Business Review No. 2, January 31 - February 6

Talent: While the recession has got many businesspeople putting their development plans on ice, Daniela Florea bucked the trend to set up body care company TouchPoints Professional. She told Business Review about the firm’s origins and her plans »page 8

ROMANIA’S PREMIERE BUSINESS WEEKLY

DESTINATION BUCHAREST THE FLOW IS MORE COMMONLY IN THE OTHER DIRECTION, BUT BR TALKS TO THREE EXPATS WHO HAVE MADE ROMANIA THEIR HOME »PAGE 16

JANUARY 31-FEBRUARY 6, 2011 / VOLUME 16, NUMBER 2

NEWS

INVESTMENT COMPASS

Cards on the table Private equity fund Innova Capital has taken over Provus and RomCard » page 5 NEWS

Which investment vehicle should you trust with your money in 2011?

As the economic rulebook continues to be re-written, Business Review surveys some of the options, from stocks and shares to gold and energy »page 11

Telecom investment Digital Cable Systems has announced its plans to invest EUR 10 million this year » pages 6 NEWS

Art in the right place Auction house Artmark reveals how the art market is holding up through the crisis, having seen its turnover soar in the last year » page 16 PLUS

Photo: Laurentiu Obae

Does new 3D superhero flick The Green Hornet have a sting? Read BR’s review » page 20 Best Film Fest surveys the top celluloid offerings of 2010 » page 21 British Composition Season is bringing classical UK sounds to the local stage » page 21

www.business-review.ro Business Review | January 31 - February 6, 2011

NEWS 3

NEWS in brief IMAGE of the week

Courtesy of BSE

COMPANIES Final Distribution reports over EUR 4 million turnover for 2010 Final Distribution, the importer and distributor of construction materials brands Gerard, Delta and Keylite, has reported a EUR 4 million turnover for 2010. “Although 2010 was a difficult year for the construction industry, we managed to maintain our sales volume for the products in our portfolio at the level of 2009.

Last year was one of development investments for us. We undertook investments of over EUR 500,000, which will be reflected in our 2011 results, for which we estimate a 20 percent increase in turnover,” said Dan Mircescu, general manage of Final Distribution. The majority of last year’s turnover – 65 percent – came from Gerard metal tiles sales.

Starbucks reopens Bucuresti Mall location Marinopoulos Coffee Company, the local operator of Starbucks coffee shops, has reopened its Starbucks outlet in Bucuresti Mall, following a EUR 300,000 investment. The company closed the coffee shop it initially had in the mall and has re-opened it on two levels. The new location has a 360-sqm surface area. Starbucks has eight coffee shops in Romania, six in Bucharest and one each in Cluj and Timisoara.

Recruitment company Thera opens new branch in Iasi Thera Group, a company specializing in recruitment consultancy for positions outside Romania, has announced it is opening a new agency in Iasi, expanding its national network to four agencies. The other existing outlets are in Bucharest, Cluj and Constanta. “For the first se-

WEEK in numbers

6.5 million – Visa cards issued in Romania between October 2009 and September 2010

56.6 million euros – the first day trading value on the regular stock market of Property Fund shares

123 billion euros – the estimated real estate investment volume in Europe in 2011

70 km per hour – the new speed limit in 88 towns in Romania.

The previous limit was 50 km per hour

mester of this year we plan to recruit and place over 3,000 people in areas such as agriculture, construction, professional driving, nursing, specialized and unqualified personnel,” said Cristian Tudoache, general manage of Thera Group.

In 2010 the group reported an eight-fold increase in turnover compared to 2009, reaching RON 732,828 (approximately EUR 170,000). The number of job applicants increased three-fold last year compared to 2009 and the company says it expects the trend to continue this year as well.

TotalSoft posts EUR 22.45 mln turnover for 2010 Totalsoft, part of Global Finance group, ended last year with a consolidated turnover of EUR 22.45 million, a 14 percent growth compared to 2009. The company posted an EBITDA of EUR 3.5 million. Its revenues from Romania amounted to EUR 18.1 million, while the remainder comes from external markets.

Last year TotalSoft expanded abroad by opening four new offices in Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece and Qatar and evaluating some potential acquisition targets in countries such as Turkey and Poland. It also won new projects on new markets such as Austria, Dubai, Spain and Saudi Arabia. The company added 100 new clients to its portfolio. Some 32 of them implemented the Charisma ERP solution, 42 opted for Charisma HCM and 45 chose the Primavera solution.

UPC launches digital TV service for companies UPC has launched a digital television service for companies via its UPC Business division, which will be available to clients in 55 cities. The two packages of services available are Business TV Digital Optim (which includes 60 channels) for

Let the trading begin!

The long-awaited listing of the Property Fund on the Bucharest Stock Exchange took place last week, catching the interest of investors and setting record transacting numbers. Records include number of orders in a pre-opening session (around 3,500), number of transactions and trading value per instrument in a trading session in the regular market (EUR 50.12 million) and daily trading value on the regular shares market (EUR 56.67 million). Mark Mobius, president of Franklin Templeton Investments, holds the trading opening bell. a EUR 5 monthly subscription and Business TV Digital Confort for EUR 8 (94 channels). The analog TV service will also be offered free of charge together with any internet subscription. Business clients now have access to 11 channels in HD format and the DVR option.

PROPERTY & DEVELOPMENT Premier Palace puts EUR 7 million into five-star hotel Premier Palace is investing EUR 7 million in a five-star hotel and the next-door building, by Ghencea stadium. The fivestorey hotel, which will take the name Premier Palace, will contain 60 rooms, five apartments and a 250-cover restaurant. Another building will be erected close to the hotel. It will have six levels, with office space, three conference halls, and a spa, including a sports recovery center. “We will target mainly Romanian football clubs, and foreign ones coming to play in Romania,” Marian Dumitru, the administrator of Premier Palace, told Mediafax. According to him, the hotel and the restaurant will open at the end of April, after two years of renovation works to the building, while the second building is expected to open next year.

Erste Group launches property financing and development unit Erste Group is launching Erste Group Immorent, the group’s central unit for property financing and development projects. The unit will be made up of Erste Group AG, Erste Group Bank AG and the branches for Central and Eastern Europe and South-Eastern Europe. It is seen as an umbrella-type of organization for the real estate services of Immorent

www.business-review.ro Business Review | January 31 - February 6, 2011

4 NEWS

NEWS in brief AG, Erste Group Bank and their branches in CEE and SEE. Services offered include crediting, leasing, investment, project development, construction services and infrastructure projects.

BRD and BCR grant EUR 100 million loan for Otopeni expansion A banking consortium made up of Banca Comerciala Romana BCR and BRD – Groupe Societe Generale is granting a EUR 100 loan to the operator of the Henri Coanda Otopeni airport to finance the third phase of the airport’s development and expansion phase. The overall value of the airport’s modernization project is of EUR 150 million. Each of the banks is putting up EUR 50 million. The credit is being granted for a 10-year period. The airport modernization project is related to Romania’s commitment to join the Schengen area and implement Schengen standards in the airport field. One of the aims of the project is to increase the operating capacity to 6 million passengers per year, while increasing the quality of the airport services.

CA Immo completes acquisition of Europolis CA Immo Group has completed the acquisition of real estate company Europolis. With property assets of approximately EUR 1.5 billion, Europolis takes CA Immo’s property assets in Romania to

some EUR 360 million. The acquisition was first announced in mid-2010. The firm has been established in the CEE/SEE region since 1990. With effect from 1 January 2011, Europolis became part of the CA Immo Group, which operates in Central Europe. For several years, Romania has been one of the group’s main markets. Taking Europolis into account, the CA Immo Group’s property assets in Romania amount to some EUR 360 million; over the long term, these local assets will be retained in the portfolio or further expanded.

Carrefour to open two more hypermarkets this year Carrefour has announced that it will open its eighth hypermarket in Bucharest this September, located in the Colosseum retail park. The new unit will have a surface of approximately 8,000 sqm. “For the Carrefour group in Romania this new hypermarket is proof that we will continue to expand on the large format,” said Patrice Lespagnol, executive director of Carrefour Romania. A second hypermarket will open in October in Botosani, bringing the French retailer’s local network to 25 hypermarkets. Once complete, Colloseum will comprise a 190,000sqm covered shopping mall and a retail park with more than 480 shops and 10,000 parking spaces. Located in northern Bucharest the center is estimated to

be the largest shopping center in Bucharest and the third largest in Europe, according to representatives.

FINANCING EBRD lends EUR 10 million to Raiffeisen Bank to finance sustainable energy projects EBRD is lending EUR 10 million to Raiffeisen Bank to finance sustainable energy projects undertaken by local businesses. Extended under the EU/EBRD Energy Efficiency Financing Facility framework, the credit line will be used to finance energy efficiency investments by Romanian companies with long-term loans worth up to EUR 2.5 million each.

The project will enable the private industrial sector to maximise energy savings and to improve its overall competitiveness.

The EBRD finance will be complemented by grant funding from the European Union to support a technical assistance programme and targeted incentive payments for sub-borrowers to promote sustainable energy investments.

EBRD OKs EUR 7 million loan for Impuls-Leasing Romania for rural development The European Bank for Reconstruction and development (EBRD) has approved a EUR 7 million loan to Impuls-Leasing Romania IFN (ILRO) to support the extension of leasing services in rural areas.

The company, which is one of the five national subsidiaries of the Swiss group IMPULS Leasing International AG, which started its operations in Romania in April 2007, provides vehicle and equipment leasing services to small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs). According to EBRD information, the project will address the financing constraints facing local companies, particularly agribusinesses and farmers in remote areas of the country.

ONLINE Harghita implements e-governing solution with EU funds Harghita is getting an e-government system worth EUR 1.4 million (RON 6 million). The total eligible value was EUR 1.16 million (nearly RON 4.9 million), of which EUR 1.12 million (nearly RON 4.8 million) is non-reimbursable financing. The project must be implemented over a period of 22 months.

The aim is to offer 11 online services to residents and companies in Harghita.

For this, IT infrastructure will be put into place to allow e-governing solutions to run in optimal conditions. An estimated 230 people will be trained to use the IT application.

Romania ‘top in Europe and fourth in world’ for internet connection speed Romania ranks fourth worldwide and top in Europe in a report by American

company Akamai on the average speed of internet connections, quoted by Mediafax newswire. Constanta is the city with the fastest connection in Romania and Europe, with an average rate of 8.8 Mbps.

