business review issue 37, oct 19-25, 2009

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With a big chunk of the state spending pledged for infrastructure, Bucharest is one ofthe main targets for projects aiming to alleviate the traffic congestion in the city.Business Review looks at the main ongoing infrastructure projects and theconstruction companies benefiting from them

See pages 12-13

With a big chunk of the state spending pledged for infrastructure, Bucharest is one ofthe main targets for projects aiming to alleviate the traffic congestion in the city.Business Review looks at the main ongoing infrastructure projects and theconstruction companies benefiting from them

See pages 12-13

MONEYDragos Mirica, executive director of cor-

porate banking at OTP Bank, says the

first green shots in lending will be visi-

ble in 2010

See page 10

TALENTIon Turcu, local investor in real estate,

has turned a residential project into a

tourist facility in Brasov to save some of

the initial investment

See page 14

CSRBusiness Review presents its annual

round up of corporate social responsi-

bility projects, in a year when budgets

have shrunk considerably

See pages 20-27

INFRASTRUCTUREINFLUX

INFRASTRUCTUREINFLUX

ECONOMIST LUC IAN CROITORU WILL FORM THE NEW GOVERNMENT; SEE P8

BUSINESS REVIEWROMANIA’S PREMIERE BUSINESS WEEKLY OCTOBER 19 - 25, 2009 / VOLUME 14, NUMBER 37

www.business-review.ro

BUSINESS REVIEW / October 19 - 25, 2009 3

N E W S

Following on from the CountryFocus Series, the business break-fasts which gathered embassy offi-cials, Chamber of Commerce rep-resentatives and business peoplefrom the Greek, American, Dutch,German and Austrian communi-ties, Business Review is launchinganother series of business events.The Legal Business Series will airexperts’ opinions and advice on im-portant business decisions, such as:restructuring, risk management,taxation and dispute resolution,through business breakfast eventswhich will take place at the Inter-Continental hotel.

“We are launching this new se-ries of events as a tool for managersdoing business in Romania, to helpthem not only cope with this eco-nomic crisis, but to try to make themost of it. With the proper counsel-ing and advice from top profession-als, business managers will learn

both how to manage restructuringand dispute resolution, but also howto make very profitable investmentsduring the downturn,” says Bill Av-ery, publisher of Business Review

The first event, focused on in-vesting during the downturn, is setfor November 10 and will debatetopics such as: How to start up dur-ing an economic downturn; Takingover distressed assets/players; Howto structure financing packages;The pitfalls of investing in energy.

“That the Romanian economyis navigating through troubled wa-ters, anyone can see. So, what aboutinvesting in this turbulent time? Awise strategy would certainly help,but it takes more than just avoidingrisky investments, it is about beinga smart investor and making gooduse of whatever advantage youhave,” says Florentin Tuca, manag-ing partner with Tuca Zbarcea &Asociatii. n

Audited 1H 2007

BMG is a founding member of the Romanian Audit Bureau

for Circulation (BRAT)

Str. Alecu Russo 13 - 19, et. 7, ap. 14, Bucharest - Romania E-mails: [email protected]; Phone: +4021 210-7734, Fax: +4021 210-7730 ISSN No. 1453 - 729XPrinted at: MASTER PRINT SUPER OFFSET

