Polish debt management company Kredyt Inkaso, which recently purchased its first debt packages in Bulgaria, said the nominal value of the debt package it bought in Romania earlier this year is of EUR 30 million.

The debt management company estimates that the nominal value of the non performing loans (NLP) offered for sale in Romania amounts to about EUR 9 million annually, while in Bulgaria, it is of EUR 7 million . “In Bulgaria, NPL ratios continued to rise, even though more moderately than in 2011. In 2012 NPL ratio at 16.6 percent up from 14.9 percent,” said Paweł Szewczyk, the President of Kredyt Inkaso S.A. Management Board.

The deals in Bulgaria are with representatives of the top 10 Bulgarian banks and are among the largest on the market, according to Kredyt Inkaso.

Earlier this year, the Polish debt management firm entered the Romanian market by acquiring a portfolio of non-performing loans worth around EUR 13 million from Piraeus Bank.

Piraeus Bank Romania sold unsecured loans to the Polish debt company, including personal loans and credit card debts, with consumer loans reportedly accounting for around 10 percent of the deal.

"Starting from the fourth quarter of 2012, we began building our structures on Romanian and Bulgarian markets that have been already prepared for conducting operating activities and service of debt packages purchased by us. We estimate that the nominal value of sub-standard, consumer receivables offered for sale in Romania amounts to about PLN 2 billion annually (the equivalent of some EUR 480 million)," said Paweł Szewczyk.

editor@romania-insider.com