Romania had an average connection speed of 7 Mbps in the third quarter of last year, a 12 percent growth compared to the same period of 2009. The country is surpassed only by South Korea (with a speed of 14 Mbps), Hong Kong (9.2 Mbps) and Japan (8.5 Mbps). It is followed by The Netherlands, which ranks fifth (6.3 Mbps), Letonia (6 Mbps) in sixth place, the Czech Republic in seventh (5.4 Mbps) and Switzerland (5.3 Mbps) at number eight.

2.5 million Facebook users are Romanian, finds monitoring site The global social network Facebook has 2.5 million Romanian users, half of whom come from Bucharest, according to facebrands.ro, a service which monitors Facebook pages in Romania. After Bucharest with 1,252,440 users (48.34 percent of the total), the next high rankers are ClujNapoca, with 105,100 users (8.39 percent of the total), Timisoara on 90,780 (7.25 percent), Iasi, 84,400 (6.74 percent), Constanta, 61,860 (4.94 percent) and Brasov, with 56,720 (4.53 percent). The figures were obtained from users’ declarations of their locations. However, only 48.34 percent of the total Romanian Facebook users stated their place of residence on the site. Worldwide, there are over 500 million active Facebook users.

AUTO Car sales slump by 19.3 percent, exports up by 21.5 percent Sales of new cars in Romania dropped last year by 19.3 percent compared to 2009, to 119,417 units. The car market declined by 18.3 percent to 106,328 vehicles, according to data from the Association of Car Producers and Importers (APIA). The slump takes the volume of sales registered last year back to the level of 2003.

Some 12,275 commercial units were delivered, 26.4 percent less than in 2009.

However, the production and export of cars rose.

Last year, 350,912 cars were produced in Romania, 18.4 percent up on 2009. Dacia produced 341,299 units, Ford Romania 9,558 and Roman Brasov 55 trucks.

Export increased by 21.5 percent in 2010 compared to 2009, with 314,661 delivered units. Dacia exported 305,087 units, Ford its whole production of 9,558 and Roman exported 16 trucks.

PROTESTS Romanians protest in Mioveni over government’s social policy Over 10,000 Romanians have protested in Mioveni, southern Romania, over changes to the country’s labor code and collective work contracts plus high fuel prices. The protest was organized by the Automobile Dacia union. Organizers said it represents “the first spark which will start protests all over the country.”

www.business-review.ro Business Review | January 31 - February 6, 2011

NEWS 5

ACQUISITIONS

CONSUMPTION

Innova Capital takes DCS to invest EUR 10m over Provus, RomCard T

STOCKEXCHANGE

Provus and RomCard are active in the area of card usage

P

rivate equity fund Innova Capital has completed the acquisition of a 96 percent stake in Provus Services Provider and its subsidiary RomCard from Private Turkven Private Equity and a consortium of Turkish investors.

RomCard and Provus are the leading providers of card issuance and personalization, operations and transaction processing to ATMs and POS terminals, and switching and e-commerce services.

Provus, founded in 2001, provides card personalization services and loyalty applications. It manages over 1,500

ATM units, 4,500 POS terminals, 3 million cards and over 3.5 million transactions per month.

RomCard was founded in 1994. The company has continued to focus on transaction processing and expanded into e-commerce services. It is currently the only platform in 3D Secure certified

by Visa and MasterCard in Romania.

Innova Capital has been legally advised by Badea Clifford Chance and PricewaterhouseCoopers was the financial consultant for the transaction. ∫ Dana Verdes

MANAGEMENT CONSULTING

Local management consulting market ‘fell 20 percent last year’

Photo: Ensight Managemnt Consulting

T

The CEO expects internet to continue its development, since the Romanian market is not yet saturated. Digital television services are another sector that he believes will have a positive evolution.

“The main factors that can positively influence the market evolution are the resumption of foreign investments, demand for goods and services and employment for the recovery of the worst affected economic sectors. These will certainly lead to a more pressing need for communication and a bigger appetite for entertainment; consequently they will positively influence the telecommunications sector,” said Malacopol.

The winning strategy over the past two years on the telecom market has been consolidations and partnerships, since by lowering fixed costs per client and offering as many services as possible, telecom operators could compete efficiently. This trend will also continue in 2011 and 2012, he predicts.

Profit margins of telecom players in 2011 will remain in line with those of last year. Few companies will manage to reduce their fixed costs significantly.

Malacopol did not rule out the possibility that prices may decrease further on the telecom market, but this will depend on the evolution of technology and reducing the costs of offering these services. ∫ Otilia Haraga

BR EVENT

BR Awards jury begins its deliberations Preparations for the sixth Business Review Annual Investment Awards kicked off last week with the first meeting of the jury.

Members of the jury, which this year includes Steve van Groningen (serving as jury president), Serban Toader of KPMG Romania, Jean Valvis of Valvis Holding, Doru Lionachescu from Capital Partners, Linda Griffin of the Athenee Palace Hilton, Eliza Rogalski from Tempo Group, Tinu Sebesanu from Trend Hospitality and Daniel Anghel of PwC Romania, met to brainstorm on potential candidates.

The event rewards local business achievements of the past year.

For more information on the Business Review Annual Investment Awards and how to nominate a company for one of this year’s categories please visit business-review.ro/events

(L to R) Daniel Anghel, Steven van Groningen and Serban Toader

Photos: Laurentiu Obae

turnover, also down 20 percent on 2009.

“Since its founding, ten years ago, the company’s turnover has gone up constantly, and in the past five years it had doubled, going from EUR 2.7 million in 2007 to EUR 5.9 million in 2009,”said Maxim.

About 65 percent of the company’s business was generated by clients active in the fields of energy, utilities, banking and insurance followed by retail and distribution.

Company representatives say that a similar trend is expected this year too.

“We aren’t very optimistic about 2011. It all boils down to the economy’s general,” Robert Maxim of Ensight said Maxim, adding that so far there have not been any positive macroeconomic or political signs. This year the firm he local management consulting plans to further develop its business market was worth approximately EUR 180-200 million last year, through new partnerships and by extending its operations to regional level. down 20 percent, after another 30 percent decrease against the previous year in “Maintaining our market leader position on the local management consulting 2009, estimates Robert Maxim, managing market and preserving our client portfopartner at Ensight Management Conlio are another two objectives for the comsulting. The decrease was due to the maring years,” concluded Maxim. Ensight ket’s lack of liquidities as the demand for Management Consulting was founded management consulting services was ten years ago. Last year it became affilistill there, he thinks. ated to Eurogroup Consulting. ∫ In 2010 Ensight Management ConSimona Bazavan sulting registered a EUR 4.7 million

he budget capex of Digital Cable Systems (DCS) in 2011 is around EUR 10 million, which will be injected into the development of the services and network, as well as acquisitions, depending on opportunities, according to Dinu Malacopol, CEO of DCS. This year the firm aims to increase its revenues by at least 10 percent for television services, which will be due mainly to digital television products, to achieve a growth in internet revenues and clients of at least 20 percent and a threefold growth of the current number of fixed telephony customers.

The second half of next year will bring the first signs of recovery for the telecommunications market, says Malacopol.

“The market is relatively robust and in this sense less affected than other domains by the economic turmoil of the last two years. A resumption of growth will probably happen some time in the second half of the year. This is because in the first half we will need to stabilize the economic environment and adjust to all the measures implemented and all the actions of 2010. Of course, there are other conditions necessary for this to happen, which have to do with the application of economic measures, the evolution of the currency exchange and, why not, how long the cold season will last,” said Malacopol.

Jean Valvis and Linda Griffin

www.business-review.ro Business Review | January 31 - February 6, 2011

6 NEWS FOOD AND BEVERAGE

OUTSOURCING

Perla Covasnei pours EUR 5m into bottling plant

Outsourcing software services ‘will help companies cut costs’ – PwC

B

TAX

Budget deficit ‘will spur bank tax debate’

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hile 2010 was “a year of consolidation” for the Romanian software market, in which its total value was similar to that of 2009, pundits expect an accelerated pace of change in the coming years. Companies will move towards outsourcing software services as a reasonable cost-cutting measure, important to preserve liquidity in a strained economic environment, according to a study carried out by PwC, Global software leaders: key players & market trends.

“The local market is split between major international companies and local entrepreneurial software producers whose future growth might attract the interest of ambitious global software players, hungry for inorganic expansion,” says Dinu Bumbacea, PwC partner, advisory, technology, information, communications and entertainment group leader for CEE. He added that most Romanian entrepreneurs prefer to create a strong product that could later be sold to major global software producers or to investment funds. “Romania is well known for the quality of the available IT skilled workforce, and six of the top ten global software producers have production units in Romania as well,” said the partner.

“The resurgence of capital markets,

PwC believes that firms have a lot to gain from outsourcing their software services including venture capital and private equity investments, along with technologies such as cloud computing, are helping to keep innovation alive within the sector.

Consolidation in the sector continues at a torrid pace as companies continually reevaluate their strategic priorities and inorganically fill significant gaps in

their product offerings,” added Bumbacea.

The global trends driving the software industry at the moment are the explosion in popularity of mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets and the “consumerization” of technology. ∫ Otilia Haraga

ART

Auction house Artmark reaches EUR 5.5 million turnover in 2010

A

Photo: Laurentiu Obae

potential bank tax will be among the year’s major topics on the authorities’ fiscal agenda, says Ionut Movanu, new tax manager of LeitnerLeitner. The debate could be prompted by low state budget inflows, which will persuade the government to find yet another source to reduce the budget deficit.

Last year’s unpredictable fiscal changes hit local business and Romania’s credibility among foreign investors, say LeitnerLeitner consultants. 2011 has already begun with further fiscal modifications brought about by Government Ordinance no 117/2010 amending the Fiscal Code, but Movanu thinks that some of these revisions will have a positive impact.

A ceiling to social contributions and the fact that they will be regulated by the Fiscal Code as well as the reintroduction of the income tax for micro-companies (3 percent) should ease the fiscal burden for many firms, said Movanu. ∫ Simona Bazavan

Photo: Laurentiu Obae

ottling company Perla Covasnei has announced an investment of more than EUR 5 million in a greenfield facility in Catalina, Covasna county. In addition to this sum, EUR 2 million will go into promoting the Perla Covasnei mineral water brand and developing a national distribution network by the end of the year.

The factory in Catalina has a total production area of 2,400 sqm, produces about 100,000 mineral water bottles each day and employs 11 people. Perla Covasnei is controlled by the Azuga Waters group, owned by Valerii and Violeta Moraru who are also former stakeholders in the Bere Azuga factory.