PublisherBILL AVERY

Editor-in-ChiefSIMONA FODOR

Deputy Editor-in-ChiefCORINA S~CEANU

Senior JournalistsDANA CIURARUANDA DRAGAN OTILIA HARAGA

Copy EditorDEBBIE STOWE

ContributorMICHAEL BARCLAY

ResearchSIMONA BAZAVAN

PhotographerLAURENTIU OBAE

LayoutBEATRICE GHEORGHIU

Executive DirectorGEORGE MOISE

Sales & Events DirectorOANA MOLODOI Marketing Manager

ADINA MILEASales & Events

IULIAN BABEANU CLAUDIA MUNTEANUFREDERIC VIGROUX

Sales ConsultantGIUSEPPINA BURLUI

Research & SubscriptionALEXANDRA TOADER

ProductionDAN MITROI Distribution

EUGEN MU{AT

OCTOBER 19 - 25, 2009 / VOLUME 14, NUMBER 37

BUSINESS REVIEW

Week in

NUMBERS

There are 800 hotspots in

Romania, according to the

Ministry of Communication

Around 2.7 million Romanians

between 15 and 64 are working

abroad, according to sociologi-

cal studies

800

2.7 million

The average amount saved in

Romania is between RON 51

and RON 100, according to the

Bank Deposits Guarantee Fund

100

Business Review launches Legal Business SeriesAndrew Peirson, RICS repre-

sentative for Central & South Eu-rope, is one of the international re-al estate professionals who will at-tend the 10th Realty forum, set forOctober 29.Peirson’s presentation,which focuses on case studies ofethical business conduct in Europe,will cover issues of trust in today’sbusiness environment. “Now is thetime for property professionals tobe providing professional and ethi-cal advice to clients, and not simplytelling people what they want tohear. It is a time for advisors to ac-tually advise, and the role of theRICS is as vital today as perhaps ithas ever been,” said Peirson.Withcontinuous investments in real es-tate projects in spite of the financialcrisis, Michele Nusco, CEO ofNusco Group, is another confirmedpanelist at this year’s Realty. Hewill answer the question: “Who is

still developing during the crisis?”Despite the current instabilitywhich increases people’s caution,there is still room for quality proj-ects responding to market needs.Such difficult times can be turnedinto competitive advantages for in-vestors following a sustainablebusiness plan, he says.

The third session of the event,Roadmap for a Sustainable Busi-ness Project, will debate turn-around and how to manage effi-ciently a real estate project. PanelistVlad Revnic, associate directorwith MT&T Property Manage-ment, said service charges make upto 20 percent of the rent paid bytenants. The exit is not going to beso fast anymore, therefore proper-ties should be designed, built, man-aged and maintained very efficient-ly with the aim of maintaining theirvalue over time.

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RICS representative to discuss ethics at Realty event

BUSINESS REVIEW FORUM

BRIEFSCOMPETITION COUNCILAPPROVES EUR 220 MLNSTATE SCHEME TOSUPPORT CRISIS-HIT FIRMSé Romania’s Competition Councilhas approved a draft governmentscheme providing state support tofirms hit by the economic crisis,and has notified the EuropeanCommission. Its aim is to alleviatethe serious economic troublescaused by the crisis by helpingcompanies pay various debts. Thebudget is EUR 220 million.

FDI DROPS 53 PERCENTAFTER EIGHT MONTHSé Foreign direct investments fellby 53 percent in the first eightmonths of this year in Romaniacompared to the same period oflast year, from EUR 6.7 billion toEUR 3 billion, according to datareleased by the Romanian CentralBank (BNR). Group loans madeup EUR 1.67 billion, and capitalinjections, including reinvestedprofit, EUR 1.46 billion, downfrom EUR 3.7 billion last year.

ONE IN TEN ROMANIANSIS WORKING ABROADé Some 8-10 percent of theRomanian population agedbetween 15 and 64, have left towork abroad. Sociologist DumitruSandu called for policies focusingon Romanian workers abroad,immigration – because, he said,Romania will become animmigration country in 8-12years – and migration anddevelopment, as migrationpolicies need to be considered ona regional development basis.

N E W S

BUSINESS REVIEW / October 19 - 25, 20094

Citibank Romania launchedits complete retail banking offeron the Romanian market lastweek. It includes Citibank On-line (internet banking) and Citi-Phone Banking (telephone bank-ing), available 24/7 to all thelender’s customers with a cur-rent account. The bank has alsoopened two new branches inBucharest, taking its total in thecapital to seven. It has launchedCitigold, a premium bankingservice for wealthier customerswho can invest at least USD50,000 in financial instruments.

According to representatives

of the lender, the move is a natu-ral result of its intention to con-solidate its major-player positionon the Romanian banking sector.“This launch consolidates ourposition as one of the most capi-talized banks in Romania,” saidShahmir Khaliq, president ofCitibank Europe plc Dublin –Romanian Branch. Bank repre-sentatives added that their deci-sion to diversify the offer for in-dividual customers was based onmarket research related to thecurrent range of products andcustomer demand.

