand, Grand Cinemas and My Cinemas in India, China, Bulgaria, and is currently expanding in Eastern Europe, South American and South – Africa. Uvertura Mall will also have a leisure area called Chicago Club, on some 1,650 sqm, with six glow in the dark bowling alleys, pool tables, and a Sport Pub with tennis and darts areas. Uvertura Mall, owned by the Romanian developer Moldova Universal SA, will have 15,000 sqm of Gross Leasable Area (GLA), and was 82 percent leased by the end of 2012. The shopping center is on schedule for the opening planned at the end of March 2013. The developer recently confirmed the opening of an H&M unit within the shopping center. The modern retail stock per thousand inhabitants in Botosani stood at 119 sqm in 2012, the lowest value in the region: five times below the Suceava County's average of 562 sqm, nearly three times below the Iasi and Bacau average of 339 sqm and half the average of Piatra Neamt, according to DTZ Research. editor@romania-insider.com