The Moraru family has also announced plans to repurchase the assets of the former beer factory from Ursus Breweries, a company to which it sold Bere Azuga back in 2009. The firm intends to further expand the mineral water business it already owns in these facilities. Azuga Waters is also bottling water under a private label for Kaufland and is currently in negotiations with Lidl, said Adriana Nicolae, managing director of Azuga Waters.

Last year Perla Covasnei reported a RON 14 million turnover, about 30 percent more than the previous year. Overall, Azuga Waters has registered sales worth over EUR 5 million. The company estimates that by the end of the year, Perla Covasnei will generate up to 60 percent of its sales. Other brands in the Azuga Waters portfolio are Azuga Apa de Izvor and Covasna Taramul Apelor. ∫ Simona Bazavan

That’s your lot: the art house scene seems to be coping well with the economic turmoil

T

he financial turmoil seems to have been auspicious for the art market in Romania, which reached EUR 8.3 million in 2010 and a 224 percent growth compared to 2009. Artmark, an auction house founded in 2008, registered a 5.5 million turnover last year and is currently market leader among its competitors. The firm’s market share in-

creased from 48 percent in 2009 to 68 percent in 2010.

Currently, art seems to be one of the most profitable areas of investment in Romania, superior to gold or real estate, for example, said Manuela Plapcianu, Artmark CEO, at a press conference. Last year, the auction house set a new record for the most expensive art work ever

sold on the Romanian market, when Nicolae Grigorescu’s Pastorita (The Shepherdess), went for EUR 175,000. Nine of the year’s bestsellers were dealt with by the auction house, which reached a 80.5 percent adjudication rate in 2010. A 100 percent adjudication rate was attained during the 12+1 Impressionist and Postimpressionist Masterpieces auction held last autumn. Artmark also reintroduced two Romanian masterpieces into the museum circuit: Nicolae Grigorescu’s Carul cu Boi (Bullock Cart), which can now be seen in the Brukenthal Museum in Sibiu, and Nicolae Tonitza’s Golgota, now on display in Ploiesti, in the Ion Ionescu-Quintus museum. In the future, Artmark intends to help develop an art investment fund, extend its portfolio to contemporary and decorative art and consolidate the Artmark art index, launched in 2009, audit it and turn it into a market measurement tool. Other auction houses on the local market include Alis, Goldart, Monavissa, Araart and Quadro. Two new players are tipped to enter the market this year, one of which might be located outside Bucharest, and their appearance will “increase the market’s value”, said Artmark officials. ∫ Corina Dumitrescu

8 TALENT

www.business-review.ro Business Review | January 31 - February 6, 2011

COMPANY PROFILE TouchPoints Professional Established: 2008 2009 estimated turnover: EUR 7,700 2009 estimated turnover: EUR 12,700 Number of employees: 3 Initial investment: EUR 6,200

Photo: Laurentiu Obae

ways involved in what you do, both when you are at the office and in your spare time. But there are also benefits and personal satisfactions.

“You have the chance to interact with many people, face many situations and test your personal capacities. In other words, you are more creative and this is both a very engaging activity and rough work,” adds Florea.

The businesswoman considers herself lucky because she has had the chance to work with people that have helped her a lot both professionally and personally.

“They were the right people at the right moment,” she says.

If she started another business she would be more aggressive in approaching the market. “In the first few months I sounded out the market because body care is a relatively new activity in Romania. But it has great potential to develop in the future. We just need to be patient,” says the businesswoman.

She also thinks that an association with a partner could have positive effects for a business both financially and operationally. “In addition I would invest more in online advertising and search engine optimization. Our base of customers has grown mainly based on recommendations,” she says.

To make her customers happy is the main challenge for her business. “We work directly with our customers so it is easy to see their satisfaction immediately. Plus the positive feedback is very important for us,” says Florea. The entrepreneur decided to launch her business on a pretty crowded market but she sees the bright sight of those market conditions.

Daniela Florea is among the crop of entrepreneurs sailing against the wind, having “Competition is beneficial because it set up her company in the midst of the current crisis. She saw an opportunity to demakes us want to be better at what velop a business and she has ambitious plans for the future. we do and find new ways to reach our goals. There is a market for each of us, a niche and specific customers for every business, especially because we operate of Finance), FMCG, logistics (Interbrands which provides body treatments, back in ∫ ANCA IONESCU in Bucharest, a market that can absorb a Marketing&Distribution) and multina2008. body care salon for every 4,000-5,000 intionals (AIG Life). Finding the right loca“I had also worked with a German habitants,” says Florea. tion for this kind of activity and coping clinic and a well known salon and this was For Daniela Florea, the owner of TouchAccording to her, flexibility and openwith the bureaucracy were some of the an opportunity for me to become familPoints Professional salon, the current criness to the suggestions of her customers most common difficulties her business iar with the most innovative equipment sis was an opportunity to set up a business is what differentiates TouchPoints Prohas faced. in this field,” she adds. rather than a threat. “Paradoxically, at the fessional from the crowd.

But why did she choose to launch a moment, people need more to be relaxed ”We try to create a friendly atmosphere business in a time of crisis? “Any start-up and detached from the ordinary problems.

I would invest more in on- involves a period of transition, a ‘crisis’ from their first visit to our salon. In adIt is obvious that we also have customers dition, we have attractive promotions for specific to each beginning. This is why I when the economy goes down,” says Floline advertising and our customers each month or for differdecided not to wait for the current downrea. Although her business started as a search engine optimizaturn to pass and to stop wasting my time. ent occasions and also anniversary ofhobby, at the suggestion of her family and ferings valid throughout a year,” says It was hard work to set up TouchPoints friends she began to think seriously tion. Our base of custhe businesswoman.

Professional because although it looks about transforming her passion into a real tomers has grown mainly like a hobby it must be treated as a real As for her future plans, Florea inbusiness. The idea to set up her body care tends to buy new equipment and offer adbusiness with its specific challenges startsalon came when she was on an based on recommendaditional services. “First we will focus on ing from accounting, to suppliers, PR extended holiday and took some courstions activities and the IT system,” body and face cosmetics and then we ines in this field of activity. tend to extend our team by collaborating says the owner of TouchPoints Profes“It was very interesting because I had with another two or three people. We are sional. extraordinary teachers who knew how to also thinking of a possible partnership if She believes that it is a real challenge Her professional path includes extransmit their passion to us,” remembers necessary,” concludes Florea. to manage any business because you pertise in a wide range of fields such as the entrepreneur. As a result, she need multitasking skills. Plus, you are allaunched TouchPoints Professional salon, government institutions (the Ministry editorial@business-review.ro

Finding beauty in a beastly market

www.business-review.ro Business Review | January 31 - February 6, 2011

9

WHO’S NEWS Andrej Vizja has been appointed partner and joined PwC as consulting leader for South Eastern Europe based in Bucharest.

He was previously the CEO for CEE of another major professional services firm. Vizjak has also served on the boards of companies in Slovenia and Germany. He is the author of several management and strategy books and has taught the Executive MBA of IEDC Bled and at the University Eichstatt in Germany.

Bogdan Belciu has become partner in the advisory department of PwC Romania. He has more than nine years of management consulting experience in the US, Europe and Romania. Belciu has worked on a variety of topics, from strategy and M&A to operations, supply chain and procurement, in a wide range of industries. He has an MBA from Cornell University and holds bachelor degrees in Electronics and Computer Systems from the Polytechnic University of Bucharest, in Economics and Business Administration from the Academy of Economic Studies, as well as a diploma in Quantitative Finance from the Pierre Mendes France II University in Grenoble, France.

Adriana Lobda audit & assurance director, will take over the Deloitte regional office in ClujNapoca and will coordinate the consultancy firm’s activity in Transylvania. She has over 14 years of experience in financial audit, having worked in audit engagements for large scale production and distribution companies in sectors such as industrial products, consumer goods and the public sector. She is an active member of the Chamber of Financial Auditors of Romania. Lobda graduated from the Faculty of International Business within the Academy for Economic Studies, is an ACCA member and holds an EMBA.

Lucia Ferendino has joined the public procurement department of Bostina and Associates. She is a qualified lawyer, with over 12 years of experience in areas such as administrative, civil, community and labor law. She previously worked as the head of the dispute department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. She graduated from the SNSPA (National School for Political and Administrative Studies) with a master’s degree in acquis communautaire.

Thomas Rainer has been appointed president of the board of directors of Affichage Roma-

Business Review welcomes information for Who’s News from readers.

Submissions may be edited for length and clarity. Get in touch at simona.bazavan@business-review.ro nia. He previously worked for German out-of-home advertising company Wall AG where he coordinated international operations. Rainer also served as executive co-director of Europlakat International Werbegesellschaft mbH.

Vasile Dinca has been appointed manager, accounting services coordinator by Mazars Romania. He is a graduate of the Faculty of Accounting and Management Information Systems of the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, holding a master’s degree in Financial Statements and their

Audit. As a member of the Romanian Chartered and Certified Accountants Body (CECCAR), he is a certified accountant.

Dinca’s expertise focuses on the accounting of companies in information technology, electricity and production, participating in numerous business operations. He has eight years of professional experience, having been an accounting consultant at Mazars in Romania for the last five years.

Matei Dimoftache has been appointed senior legal advisor at Mazars / SCA Duncea Stefanescu & Associates. He is a graduate of the Law Faculty and member of the Legal Advisors Association of the Financial and Banking System. His expertise lies in

commercial, banking and insurance law.

Before joining the team, he was involved in the drafting of retail and corporate banking products, insurance products and implementation of bancassurance, banking and insurance start-up businesses.

Radu Gherase has joined CallPoint New Europe, in Romania, as IT systems administrator. He has a master’s degree in Engineering.

He has seven years of experience in IT, including several years spent working for a leading contact center operator.

During this time, he was responsible for managing the IT infrastructure and he implemented new procedures to improve reliability, security and efficiency.

www.business-review.ro Business Review | January 31 - February 6, 2011

10 WHERE TO INVEST

Where is the money going Gold has brought consistent gains for those who bet on the precious metal for the long run. The Property Fund and SIFs are also seen as keepers by specialists while the stock exchange is tipped to generate higher yields this year. Sectors like retail, healthcare and energy are also popular. But it’s not all roses in the investment garden. Retail specialists say the field has little room for newcomers, a completely different landscape from a few years ago. Healthcare remains fragmented, but takeovers are still expected, while the energy companies which have looked towards wind are hoping for improvements to the law which often stymies hundreds of millions euro worth of projects. ∫ DANA VERDES, OTILIA HARAGA, SIMONA BAZAVAN “Gold and silver are money. Everything else is credit.” These words, spoken by the American financier J.P. Morgan, were true then and are even truer now. Amid the global crisis of confidence, investors seem to have been re-discovering the benefits of gold as an asset: no credit risk, no liquidity risk, and it cannot become worthless.

