Lender survey: Women run one third of companies in Romania

One of three companies in Romania is headed by a woman while 35% of local SMEs are owned by women, according to data from Romanian lender Banca Comerciala Romana BCR. The bank surveyed its own portfolio of clients. Romania’s female business environment is developing fast, given that increasingly more companies choose women for leadership positions and more and more companies are open to women entrepreneurs. According to BCR data, businesses run by women performed better than the rest in the last three years, as these companies’ annual turnover was with 2% higher than the national average of companies. Most women choose to open a business in the services area - business consulting, beauty salons, and in trade – pharmacies, food and clothing stores. Over 30% of businesses set up by women in the last two years are located in Bucharest, Cluj and Timisoara. Until end-2014, some 41% of BCR’s loans portfolio was held by women. Only 38% of women had bad loans, lower than the 62% registered in the case of men. Meanwhile, more women choose to invest in investment funds compared to men – 50.5% of women and 49.5% of men. According to data from Erste Asset Management, women currently own assets worth over RON 2.8 billion (EUR 630,000). Romania’s 20 most powerful women. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com