Anda Dragan

The International Finance Cor-poration (IFC), a member of theWorld Bank Group, announced lastweek that it would provide a EUR50 million loan to Banca Transilva-nia (BT) to enable the lender to ex-pand financing for private healthcare providers in Romania. The in-vestment will support the develop-ment of the country’s private healthcare sector by assisting medicalproviders who are looking for bankfinancing to set up or build a privatepractice.

“This loan will enable us to con-tinue lending and expand our strongpresence in Romania’s healthcaresector,” said Robert Rekkers, CEOof BT. He added that the lender in-tends to remain the top choice forprivate health care providers and en-trepreneurs in Romania.

BT launched its private healthcare provider division – “Diviziapentru medici” (DPM) – in 2007,the newest business line for the

lender. Since then, the division hassigned over 3,200 loan contractsworth EUR 150 million andamassed 16,000 active customers(doctors, as well as medium andlarge clients).

According to specialists, the pri-

vate health services market is esti-mated at about EUR 300 million.Until now, the division has focusedon small and medium clients withless than EUR 500,000 in turnover.The EUR 50 million loan will beused to finance medium and largecustomers, whose turnovers areabove EUR 500,000. The division isintended to cover the whole privatehealthcare sector and is expected toincrease this year by 20 percent on2008.

Since January, it has signed loancontracts worth EUR 25 million.The biggest project it has financedwas worth EUR 1.5 million, while atypical one comes in at hundreds ofthousands of euros. Fady Chreih,head of the bank’s DPM, added that60 percent of the loans went to uni-versity centers such as Iasi, Cluj,Targu Mures, Timisioara andBucharest, with the remaining 40percent going to other counties.

Anda Dragan

Banca Transilvania gets cash injection from IFCC

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Shahmir Khaliq, president of Citibank in Romania

Citibank launches retail in Romania

BT is courting the medical profession with itsnewest division

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Irish national carrier Aer Lingus,which first started operating flightsbetween Dublin and Bucharest in2007, is increasing its local activityby adding a London-Bucharestroute, which will be operationalfrom October 25.

“We identified a significant gapin the London market whereBucharest was not served,” BrianBowden, head of network resourceplanning with Aer Lingus, toldBusiness Review. “The Romania-UK market is large, with a signifi-cant proportion of that market notcurrently traveling by air. Thiswould indicate that there are notenough air services between Roma-nia and the UK.” He added: “Also,Aer Lingus is the only carrier oper-ating from Gatwick airport, so wehave no direct competition. Thethree London airports – Heathrow,Luton and Gatwick – have their owndistinct catchment areas that do nothave much overlap. For these rea-sons, it is not that other carriers willhave to fight to hold onto their mar-

ket share, rather we will see the to-tal number of air passengers be-tween Romania and the UK in-crease,” said Bowden.

Aer Lingus currently has a lead-in price of GBP 3.99, excluding tax-es and charges, available all days inNovember and into December.

The low-cost airline expects itsnew flight to be the third highestcarrier in terms of available capaci-ty between London and Bucharest,behind BA which flies fromHeathrow, and Wizz Air, whichserves Luton Airport. “As the onlycarrier from London Gatwick Air-port serving South London and thesouth-east of England, we expect toincrease total traffic into the UK byair,” added Bowden.

The launch of the LondonGatwick-Bucharest operation willsee Aer Lingus operations to Roma-nia increase from three to ten flightsper week – daily flights from Lon-don and three flights per week fromDublin.

Corina Saceanu

Irish Aer Lingus swoops into Bucharest-London low-cost race with Gatwick flight

Romania’s economy is forecast toshrink by 8 percent this year, after astrong expansion of 7.1 percent in 2008.A European Bank for Reconstructionand Development (EBRD) report,which will be published next month, re-veals that growth of just 1 percent is ex-pected in Romania next year.

“After years of robust growth, Ro-mania is currently experiencing a signif-icant economic slowdown, owing to de-clining exports, falling construction ac-tivities and slowing credit growth. How-ever, international financial institutionshave stepped in to help mitigate the im-pact of the crisis and Romania’s medi-um-term outlook remains favorable withgood potential for the resumption ofgrowth once global conditions im-prove,” said Peter Sanfey, EBRD leadeconomist.