So, in periods where “black swans” are not unprecedented occurrences, but are practically coming in flocks, the status of gold as a safe haven has yet again proven its worth.

As evidence, gold has outperformed all other asset classes in the past ten years, gaining an annual average of 16.5 percent since 2001 (or 13.5 percent in Euro terms), wrote Ronald Stöferle, gold analyst at Erste Group in the Special Report Gold – In GOLD we trust.

According to him, last year the development was outstanding as well – the precious metal increased by 10.5 percent (in USD) or 28.5 percent (in EUR), respectively.

Drawn by these consistent returns, the Romanian market has seen its share of gold seekers. “Retail clients bought more than 150 kilograms of gold bars and 3,000 gold coins last year, worth some EUR 5.8 million, meaning average sales of EUR 480,000 per month. The largest sales were of 100-gram gold bars, over 55 kilograms, and of those of 50 grams with a total of 40 kilograms. Moreover, the average sale was EUR 3,600 per client, meaning 110 grams per transaction,” Alina Piciorea, head of corporate and retail sales treasury & financial markets at Piraeus Bank, told Business Review.

The lender is the only local commercial bank to sell gold through retail. It launched the product in October 2009,

www.business-review.ro Business Review | January 31 - February 6, 2011

WHERE TO INVEST 11

e smart ng in 2011? when it sold 30 kilograms of gold and 500 gold coins on the local retail market.

Elsewhere, Razvan Furtuna, chief of treasury product sales in the retail client department at Banca Comerciala Romana (BCR), told Business Review that gold sales had doubled last year compared with 2009 and are expected to register a similar trend this year.

“Erste sold financial gold worth some EUR 700 million last year, excluding the structured products. BCR traded financial gold and structured products with active support gold of EUR 40 million,” said Furtuna. Financial gold means the gold purchased for the establishment of a reserve and used as an investment tool.

Specialists say that a hike in gold demand from May-June and NovemberDecember last year was recorded amid the RON’s depreciation, fiscal measures

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announced by the government and pessimistic forecasts for inflation.

“As on the international markets, the demand for gold peaked during the winter holidays, when the largest monthly quantity – 26 kilograms – was delivered,” said Piciorea.

The Piraeus Bank official said that the profits enjoyed by clients reached some 15-20 percent, much higher than the payoff from typical investment instruments such as shares, deposits or bonds.

But who are these investors who bet on gold for consistent returns on the long run? The Piraeus Bank official says that the profile of the investor has changed over the years. “While the first clients were attracted by its accessibility and novelty, today’s buyers focus on larger quantities for investment purposes, in order to diversify their portfolio and to conserve its value,” said Piciorea. “Generally, these clients come from the business environment or liberal professions, are from 40-45 years old, live in cities and have average or high incomes. The youngest investor is 21 years old and the oldest is 71.” The BCR representative also mentions collectors who buy small gold bars and coins and those who give gold as a gift.

And it doesn’t seem that gold will lose its sparkle too soon. “We believe that gold still has growth potential, as the technical analysis and seasonality indicates a price correction (already confirmed) to USD 1,300 per ounce of gold,” said Furtuna.

The Erste specialist is even more optimistic. “My target prices of USD 1,600 per ounce until June 2011 and long term USD 2,300 are still in place,” said Stöferle.

Piciorea believes that gold will probably remain among the top performing assets this year. “The upward trend will be sustained by the financial support given to large states with considerable budget deficits and the EUR/USD evolution, which is directly correlated to gold,” said Piciorea.

She added: “Considering the monetary and inflationary pressures, our traders see the yellow metal as the most profitable refuge for investors in Q1 this year, heading towards a new historical maximum at around USD 1,600.The end of the semester could find gold at USD 1,420 per ounce.”

Despite the current strength in the price of gold, mining companies are predicting high gold prices to continue throughout this year, according to PwC’s 2010 Global Gold Price Survey Report.

“Given the high demand for gold, it will be interesting to see if companies that have located marginal deposits of gold will kick-start their production and move faster than they would under normal circumstances,” commented Alexandru

www.business-review.ro Business Review | January 31 - February 6, 2011

12 WHERE TO INVEST

Courtesy of BCR

Courtesy of Piraeus Bank

Courtesy of Tradeville

Dragos Darabut, Tradeville

Alina Piciorea, Piraeus Bank

Razvan Furtuna, BCR

Lupea, partner assurance services, energy, utilities and mining industry group leader at PwC Romania.

It remains to be seen if retail will get new wings based on how gold sales are regarded in Romania.

capital markets research at Erste.

Transelectrica has very strong arguments for a positive tariff development, which results in a fine outlook for 2011 and 2012. SIFs in general remain attractive, given their large discounts (particularly measured against the market value of core holdings such as BRD).

“I expect this year to be a balanced one on foreign markets and positive for the Romanian stock exchange. I believe that primarily issuers such as the Property Fund and the SIFs from the BET index will capture investors' attention, but medium and small capitalization companies with growth potential or good financial results will also be interesting as additional shares in retail investors’ portfolios,” said Gheorghe.

However, gloom still surrounds ownership limitations, and the listing of the Property Fund might overshadow the SIFs, say specialists. All other stocks worth looking at are mainly in defensive areas. This might be seen as appropriate for a market such as Romania. However, the flipside is that defensives might not be that much in focus in general and, secondly, most stocks are still small caps (Antibiotice, Biofarm, Albalact). Teraplast might be something to look at, with a view on utility infrastructure projects, although these carry the risk of being publicly financed.

Financial specialists expect yields to slightly increase this year.

“In 2010 we had returns of 14.6 percent on BET-C, while BET-FI decreased by 10 percent, weak developments for an emerging market, but reasonable compared to the economy’s results. Improving macroeconomic indicators this year will probably lead to more consistent growth on the stock exchange, between 15-25 percent,” said Darabut.

According to him, the main positive domestic driver is GDP growth. The evolution of the economy is directly proportional to the confidence of foreign investors, which did not invest large sums of money on the local market in the second half of 2010 due to uncertain economic environment.

“The resumption of talks on the increase of the SIF threshold or good news concerning the administration of energy companies Nuclearelectrica and Hidroelectrica are other factors that could positively influence the movement of the stock exchange. Compared with last year I believe that the risk of correction comes from outside rather than inside the mar-

ket,” said the Tradeville representative.

Erste Group specialists say that in terms of investment strategy, making a share selection is recommended this year.

“We prefer companies from cyclical sectors, which have had a dynamic sales evolution on emerging markets and will benefit from those regions’ growth. The oil & gas companies estimate that they will have a better evolution in the first quarter. In general, raw materials should see a good evolution, because the liquidity will lead to higher prices,” said Esskuchen.

Erste Group analysts also doubt that sectors such as telecommunications and utilities will excite investor, given the shrinking expectations that they will generate profits.

The Property Fund and SIFs – first ladies in the stock exchange Cornerstones of the Romanian equity market in 2011 could take the form of two major events – the planned listing of the Property Fund (finally) and the announced plans to use the domestic stock exchange to launch SPOs for still stateowned stakes.

The listing of the Property Fund will help deal with the typical emerging market troubles, liquidity and size, according to information in Erste Group Research – CEE Equity Strategy, 1Q 2011.

“The Romanian stock exchange now has the chance to get on the map of several foreign investors as a result of increasing trading volumes, a very important indicator that has so far put off potential investors interested in Romanian activities,” Andreea Gheorghe, deputy general manager at Intercapital Investment Management, told Business Review.

Dragos Darabut, financial analyst at Tradeville, added that depending on the purchase price, investing in Property Fund shares could bring significant returns to shareholders.

“At a purchase price of RON 0.63/share and adopting a conservative approach regarding net profit in 2010 (RON 200 million) we get a dividend yield of 2.3 percent.

The calculation was made with the 100 percent allocation rate, which the administrator has put to shareholders for approval,” said Darabut.

Along with the fund’s listing, the SPOs of Petrom (a 9.84 percent stake), Transelectrica and Transgaz (both 15 percent stakes) should raise interest in the Romanian market. The IPO for Romgaz might attract further negative attention, since the company has been asked to ‘support’ budget consolidation needs.

This could result in some bigger negative news stories in 2011.

“We became a bit less optimistic for utilities, since the impact of regulated tariffs is leaving its mark on corporate earnings. Transgaz should post weaker results at least in 1H11, with a substantial dividend yield still an argument for the stock,” said Henning Esskuchen, co-head of CEE

To retail or not to retail?

Cautiously optimistic – this is the general state of mind of local retailers for 2011 so far. Fickle and penny-pinching shoppers, increased competition, discounting, shrinking profits and in some cases even the specter of insolvency make for a very different landscape than a few years ago. Nevertheless, the recession should not be all bad news, at least not in theory. Expansion plans are still in the cards, but different times call for different investment strategies and a more flexible and innovative approach to the market.

“Given the current economic dynamics we are expecting an overall stabilization of the Romanian economy but not yet a recovery or growth,” Michael Weiss, partner with A.T. Kearney, told BR. Consumption is not likely to pick up this year and this leaves little hopes for a rebound of the local retail market. “It will be more of a lagging industry compared to others,” he added.

Household consumption went down by 5 percent in the first nine months of 2010. “This decrease, which is the first in the past ten years, was a consequence of the salary cuts made in 2010 and inflation,” Raluca Raschip, consumer tracking director at GfK Romania, told BR. Romanians bought fewer and cheaper products, pruning their shopping lists of non-essential products. Consumption of non-food FMCG products was reduced by more than 9 percent, according to GfK data.

In light of recent economic developments, 2011 will also be a year of cautious consumption. The Consumer Confidence

Barometer developed by GfK Romania for the European Commission reached an annual average of -54 in 2010 and hit a tenyear low. “This will certainly translate into stagnation or even a decrease in consumption for some categories,” predicted Raschip.

Unenthusiastic consumption also means that over the coming years there will be a significant transformation of the way business is being handled. “Additional pressure on the system is expected from international investors and their ongoing activities to generate more synergies across the countries across suppliers but also market intelligence and retail formats,” Weiss said.

