Romania’s richest make it to the local Forbes 500

Romania's top 500 richest people have cumulated wealths of some EUR 18 billion, according to the Forbes 500 Billionaires 2014, launched on October 23. A few notable movements can be highlighted in the top 10: Ion Tiriac went up to the 2nd position, and Dan Adamescu's wealth shrinks, sending him on a lower position. 1. Romanian businessman Ioan Niculae(opening photo) is still the richest Romanian, with an estimated net worth of EUR 1.1 billion, according to this year’s edition of the Forbes 500 Richest Romanians ranking. Niculae, 60, has held the first place in the Forbes Romania ranking for the last three years as the country’s only true billionaire. Niculae’s largest business is Interagro, an integrated agri-business holding which includes six fertilizer plants in Romania, one bio-ethanol plant, large agriculture exploitations which produce anything from grains to wines, grain silos, cogeneration power plants, fodder plants, animal farms, as well as oil, bread and meat factories. He also controls a tobacco processing factory, two hotels and a football club, Astra Giurgiu, which this earlier this year won the Romanian Cup. 2. Second comes former Romanian tennis player Ion Tiriac, who has made a strong comeback in the ranking in the last two years. Tiriac’s fortune is closing in to EUR 1 billion, according to Forbes estimates. The 75-year old businessman owns high minority stakes in some of the largest businesses in the financial sector. He owns 45% of UniCredit Tiriac Bank, one of the country’s top five lenders, and 44.5% of Allianz-Tiriac Asigurari, one of the largest insurance companies in Romania. There have been rumors this year that Tiriac is negotiating the sale of his stake in UniCredit Tiriac Bank to Italian group UniCredit. Tiriac also owns Tiriac Auto, one of the largest car dealerships in Romania, which controls three auto importers - Hyundai Romania, M Car Trading (Mitsubishi importer) and Premium Auto (Jaguar and Land Rover importer) -, as well as local Mercedes and Ford dealers. Tiriac owns a premium residential and leisure compound in Northern Bucharest, Stejarii Country Club, a car museum with more than 300 models, which include some rare luxury cars, and an energy business. The former tennis player also holds the license to organize the Madrid Open, one of the most important tennis tournaments in the world. 3. The third richest Romanian is Frank Timis, the creator of Gabriel Resources, the company which holds the rights for the gold exploitation in Romania’s Rosia Montana. He sold the company many years ago to Canadian and American investors and now he is investing in Africa. His companies, African Minerals and African Petroleum, which are listed in London, own iron ore mines and oil perimeters in West Africa, a region strongly affected now by the Ebola outbreak. His companies’ shares have declined in the last year, and so did his fortune, now estimated at some EUR 650 million. Timis is 50 and lives in London.