According to the same study, theeconomies of Central and Eastern Eu-rope are expected to contract by an aver-age of 6.3 percent this year followingsteep output declines in the first half ofthe year. Signs of positive growth in thethird quarter of this year suggest that the

recession is now bottoming out in manycountries of the EBRD region. However,any upturn next year is likely to be frag-ile and patchy.

Moreover, the report suggests thatthere are likely to be significant cross-country differences in output growthnext year, masked by an average growthrate for the region of about 2.5 percent.

“It is clear that the social costs of theglobal economic crisis are likely to befelt next year, when corporate bankrupt-cies and unemployment will continue torise. Growth over the medium term inthe EBRD region is also likely to be be-low the trend experienced over the lastdecade,” said Erik Berglof, EBRD chiefeconomist.

Factors restraining growth in 2010include the subdued pace of the exportmarket recovery, particularly in the Euroarea, and continuing tight credit condi-tions, as banks continue gradually toshrink their assets in the region and aslending to households and small firmsremains constrained by rising non-per-forming loans.

Dana Ciuraru

EBRD foresees just 1 percent economicgrowth in Romania next year

N E W S

German national airlineLufthansa expects to carry a similarnumber of passengers between Ro-mania and Germany in 2009 as itdid last year, when the carrier flew550,000 people between the twocountries.

“This year we have increasedour numbers of passengers to andfrom Romania again and were ableto sell additional capacity on theBucharest-Milan route withLufthansa Italia, which we havelaunched in 2009. This correspondsto an increase of approximately tenper cent,” Stefan Verseman, generalmanager of Lufthansa for Romaniaand Moldova, told Business Re-view.

As far as ticket prices in Roma-nia are concerned, the German air-line said it was experiencing a simi-lar trend to most other parts of theworld and the airline industry ingeneral, namely a decline in earn-

ings. The cause for this lies in the

weaker demand for flights broughtabout by the economic crisis as wellas passengers opting for cheaperfares.

“Business travelers in particularhave increasingly been buying tick-ets in cheaper booking classes, lead-

ing to a significant slide in averageyields during the first half of theyear,” said Verseman.

But in the last couple of weeksthe airline has seen a slight increasein the number of passengers com-pared to the same month of lastyear, which was also visible in Ro-mania.

“The continuing economic crisisand still weak demand for tickets inthe premium segment is hurting ourresults. This also applies to the Ro-manian market, in which business-class passengers play an importantrole as well,” said Verseman.

With flights to Germany andItaly from Romania, Lufthansa doesnot foresee an increase in frequen-cies, destinations or flights. Thecompany has managed to respond tothe decline in premium passengersby adding more economy-classseats.

Corina Saceanu

N E W S


Lufthansa expects to equal 2008 Romanian traffic,reacts to decreasing business-class travel

Cameron estimates USD 200 mln turnover at Ploiesti plant in first year

6

BRIEFSCASINO PALACE SEESDROP IN REVENUES IN H1é Casino Palace Bucharest postednet revenues of EUR 9.5 million inthe first six months of this year,down 22 percent on the sameperiod of last year, said the firm.The casino posted an operationalprofit of EUR 2.7 million duringthe period. The average numberof visits to the casino in H1 was55,000, similar to last year, whilethe average winning sum per visitwas EUR 179, compared to EUR227 in the first half of 2008.

AVERAGE APARTMENTBUDGET IS EUR 60,000é One in two Romanians whowant to buy a new home haveallocated EUR 60,000 or less todo so, according to a study bythe Daedalus Millward Brownmarketing and researchcompany, presented at theCondominium Apartment Fair.The report found that 61 percentof people prefer older buildingsto new ones, with 76.2 percentpreferring an old building in thecity to a new building outside.

GOV’T TO GRANT RON160 MLN TO THERMALPOWER PRODUCERS ANDDISTRIBUTORSé The government has decided toallot financial aid of RON 160million from its reserve fund tothermal power producers anddistributors, to guarantee the heatand hot water supply for thepublic during the winter, premierEmil Boc announced. The sumswere assigned to variouslocations around the country.