Compared to other countries, Romania is considered in the 2010 A.T. Kearney Global Retail index report as one of the most saturated and crowded market places. “We are expecting a further market clean up and change of ownership. (...)The room for newcomers is very limited – if at all we see this room on special niches but not on the classic retail formats,” he added.

Robert Maxim, managing partner at Ensight Management Consulting, also thinks that new retail formats are a must in order to resuscitate the market. “Compared to other European countries, local retail formats are monotonous and there are many other formats that haven’t been brought here.” In his opinion this shows the markets’ potential as well as its maturity or rather lack thereof.

“The room for newcomers is very limited – if at all we see this room on special niches but not on the classic retail formats,” Michael Weiss, partner with A.T. Kearney In his opinion all non-food retailers should proceed with caution this year.

“There is room for newcomers but the appetite for all non-basic products has dropped,” said Maxim, adding that the trend is likely to continue this year also.

One segment that is bucking the trend in his opinion is innovative technology.

“Anything related to innovative technologies is doing well but overall, the volumes are very small. This is only a niche market,” he added.

These are auspicious times for expansion, Maxim thinks. “We have positive signals from retail networks expanding and taking advantage of the opportunities brought about by the economic crisis such as cheaper land,” he said.

Lower rents have proved to be the full side of the glass also for retailers active in non-food sectors.

“The level of rent can be a major deal breaker when deciding to open a new store. A few years ago, some developers had demands that were simply too high,” Augustina Artemie, head of marketing for Romania at German Deichmann, told BR. She added that as things are returning to normal the company is confident that it will continue to expand in prime locations countrywide. In 2010 it opened 14 new units bringing its local network to 36 stores.

C&A representatives agree that local

www.business-review.ro Business Review | January 31 - February 6, 2011

STOCKEXCHANGE

expansion is linked to the availability and development of retail projects. “In the recent past a lot of projects were stopped or there were no interesting premises available. But we feel that the market is beginning to be revived, confirmed also by the number of new locations we plan to open this year,” Cristian Codrea, district manager Romania for C&A, told BR. The Austrian fashion retailer plans to open about eight more stores this year. “We are plotting a long-term course and a sustainable growth on the Romanian market because we believe in its potential. In 2011, we plan to open about eight new stores across the country, mostly in shopping center projects in large towns,” Codrea went on.

The available space in prime locations and long-term sustainable rents attracted tenants last year, Luiza Moraru, head of the retail department at CB Richard Ellis Romania, told BR. “H&M is the perfect example in this sense. This giant retailer analyzed the local market in early 2010 and based on the available space and financial terms which can be agreed, it decided to open as many as 10 stores in 2011,” she told BR. In her opinion, the gap between prime and secondary spaces has widened in 2010. “Prime properties are in demand, the vacancy rate is going down and obviously the rental level has not suffered great fluctuations. Secondary assets are still struggling – consumers are either lacking purchasing power or have switched their shopping towards dominant centers,” she adds.

Last year modern retail stock increased by 195,000 sqm, coming from projects like: Atrium Center Arad, Gold

WHERE TO INVEST 13

Good home wanted: as the economic turbulence continues, investors are looking for safe places to put their cash

Plaza, Sun Plaza and Cocor Department Store. This year new projects are underway in Bucharest and in other big Ro-

manian towns and more retailers are putting Romania on their map. “H&M is the most well-known name, but Leroy

Merlin, Montblanc and Subway are due to open units in 2011,” Moraru said.

The only segment that remained un-

14 WHERE TO INVEST

Courtesy of Link Resource

Dragos Dinu, Link Resource

touched by the crisis was fashion. Retail sales in clothing never stopped growing, according to a Candole report, and new names are expected to join the fray next year.

Investments needed across all sectors on ailing healthcare market

when it comes to more niche treatment. business models would have still sufficient potential in the market,” Michael “Specialized medical services and drugs Weiss, head of A.T. Kearney in Romania, still protected by the patent include a much higher added value and will natutells BR. rally have higher profit margins,” says Other areas of interest will be healthDinu. care related services like “competitive and But still, in the Romanian health sysintelligent distribution models that should change the current outdated route to a market approach and on the mid term “A healthy term for quality certification systems/services,” says Weiss. recovering an investment However, he is not overly optimistic is seven-eight years. The about the evolution of healthcare related IT solutions and the more complex profit margin is high, we medical equipment on the short term, are talking about 15-17 due to budget constraints and the current regulatory approach. percent, but only in the Also for the same reasons, private case of integrated health insurance systems as they are and complex medical implemented on other EU markets will not be “a hot topic for the mass market in systems; for small the short term,” he explains. operators, it is 8-10 Additional ground for this theory is the fact that the state does not yet seem percent” Mihail Marcu, too eager to encourage collaboration beMedLife tween private and public health sectors.

“One of the most important steps would be defining the minimum package covered by the compulsory state insurance, tem, as in many other sectors of the local economy at the moment, private investas well as fiscal facilities when taking out ments are not what they should be. This optional health insurance,” says is due to obstacles the state places in front Marcu. of potential investors.

While under the American model the “Private investments could go much state relies almost exclusively on the further than they go now if the state private health system, in Western European countries the ratio is 30-40 percent. could guarantee the timely payment of However, in Romania it is only 10 percent, treatments, both for the services and/or products provided by private compaexplains Marcu. n i e s .

“Profit margins in this sector vary sigAs long as payment terms often exceed nificantly across the different parts of the 300 days and the hospitals are heavily value chain, but also across the different dependent on the so-called ‘arrears’, business models within the same part of private investments will not be a the value chain. This is a typical signal for major source of financing,” say B Braun the current premature status of officials. the system. We will see on the short The state is still lacking a strategy that term a redistribution of the margins would allow it to hone the public system. across the current players and the value chain of the healthcare industry,” says “Let us not forget that the state has not built any hospitals for more than Weiss.

21 years and equipping the existing ones A healthy term for recovering an inwas done pretty chaotically and not vestment is seven-eight years. “The profit based on strategic objectives but margin is high, we are talking about 15-17 rather temporary political interests,” percent, but only in the case of integratsays Dinu. ed and complex medical systems; for The lack of adequate spending is an small operators, it is 8-10 percent,” says important factor in putting the healthcare Marcu. system on the right track, which the auIt also depends on the degree of spethorities have so far failed to do. While the cialization that a certain service or medaverage European healthcare spending in icine has. While in the cases of primary medical care and generic drugs, the focus 2008 was 8.3 percent of the GDP, Romais to offer/sell large volumes with a lownia allotted only 5.3 percent of its GDP to er profit margin, things are different this area, putting it bottom of all Euro-

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The Romanian private healthcare market is currently very fragmented and acquisitions will happen this year as well, which will lead to its consolidation, say pundits. This is a sector which offers plentiful opportunities for investment, in hospitals and infrastructure for medical services. “Looking at the current level of maturity – or should I say immaturity – of the healthcare market, I do not think there is a more or less interesting segment.

There are already investment funds that have invested in both medical and pharma services, which proves there is a linked interest,” Dragos Dinu, partner in Link Resource, tells BR. Since the market is still fragmented and undergoing consolidation, this year will bring as many, if not even more acquisitions on the market. At the moment, development strategies in both private medical services and pharma retail target national expansion, which puts many of the players on these segments into interesting positions that could catch the interest of investment funds or strategic investors,” says Dinu.

But which ones are targets for acquisitions?

“Most definitely the target of investment funds will be large private medical suppliers with a strong presence in Bucharest and locally, with experience on the market and very good financial results, with constant profitability and development from one year to the next,” Mihail Marcu, president of the MedLife administration board, tells BR. There are also sectors that are only marginally covered by public health insurance and which have developed earlier than others, such as gynecology, in vitro fertilization, dermatology and ophthalmology,” says Dinu, while insiders from B Braun point to orthopedics and navigated implantology as big markets for future growth.

“Key areas for investment are hospitals and all medical service related infrastructure. Not laboratories – even though we have seen quite some activity here in recent years – but properly configured

www.business-review.ro Business Review | January 31 - February 6, 2011

Gold has traditionally been seen as a safe haven in times of economic crisis

pean Union states.

“From our experience in the market, this situation hasn’t improved in the last few years. Hence, it can be said from a macro-perspective that Romania is chronically underfinanced,” add B. Braun officials.

However, it is very important not only to have funds to invest, but to know where to invest. In Weiss’s vision, “the key issue in Romania is less the budget, as we can learn from other markets, but the political strength and will for a transformation that covers the complete system in a consistent approach.”

He says first and foremost institutional change is “urgently needed” and should be the focus.

“Based on our market insights there are several investors interested in participating in the Romanian system to develop it further – but not under the current set-up,” says Weiss.

At the moment, the concept of sufficient minimum healthcare standards in Romania as an EU member is far off.

“Here I am talking not only about minimum services provided for all socioeconomic groups but more particularly about the national coverage of efficient and minimum quality services for rural and urban areas. It is hard to imagine that with the current approach this target will be reached in the next five years,” he warns.

Another piece of this puzzle is that the Romanian health system is not yet sufficiently equipped to suit high-income patients, who are still travelling outside Romania to undergo treatment.

While Romanians are already used to paying out of their own pocket significantly more than patients from other countries, much of this outlay represents informal service costs to get access to the system. This means that “the current informal system has more money available than we can see in the reported statistics,” says Weiss.

Wind blows investors to Romania’s gates With annual electricity potential from wind of 23 TW/h Romania has become an attraction for top international companies willing to invest hundreds of millions euro in wind farms. While at the end of 2009 there were just some 14 MW of wind power in operation, the figures increased at the end of last year when some 371 MW were registered.

Andreas Thomas, general manager Austria and Eastern Europe at Vestas Central Europe, identifies the opportunities that can make a company decide in favour of investing in a wind farm in Romania: high wind potential (estimated 14GW), over 4GW RES target till 2020, 500-600MW potential installations per year until 2018, the National Action Plan 2010, attractive green-certificate (GC) supporting scheme, bank interest and the transport network – the Black Sea and Danube river ports and roads.

Currently, Vestas – which has recently opened an office at Bucharest – has sold turbines with a total capacity of 450 MW. The projects are all in the Dobrogea area in Baia 1 and 2 (17 MW), Pestera (90 MW) and Cernavoda (138 MW).

