Overview 2010: Romania shifts gears to face new realities – part II
Romania started 2010 under the shadow of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which, together with the European Commission and the World Bank, gave the country a EUR 20 billion loan in 2009 to weather its economic storm. Initially set…
Romania Insider · Journalist
· Updated · 4 min read
Romania started 2010 under the shadow of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which, together with the European Commission and the World Bank, gave the country a EUR 20 billion loan in 2009 to weather its economic storm. Initially set out as a safety net loan, the money proved to be life saving. But, as with any loans, this came with a set of strict conditions and paved the way for another loan, expected for 2011 - continued-. Read the first part of this overview here. By Corina Saceanu Foreigners dig Dacia but country brand, not such a success Despite a bleak period, there was some good news stemming from Romania. The country’s main exporters during this period were Automobile Dacia, Nokia, Rompetrol Rafinare, ArcelorMittal Galati and OMV Petrom. Dacia, now owned by French Dacia-Renault, sold over 180,000 cars in the first half of the year, up 18 percent on the same period 2009. As local sales slowed, Dacia became one of the best Romanian exports, with 123,000 cars sold in Western Europe in the first part of the year. Hoping to attract more tourists, Romania’s Tourism Ministry launched another branding campaign. It was not without buzz. The slogan, ‘Explore the Carpathian Garden’, came with a logo dispute as media found a similar one online, at a lower price than the one made by the THR-TNS consortium. The EUR 900,000 contract included research as well as the brand creation itself. Local deals unlocked after cash freeze period The local mergers and acquisitions segment, which had been suffering in the last two years as bank funding froze, had a slight comeback in 2010. The value of deals was perhaps smaller than previous years, but at least some deals went through:
Local investor Dinu Patriciu bought discounter chain MiniMax. Nova Group, owned by local businessman Dan Adamescu, bought partner Waz’ stake in the company, which publishes Romania Libera daily. French dairy producer Bongrain bought control of Delaco. Private equity fund Bancroft bought into local Dumagas Transport. Turkish card operator acquired local counterpart RomCard Oryxa Capital became a new shareholder in local Kandia Excelent. In the online media segment, Sanoma Digital bought magazinuldecase.ro in real estate Europolis local properties went to CA Immo. Telecom company GTS Central Europe bought local firm Datek. In tourism, investment fund GED bought Travel House and paravion.ro. GED also invested in printing group Infopress. Mechel bought Laminorul Braila while investor Eric Kish sold the stake in Smart Tree to Enterprise Investors.