Stefan Verseman, local GM of Lufthansa

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US company Cameron, whichspecializes in equipment and servic-es for the oil industry, has an-nounced that its new production fac-tory, which opened recently inPloiesti, has the capacity to generatea USD 200 million turnover in itsfirst operational year. Company offi-cials said that the level could bereached delivering equipment exclu-sively to world oil giants such asExxonMobil, Statoil and British Pe-troleum.

Cameron invested USD 80 mil-lion in this production unit, a sum itexpects to recover in three to four

years. The Ploiesti plant has created300 jobs, of which 120 are alreadyfilled. The American company hasbeen present on the local marketsince 2004, when it took overSterom Campina, which last year re-ported a USD 201 million turnoverand USD 21 million net profit.

According to Marius Tripsa,Cameron Romania GM, severalcountries competed with Romaniafor the new production facility inPloiesti, but certain factors hadtipped the balance in favor ofPloiesti. “In Romania we’ve regis-tered very good results at Sterom.

We knew we had a very good work-force from which we could chooseour future employees, and the localauthorities were on our side. Since2004, when we took over Sterom,we’ve brought in around USD 40million and the productivity of the850 employees we have has tripledduring this period,” said Tripsa.

Cameron officials announcedthat the old plant in Campina wouldnot be closed in the wake of the in-vestment in Ploiesti, because the twoproduction facilities are comple-mentary.

Dana Ciuraru

N E W S


Investment fund CVC CapitalPartners will take over Belgiangroup ABInBev, which controlsbrewer InBev Romania, in a dealworth around USD 2.2 billion, mak-ing it the largest private equitytransaction in CEE.

The investment fund will takeover subsidiaries of the Belgiancompany on eight European mar-kets, including the Romanian one,which produces Stella Artois,

Beck’s, Bergenbier, Lowenbrau andNoroc and imports Leffe and Hoe-gaarden beer brands.

CVC has also agreed to brewand/or distribute Stella Artois,Beck’s, Löwenbräu, Hoegaarden,Spaten and Leffe in the relevantcountries under license from ABI.ABI will retain rights to brew anddistribute Staropramen in severalcountries including Ukraine, Rus-sia, the US, Germany and the UK.

InBev is the third largest beer pro-ducer in Romania, with a 19 percentmarket share for last year. The com-pany posted EUR 173 million inturnover in 2008, a drop of 8 percenton the previous year. The agreementsigned by CVC last week includesthe rights to a future payment con-tingent on CVC’s return on its initialinvestment.

Romania is the biggest of themarkets covered by the deal, theothers being: Bosnia-Herzegovina,Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic,Hungary, Montenegro, Serbia andSlovakia. The beer producer joins aportfolio of companies in variousindustries owned by CVC CapitalPartners, such as the Belgian Post,Debenhams and Cortefiel fashionbrands, Samsonite and FormulaOne. The funds own 52 companiesworldwide, with combined annualsales of EUR 88 billion.

The buyer was advised by lawfirm Freshfields as internationalcounsel and by local company PeliFilip, while the seller had CliffordChance on its team.

Corina Saceanu

Romania is the biggest of the markets covered by the InBev deal

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Staff at Cernavoda units 1 and 2 will be cut by 300

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Germanwings sees 80percent aircraftoccupancy

Airline Germanwings, the low-cost division of Lufthansa, trans-ported 54,000 passengers to andfrom Romania in the first ninemonths of the year, a figure whichrepresented just one percent of thetraffic it posted internationally. Itexpects to carry 80,000 passengersto and from Romania on its flightsthroughout the whole of 2009, withan average occupancy rate for Ger-manwings airplanes of 80 percent.

The airline witnessed the highestdemand on its Bucharest-Kolnroute, where the business segmentmakes up 42 percent of the passen-gers. Next in line comes Berlin,which is why the company will in-crease its number of flights fromBucharest from two to three a week,according to Andreas Engel, head ofcommunications for Germanwings.Around 60 percent of its travelersare German, the rest mostly Roma-nians.