But the road from the idea to the actual construction and trading is long. Referring to the first stage in the construc-

www.business-review.ro Business Review | January 31 - February 6, 2011

tion of a wind farm, getting permission, Carlo Pignoloni, Enel Green Power Romania Bucharest GM, said at Wind Power Romania, “Based on our experience, the time needed to achieve the building permit of the wind farm takes between 1.5 years and 2.5 years.”

According to him, the most relevant issues encountered in securing the land is fragmentation and confusion regarding land ownership – faulty retrocession, wrong or missing titles or constantly changing regulation regarding documentation. For public land the major issues are the unclear state of the law regarding the right of land usage title and lack of transparency for the joint-venture contract.

Currently, Enel has two ongoing projects: 34 MW in Agighiol and a first phase of 30 MW in Salbatica.

Consultant Markus Vrieling, CEO at Lamar Company, criticizes the bureaucracy. “Romania is no exception; other countries also have long development time lines and also too many rules and approvals. But approvals have no value when they can be bought. Also, when politicians decide if a project will succeed, then nothing is sure,” said Vrieling.Another issue is that the grid is overbooked with projects that are not going to become operational. Yet the state-owned national electricity transport operator Transelectrica has announced future investments in network expansion, at least on paper, as financing of new transformation stations and for the modernization of existing network is hard to get during this troubled time.

According to Alexandru Sandulescu,

energy department GM at the Ministry of Economy, in line for 2012 is some 1,700 MW at Tariverde power station, 600 MW at Vant power station, 354 MW in Moldova: Falciu Berezeni, Rosiesti, Vetrisoaia, Smardan-Gutinas, 105 MW in Tulcea County: Baia and Corugea-Cismeaua Noua, 90 MW in the Medgidia Sud area: Pestera and 120 MW in the Medgidia Nord area: Targusor and Silistea adding up to a total of 3,000 MW. Another positive aspect identified by investors is the amendment of law 139/2010 adopted by the Romanian Parliament in July 2010 which confirms the adoption of a green certificate support scheme for renewable energy, even though the relevant secondary legislation that implements the law is still not in place.

An important aspect which the secondary legislation leaves unresolved is a surfeit of green certificates on the market.

Senior associate Ramona VolciucIonescu at DLA Piper law firm told Business Review that the mechanism for taking over the excess green certificates proposed by the norms for application of the law on the promotion of renewable energy, which have been submitted for public debate until January 28, could be feasible only if other EU member states that fail to meet their renewable energy national targets are interested in buying the surplus renewable energy produced in Romania.

“Law 220/2008 requires the establishment, by way of a government decision, of the regulatory framework for cooperation between Romania and EU member states and third countries in order to

WHERE TO INVEST 15 Cost structure of a typical 2 MW wind turbine installed in Europe (EUR 2008) Turbine Grid connection Foundation Land rent Electric installation Consultancy Financial costs Road construction Control system Total

Investment (EUR 1,000/MW) 928 109 80 48 18 15 15 11 4 1.227

Share of total cost (%) 75.6 8.9 6.5 3.9 1.5 1.2 1.2 0.9 0.3 100

SOURCE: REpower Systems AG

implement joint projects for the production of renewable energy, for the method to take into account the quantity of energy produced as a result of such joint projects towards the achievement of the national target for renewable energy, as well as the legal regime regarding the taking over of green certificates in excess,” said the DLA Piper representative.

Several scenarios regarding the taking over of surplus green certificates and securing at least the minimum price per green certificate have been put forward – for example, acquisition by Transelectrica, by the Romanian state or by the environmental fund.

The draft government decision published on January 18 proposes a mechanism through which the extra green cer-

tificates can be acquired and included in the statistical transfers organized between the EU member states.

“Under the envisaged mechanism, Opcom – the electricity market operator – would identify, on an annual basis, the surplus green certificates according to the notifications filed by the renewable energy producers.

The Ministry of Economy would search for other EU member states willing to acquire the quantity of energy from renewable sources at the annual average trading price on the national centralized green certificates market. If no member state is interested in concluding such an agreement, the superfluous green certificates would be used the following year when the procedure is reopened,” said Volciuc-Ionescu.

www.business-review.ro Business Review | January 31 - February 6, 2011

16 BALANCE

Destination: Romania To local people, in recent years Romania has become a country one leaves, since capitalism and democracy have offered the luxury of mobility. No longer forced to remain here, as they were in communist times, many are packing their bags to seek their fortune elsewhere. But it is not one-way traffic. Fewer in number and less widely known about, a steady stream of foreigners are coming here, falling in love with the place and choosing to stay. ∫ CORINA DUMITRESCU

Photo: Laurentiu Obae

Sam R, Steven van Groningen and Volker Moser are an American, a Dutchman and a German who have all chosen Romania as their new home. Their experience here may be an eye-opener both for local pessimists as well as those whose sole impression of Romania is derived from the negative and far-fetched headlines in the international media.

For those not living in Cluj, where Sam R, an adoptive Romanian, usually spends his days, he is more easily found online, at www.kingofromania.com. He may also be reached on Facebook, under the Sam cel Roman (Sam the Romanian) persona, a profile which proudly exhibits a picture of the 15th century Romanian (back then, Moldavian) ruler Stefan cel Mare.

Sam’s blog displays a passion and excellent knowledge of Romania, its people and its culture. Most of his blog posts are analyses of enthralling aspects of life in this country or its language. He has also written a book about his Romanian experience so far, The Complete Insider’s Guide to Romania: 2011, aiming to offer tips and tricks to temporary and permanent visitors to the country. His next plan is to make a TV show on the same subject, with the purpose of offering a more balanced perspective than either foreign or local Romanian films. Looking back on his arrival in the place he now refers to as “home”, Sam confesses: “What drew me to Romania?

I guess you could say it was a random event. I've been traveling all of my life and I've visited and lived in many countries in Europe, including (then) Communist nations.” He visited Romania for the first time in 2000, but returned another three or four times before finally moving here in 2004. Coming from a family of travelers, with relatives spread all over the world, Sam’s choice of Romania no longer seems so difficult to understand. He now speaks the language fluently and honestly believes this to be the place of settlement he had been looking for in his previous trips. Something beyond reason attracted him here. “The honest truth is that I just felt called to this place in some way.

There's just something in the spirit of this land that does not exist anywhere else.”

He chose Cluj because of its multicultural population, youth and vitality and because it has “the amenities of a modern city with the feeling of a small, family town.” He also likes Timisoara, where he previously lived. His number one Romanian location would have to be Brasov, however, and after that, Sighisoara and Iasi, since the latter is in the fact the heart of the region that his inspiration, Stefan cel Mare, ruled.

His top three likes about Romania are the “top quality, natural, fresh, organic

The quirky Lipscani district is popular with foreign visitors While discussing Romania’s ongoing and delicious” food, the local alcoholic efforts to rebrand itself touristically, Sam beverage “tuica” and the streets’ occaremarks, “Every year there's a new sional animation with the sound of children laughing. His top dislike is Roma- ‘tourism campaign’ that gets discussed nians’ “general negativity and cynicism”, endlessly in Romania. And every year the same thing happens – almost nobody outwhich he understands “originated historically with periods of great hardship, side Romania pays the slightest attention but Romanians are now, for the first time, to it.” And the reason for this? Sam says that it is because the country “largely rein a participatory democracy”, and he lies on outdated forms of media to spend calls for a leap of faith and encourages everyone to “pitch in and do their part.” its limited tourism promotion budget on”. Instead, it should focus more on Number two is the local mania for building “extraordinarily expensive highways” general perception and reflection in the media “of the common man”, video. “In and last, but not least, foreigners who polling foreigners coming here, the macontinue to promote the image of a “danjority of what they've learned is from gerous, lawless, chaotic” Romania.

movies, whether it's Hollywood (mostly vampire-related, although sometimes about prostitution) or from Romanian films which have won international awards. And which films are these? Why, only the most depressing movies ever, featuring criminals, illegal abortions and dying of neglect in the haphazard Romanian medical system.” A solution would therefore lie in creating TV shows and movies in English, showing Romania in a more positive light and helping the country evolve beyond its usual clichés, a TV show that he will be giving a try this summer, in order to help promote the image of a “good Romania”.

Speaking of “good Romania”, Sam considers last year’s country clean-up campaign Let’s Do It, Romania to have been a complete success. “It is from my experiences in this campaign that I coined my slogan, ‘O Romanie Frumoasa e Sarcina Tututor’, which translates approximately to ‘A Beautiful Romania is Everyone's Responsibility’. Those are words that I live by.” They are words that he hopes more pessimistic Romanians will adopt as well.

Steven van Groningen was born in the Netherlands, but has spent the last 17 years in Romania, Russia and Hungary, as he confesses on his eponymous blog, www.stevenvangroningen.eu. He has spent a total of 14 years in Romania the reason for which is his marriage to Romanian Valeria Racila, Olympic Champion in the single sculls (rowing) in 1984 at the Los Angeles Olympic Games. This is where the couple met, as he is also a former Olympian and was part of the Dutch rowing team. Since 2002, van Groningen has been president and CEO of a local bank and has got involved in several local organizations and initiatives. Locally, he is known for supporting healthy living and has participated in the Bucharest City Marathon organized by his wife and which is set for its fourth edition this year.

Having lived in the country for quite a while now, van Groningen makes some recommendations to visitors, which “depend a bit on their interest and time available.” Walking around Bucharest and visiting the art museum are two of the things that can be done in Bucharest, while the fortified churches of Transylvania are a must-see for those traveling beyond the capital. Bukovina and the Delta are also top attractions. On this subject, van Groningen also discusses the situation of Romanian tourism, which he considers to be “negatively affected by pollution: everywhere you see garbage, even in the most remote areas. Also there is too much construction going on that destroys the experience for tourists.

Ugly big hotels should not be constructed in pristine touristic areas. I was shocked to see what has been allowed to

www.business-review.ro Business Review | January 31 - February 6, 2011

BALANCE 17

Photo: Laurentiu Obae

Romania’s cafe culture draws in expatriates who like taking it easy

be built in certain areas near the monasteries in Bukovina for instance.”

On the topic of cultural differences, van Groningen remarks on Romanians’ lack of desire to challenge stupid or unfair rules, which is different from the Netherlands, for example, where such rules are not heeded.

All in all, van Groningen believes, “Romania would be a better place to live if people had more respect for their fellow citizens, cultural heritage, nature and the environment. We only need to see how drivers treat pedestrians and cyclists to get the idea.”

A German who settled in Bucharest after his wife got a job offer here, Volker Moser confesses that he was mostly bothered by Romanians’ tendency to blow their horns in traffic on account of even the most minor of hold-ups.

“But you have to adapt and find a way to get along with this and also with a different Romanian work and business culture as a German,” he continues, because otherwise, life here would be rather difficult.

His experience and challenges with Romanian life have inspired Moser, a Public Policy and Management graduate, to co-found City Compass with two partners, “aiming at supporting newcomers with information and services in order to help them adapt well to Romania and Bucharest and to get rid of stereotypes.”

Since nowadays Romania offers similar products to those available in his homeland, Moser says that he does not miss home too much, and his family and friends visit on a regular basis. And as the country does not enjoy a very

good image in Germany, “once people come, they are oftentimes amazed by the diversity and the beauty of Romania.”

Moser however misses the good quality of German roads, since it is the poor state of the streets that has stopped him and his family from visiting more of the country’s beauty spots, such as Bukovina, Maramures, the Danube Delta and Transylvania. Not to miss in Bucharest, Moser recommends the Lipscani area, the “diversity of the city, architectonically, but also the very different faces and people of the city. And a concert in the Athenaeum.”Moser and his wife are also raising their son here, who was born in 2009 in Bucharest. He does not seem concerned with his child’s education, for the moment at least, not until he has to go to school: “I think raising children here until they start going to school is not a problem, if you have enough money to pay for private education.” His Romanian experience has made him quite fond of the place. “Who knows how long we will stay in the end?”

What Moser loves about the country is “knowing a lot of international people here that execute exciting projects, discovering unknown places in the countryside and Romanians for being so caring about children and for their hospitality.” On the down side, he would change “the emergency ordinance system that produces crazy and contradictory laws (overnight tax changes…) and the lack of social responsibility of some foreigners and Romanians towards Romanian society as a whole.”

corina.dumitrescu@business-review.ro

www.business-review.ro Business Review |January 31 - February 6, 2011

18 RESTAURANT REVIEW RESTAURANT REVIEW

A GREEK TRAGEDY

Photo: Laurentiu Obae

Greece is the word: tacky Hellenic symbols abound at Istria

Istria. 163 Calea Victoriei.

0742 582 728 MICHAEL BARCLAY

mab.media@dnt.ro

Whether it is down a shared Balkan heritage or the spread of Hellenic culture around the world, Bucharest has many eateries with a Greek flavor.

El Greco 17 Decebal Boulevard 021 326 80 98 Mythos 28 Costache Negri Street 021 410 23 76 0727 39 29 38 www.restaurantmythos.ro Olive Garden 11 Tudor Vianu Street 021 230 26 30 Posidonia 2 Corneliu Coposu Boulevard 021 311 10 45 Rodon 16 J. L. Calderon Street 021 315 81 41 Tarabya Fish 22 Pipera Tunari 021 231 59 65 0744 29 32 78 Thalassina 22 Povernei Street 031 42 50 950/1 0747 775 770 To Eliniko 74 Splaiul Independentei 021 312 1795 Topazio 48-50 Calea Victoriei 021 312.52.02 0723 28 72 39 Zorbas 31 Nicodim Street 0721 40 58 75 Zorba The Greek 3 Mendeleev Street 021 310 28 43 0724 87 33 30 www.zorbathegreek.ro

Photo: Laurentiu Obae

Let’s face it. Some locations are just not lucky. And this is one of them! In Ceaucescu’s time it was hidden away from the public behind a block which is now a bank and office complex. There, the card carrying communist thugs and gangsters would dine in luxury away from the public gaze. But it all ended in 1989 and the premises languished for years, unloved and unwanted.

It subsequently re-opened as a Romanian restaurant – and failed. Six years ago it was re-invented as The Golden Apple, a wonderful Lebanese restaurant which I loved – but after a few years it too failed!

After that, it became a nightclub which also failed. And now it has been rebadged as Istria – and unless they make some major changes it will be another failure!

The first thing to change is the décor. It is the tackiest, most bad-taste concept I have ever seen. It is themed (as is the food) on Greek lines. But it is appalling.

Little has changed since it was The Golden Apple. So there is a ludicrous giant statue of a Greek goddess, made not from marble, but cheap alabaster. Likewise there are two white imitation Corinthian columns, which upon my touching them also turned out to be hollow and made from cheap plaster. The

walls were emblazoned with cartoon murals of Greek ‘things’. The lighting was tacky 1960s style hanging ceiling lights.

Everything was wrong about the interior. Eating there just made me feel uncomfortable. It must be redesigned, and the entire interior should be gutted from ceiling to floor.

So let’s look at the menu. They boast that they are a Greek seafood restaurant. This leaves no room for creativity on behalf of the chef, as everybody who has eaten fish in Greece can attest – all the Greeks do is grill it. That’s it. No options!

So I looked for the most quintessentially Greek ‘must have’ dish: the famous mezza trolley. There are no rules about the contents of a mezza, suffice it to say there are usually 20 or 30 tiny dishes for you to select from. Mezza is always the pride of the House and it gives the chef and the customers a sense of fun. But guess what? They didn’t have any mezza!

But they did have a good selection of fish, at a price! For the fish was priced per 100 grams. With all the fish weighing in at well over 100 grams, you can do your own arithmetic as the costs varied between RON 10 and 35. You would be well advised to raise the limit on your credit card before checking in here.

They had such an adventurous choice, and my eye went to a fish I had never heard of before. It was a ‘san pietro’, which I later translated into its international name of ‘john dory’. It has never been seen in a Romanian restaurant, and

sure enough… they didn’t have it here either. Whilst I was querying this with the friendly waiter, the chef emerged from the kitchen. I liked his confidence to approach the customers directly. I also liked him, and I sensed instinctively that he would be a good chef. He was! He was from Bangladesh and he knew his stuff.

He, alone, can make this venture succeed.

If the House does the usual Bucharest trick of bringing in a star chef to open the premises and then dumping him after a few months, they will pay for the consequences in lack of business.

I asked to examine all the fish they had.

Without complaint (and enthusiastically), both chef and waiter proudly brought me a tray of all the fish in the kitchen. It was not all the fish on the menu, and I forgive them for this as they have just opened and it is reasonable that they had not fully stocked the kitchen. But all the fish was perfectly fresh.

But each fish was huge, weighing in around 1.5 kilos. Look at the comments I made above about the prices. I begged the chef to make me something that was not grilled. I wanted something baked, boiled, steamed… anything except grilled.

So he gave me a baked cod in a salt crust. Thank you chef, it was good.

So we carried on eating. From the starters menu, we passed on predictable dishes made from sword fish, octopus, calamari and prawns. But out of curiosity we had to try their ‘fish zacusca’. You have to be Romanian to understand ‘zacusca’ as it is untranslatable. But it was good.

Away to a spaghetti vongole. I told the chef exactly how I wanted the proportions of garlic, white wine and clams to be blended, together with a piquant pepper and topped with parmesan shavings. I got precisely what I ordered.

I also got a simple seafood salad of prawns, octopus and calamari, at a forgettable price of RON 40. Everything was good until I tried my ‘bean soup with vongole’. This was a bean puree with fresh clams. I knew it would not work and I was correct. But everything else was fine.

My dining partner, Blondie, wanted a simple ‘sea bream’. There is nothing special about this fish, other than its size and price. The House wanted RON 27 per 100 kg, at a minimum size of 1.5 kg, which means a price of around EUR 100. No thanks, she went home hungry.

So let’s look at the plus and minus points.

FOR the House, they have excellent friendly waiters, a good chef and a great garden terrace at the rear. AGAINST, the prices are sky high, the décor is ghastly, there is no parking and you can only eat grilled fish, which, however skilled the chef is, is just plain. It would have been far better if they had had a French theme, so that the House could ‘sex up’ the fish with exciting sauces and different cooking methods.

I know Istria will not make any of my suggested changes, so look out for a new place in the same premises next year.

RESTAURANTS IN BUCHAREST Greek Cuisine

Ship shape: plain sailing for Istria?

www.business-review.ro Business Review | January 31 - February 6, 2011

20 CITY FILM REVIEW

The Green Hornet

Cape fear: the Green Hornet sets about cleaning the scum off the streets of LA

∫ DEBBIE STOWE Directed by: Michel Gondry Starring: Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Christoph Waltz, Cameron Diaz On at: Cinema City Cotroceni & Sun Plaza, CinemaPro, Hollywood Multiplex, Movieplex Cinema, Patria, Samsung Imax Cotroceni, The Light Cinema Flying off the comic book pages and onto the big screen faster than a speeding bullet, superheroes are trusty cinematic fodder these days, from the serious and professionals (your Batmen and Supermen) to the endearingly amateur (Kick-Ass). The Green Hornet, based on a 1930s radio series, falls in the latter camp.

The film opens with miserable fat kid Britt Reid getting a dressing down from his bullying father, newspaper tycoon James (Tom Wilkinson), whose career leaves him no time for his chubby kid. Fast-forward to the present day, and Britt (a not-as-fat-as-he-used-to-be Seth Rogen) is a louche-living twenty-something, spending his dad’s money on riotous partying and women.

When Reid Senior expires in mysterious circumstances, leaving his newspaper under the control of his slacker son, Britt bonds with Kato (Jay Chou), an Asian martial arts expert and mechanic, over their shared dislike of James Reid.

Out on the town, the two happen upon a couple getting mugged by a gang x

of thugs, whom they rescue thanks to Kato’s supernatural fighting prowess.

Buoyed by their success, Britt and Kato vow to clean up the city, posing as masked avenger the Green Hornet and his sidekick (with poor Kato relegated to sidekick role despite putting in most of the legwork). The wily mechanic kits them out with fancy weapons and cars, Q from Bond-style, and off they go, blowing up narco-labs and slaughtering scum, as LA crime lord Benjamin Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz) swears to dispatch the upstart taking apart his evil empire.

There are 3D thrills and spills a-plenty, and the numerous fight scenes, car chases, explosions and shoot-em-ups afford plenty of opportunity for eye-catching techno-gimmickry.

The main joke is that despite Kato’s skills, the two are fairly clueless superheroes, having to rely on Britt’s criminology student secretary Lenore (Cameron Diaz) to give them an idea of what their caped crusaders might do next, and there are some fairly funny lines (“What is the one insanely stupid thing that every superhero has in common?” “Tights?”).

The performances of the leads are also likeable, with Rogen rolling out his lovable loser persona and Diaz adding a touch of class to proceedings.

But The Green Hornet is definitely designed to appeal to the eyes rather than the brain.

editorial@business-review.ro

www.business-review.ro Business Review | January 31 - February 6, 2011

CITY 21

CONCERT

FLAMENCO

Jazz event Austrian Hours continues in February

Best Film Fest celebrates local and international cinema

Jazz café and club Green Hours is preparing the second Austrian Hours, in partnership with the Cultural Austrian Forum and the Austrian Embassy. This

EXHIBITION

Gogol Bordello comin’ rougher to Bucharest Israel, Ethiopia, Ecuador and America, while others have Chinese-Scottish and American-Thai origins. In the Gogol Bordello sound, gypsy music is mixed with the saxophone, violin, drums, accordion and trumpet.

Tickets for the concert, which is being organized by Events, are now on sale, from RON 88 to 198. They can be bought online, at eventim.ro, or offline, from the Eventim chain (in Germanos, Vodafone, Orange and Humanitas stores). ∫ Corina Dumitrescu

EXHIBITION

First chapter of new book fair Bookland Conceived as an interactive manifestation, the first edition of book fair Bookland will take place in AFI Palace Cotroceni, Bucharest, from April 15-17.

Over 150 publishing houses are expected to present their wares to 350,000 attendees, based on the shopping center’s estimated traffic of 70,000 visitors on weekdays and 100,000 at weekends.

The first “urban” book fair is being organized by More Than Pub PR agency, from a total investment of EUR 300,000, which the agency hopes to recover from the first edition. Bookland will become Bucharest’s third book fair, the others being Bookfest, which is held in June and Gaudeamus, in November. ∫ Corina Dumitrescu

Reel good: top films will be celebrated

CONCERT

Brits bring classical music to Bucharest stage

Photo: Laurentiu Obae

Gogol Bordello are coming to Bucharest for the fourth time on March 9 as part of their We Comin’ Rougher tour.

The event is set to have a flamboyant party atmosphere, as the group’s music draws on rhythms from different corners of the world, such as gypsy, punk, ska, metal, rap, flamenco, cabaret, reggae and dub.

Gogol Bordello have released five studio albums and one live disc. The band has an international line-up, with its members hailing from Ukraine, Russia,

Best Film Fest, which will celebrate the best films of 2010 shown in Romanian cinemas, will take place between January 28 and February 3 in Bucharest, as well as in Vaslui (from February 4-5) and Ramnicu-Valcea (February 11-17).

The event will present the 2010 charts and award prizes to the best movie on Romanian cinema screens, best European film of 2010, best Romanian picture, actress, actor and director of a Romanian film, highest grossing Romanian and international motion pictures. The festival will also feature a gala, on January 28, to which an estimated 300 public figures from the worlds of cinema, sports and business will be invited.

Best Film Fest, now on its eleventh run, will take place at Studio Cinema in the capital, Magheru Boulevard 29. ∫ Corina Dumitrescu

STOCKEXCHANGE

Bleu are among the festival headliners

year’s event, which began on January 27, will consist of five jazz concerts, the first of which featured the Ulrich Dressler Cello Quartet.

On February 17, starting at 21.00, Austrian band Bleu will perform, its line-up consisting of Lorenz Raab (trumpet, flugelhorn), Ali Angerer (tuba, electric dulcimer) and Rainer Deixler (drums, percussion). On March 3, also at 21.00, the Wolfgang Muthspiel Trio is the headliner, with Muthspiel himself on guitar, Matthias Pichler on contrabass and Andreas Pichler on drums.

On March 10, at the same time, Martin Reiter-Flow will perform, featuring Andi Tausch on guitar, Martin Reiter on piano, Peter Kronreif on drums and Jojo Lackner on bass. David Helbock, Random/Control will close the event, on March 31, with Helbock on piano, Johannes Bär mainly on trumpet and Andi Broger mainly on saxophone. Green Hours is located at Calea Victoriei 120. ∫ Corina Dumitrescu

Local musicians will perform British masterpieces in February and March British Composition Season, a project developed by British Council Romania which started on December 21, is staging its next concert on February 22, at Tinerimea Romana National Art Center in Bucharest, starting at 18.30. The initiative comprises a series of four concerts, showcasing outstanding British contemporary composition, performed by Romanian musicians. The curator of the program is Philip Cashian, head of composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

The next two concerts will take place on February 22 and 29 March. The February 22 concert will showcase sounds from the expressionistic and evocative Palace at 4am by Simon Holt to Oliver Knussen’s ingenious arrangements of music by Perotin for a wind quintet. The final concert juxtaposes strains from

nine very different middle-generation composers and a new work from the young Ivor Bonnici. The program ranges from the funk-influenced music of Tansy Davies and jazz-inspired Mark Anthony Turnage to Julian Anderson’s Bach Machine, based on the theme from A Musical Offering and Richard Baker’s exotic Los Rabanos.

The project also includes a series of discussions on contemporary composition, attended by five of the featured British composers, as well as the curator of the program, Cashian.

The discussions hosted by the National University of Music in Bucharest are aimed at established and aspiring musicians, as well as the wider general public.

Entrance is free of charge. ∫ Corina Dumitrescu

www.business-review.ro Business Review |January 31 - February 6, 2011

22 IN TOUCH

QUOTE of the week The glass ceiling “A man supports a woman when she wants to decorate the house or set up an NGO, and we have many supportive husbands and friends, but if a woman has the nerve to exercise her right to enter politics, she comes into conflict with men,” said Elena Udrea, minister of regional development and tourism and president of the Bucharest branch of the PDL (Democrat Liberal Party), during a debate on women’s role in politics.

ROMANIA IN THE INTERNATIONAL PRESS

WHAT WE ARE WORKING ON Otilia Haraga Senior Journalist

It seems that the clichés mentioned in the Destination:Romania article in our Balance section live on. Forbes reporter Jon Bruner was sent to Romania by editor

ure of Bucharest”. He mentions the aspects for which Romania is known worldwide, according to WikiTravel: the Carpathian mountains, wine, the electronic microscope, Dracula, insulin, stuffed cabbage leaves, multi-ethnic peace and the jet engine. Bruner also contradicts Noer’s title, stating that he “encountered neither canine nor ursine harassers.“ Noer spoke well of other Bucharest experiences, emphasiz-

Michael Noer to stress test laptops and tablets, with Noer offering last week a virulent review of his colleague’s adventures.

Noer introduces Bruner’s story under the title “Reporter misses Flight Home ing the After Braving Blizzard, Feral people, the lanDogs, Illness To Write Laptop Reguage and the city’s charms: view”.

“Everyone I encountered was warm and Romania’s infernal traffic is also criticized: helpful; the city retains, in some areas, a “Tarom, the national airline of Romania, delightful pre-war charm that evokes apparently doesn’t think much of forParis; the Romanian language has a eigners who are stupid enough to allow lovely musical sound to it.” The IT rejust 20 minutes’ travel time to the airport viewer was also impressed with the in bloody Bucharest and they wouldn’t People’s House/Parliament building, honor Jon’s discounted ticket for a future adding that “a walk from one side of the flight.” complex to the other takes about 20 Surely Bucharest is not the only capital in minutes.” the world with traffic issues? However, Following the recommendation supplied the article makes a valid point on the dog on the IT gadgets that he was reviewing, problem: a woman recently died after beBruner went to downtown Bucharest to ing attacked by a pack of stray dogs in enjoy a local restaurant. ”I ended up at an Bucharest. atmospheric beer hall where I ate a deliOn the other hand, Bruner’s review of his cious bean-and-sausage stew,” he conRomanian experience flags up “the pleascluded.

is preparing a review of local versions of the marketplace website Ebay. Online auction and shopping websites will be her main points of focus as she sees how the local scene is shaping up and she will look at how Romanians’ appetite for bargains is moving to the virtual domain. otilia.haraga@business-review.ro

Corina Dumitrescu Journalist is writing a piece on the local art market. Top auction houses will share their perspectives about the current situation, as well as their future plans, while collectors will also offer their feedback. The piece comes as one local art house reveals how it is bucking the recession. corina.dumitrescu@business-review.ro

Dana Verdes Senior Journalist is working on an energy cover story.

She is preparing a story on the price of oil and the strategies adopted by local oil companies. The price of gas was the recent subject of local consumer boycotts. dana.verdes@business-review.ro

EVENTS, BUSINESS & POLITICAL AGENDA January 31 TVR, the public broadcast television network, organizes a press conference to present the Hotel FM band, Romania’s representatives at Eurovision 2011.

The event will take place at Rin Grand Hotel. By invitation only.

February 1 9:30 PwC organizes a press conference for the launch of the Saratoga 2010 report on human capital effectiveness.

The event will take at its headquarters.

By invitation only.

11:00 AFI Place Cotroceni organizes a

press conference to celebrate its one year anniversary. By invitation only.

February 2 11:30 BITSoftware organizes a press conference following its partnership with American company MicroStrategy at InterContinental. By invitation only.

February 10 ∫EVENT Business Review organizes the ninth edition of the Romanian Tax, Law & Lobby event. For more information about registration and future Business

Review events, please visit www.business-review.ro/events.

February 18 B. Braun Medical organizes the official opening of a production unit in Timis county. By invitation only.

February 22 ∫EVENT Business Review organizes the second edition of the Swiss Business Forum event. For more information about registration and future Business Review events please visit www.business-review.ro/events.

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ISSN No. 1453 - 729X

FOUNDING EDITOR Bill Avery EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Simona Fodor SENIOR JOURNALISTS Otilia Haraga, Dana Verdes JOURNALISTS Simona Bazavan, Corina Dumitrescu COPY EDITOR Debbie Stowe COLLABORATORS Anca Ionescu, Michael Barclay ART DIRECTOR Alexandru Oriean PHOTOGRAPHER Laurentiu Obae LAYOUT Beatrice Gheorghiu

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR George Moise SALES & EVENTS DIRECTOR Oana Molodoi MARKETING MANAGER Adina Milea SALES & EVENTS Ana-Maria Nedelcu, Claudia Munteanu RESEARCH & SUBSCRIPTION Lili Voineag PRODUCTION Dan Mitroi DISTRIBUTION Eugen Musat

ADDRESS No. 10 Italiana St., 2nd floor, ap. 3 Bucharest, Romania LANDLINE Editorial: 031.040.09.31 Office: 031.040.09.32 Fax: 031.040.09.34 EMAILS Editorial: editorial@business-review.ro Sales: sales@business-review.ro Events: events@business-review.ro