Corina Saceanu

BNR economist picked as PM aftergovernment kicked out

Romania was digesting regimechange last week after the Roman-ian Parliament dismissed the gov-ernment following a vote of no con-fidence. It was the first time in 20years, since the fall of communismin Romania, when such a motionhad passed a parliamentary vote.The move comes one month beforepresidential elections in the country.

Although the Sibiu mayor,Klaus Johannis, was the NationalLiberal Party (PNL) nomination forPM, Romanian president TraianBasescu decided to nominate econo-mist Lucian Croitoru, counselor ofthe Romanian Central Bank (BNR)governor, Mugur Isarescu. At first,the PNL was planning to propose agovernment of technocrats, butCroitoru said he would meet the po-litical parties and decide upon thestructure of the new line-up.

The vote of no confidence hadbeen initiated by the National Liber-al Party (PNL) and the MagyarDemocratic Union in Romania(UDMR) and was supported byMPs from the Social Democratic

Party (PSD), who recently withdrewtheir ministers from the govern-ment. Before the motion waspassed, the Romanian administra-tion consisted of 11 ministers, allfrom the Democratic Liberal Party(PDL). The existing ministers willact as interim cabinet until the newline-up is in place.

The recent change, which flags up the political instability inthe country, will not interfere with the stand-by agreement that Roma-nia has with the International Mon-etary Fund. Fund representativeshave said they will pay another vis-it to Romania once the new govern-ment is established.

Commentators believe that thenomination of economist LucianCroitoru to form the new cabinetgives hope that, at least in theory,the new government will focus onsolving Romania’s economic prob-lems rather than continue the politi-cal bickering. Croitoru’s soon to beestablished ministerial team has topass a parliamentary vote.

Corina Saceanu

Cernavoda nuclear units 1 and 2 to shed staff

Nuclear units 1 and 2 at Cer-navoda will see their staff cut by300 employees, from the current to-tal of 1,700, by 2013, company offi-cials have announced.

“Currently we have a personnelsurplus. We have 1.2 employers foreach MW of the total 700 MW pro-duced by the two units. Our plan isto have just one worker per MW by2013. The personnel reductions willbe effected either by voluntary re-dundancies, outsourcing certainservices or transferring some work-ers to the future units 3 and 4 which

are to be built by 2016,” said IonelBucur, GM of Centrala NuclearElectrica (CNE) at Cernavoda.

State-owned Nuclearelectrica isthe second largest energy producerin Romania, meeting 18 percent oftotal electricity demand, afterHidroelectrica.

The company reported a netprofit of EUR 28 million last year, ahike of 16 percent compared withthe previous year. The rise was be-cause unit 2 became operational inNovember 2007.

Dana Ciuraru

CVC Capital Partners buys local InBev subsidiary

C A L E N D A R / W H O ’ S N E W S


WHO’S NEWSCRISTIAN POPESCU has been appointed

senior associate atPopovici Nitu &Asociatii. He joinedthe firm as an associ-ate in 2006. Popescuspecializes in corpo-

rate and commercial, in mergers andacquisitions, concessions and jointventures in the field of energy, oiland gas and utilities. He has exten-sive expertise in public procurementand holds a degree in Law from theWestern University of Timisoara andan LLM in Business Law from theUniversity of Bucharest, and is amember of the Bucharest Bar and theRomanian Bar Association.

MICHEL LAMOOT is the new general man-ager of real,- hyper-market Romania. Hejoined Metro Groupin 2008 as non-foodacquisition managerat real,- Poland. Lam-

oot started his retail career in 1979and has since held different manage-ment positions in companies fromthe international retail industry. Hehas worked in countries such asSouth Korea, Japan and France.Lamoot graduated from GrenobleUniversity with a major in hotel andrestaurant management.

STEFAN VANCEK is the new commercialdirector of GeneraliAsigurari. His mainresponsibility in therole will be to man-age and develop thecompany’s distribu-

tion channels. Slovak Vancek haspreviously held the positions of busi-ness development director at Gener-ali PPF Holding in the Czech Repub-lic, deputy general sales director atCeská Poistovna, in Slovakia and ex-ecutive sales director at QBE in Slo-vakia. He is a graduate of the Facul-ty of Civil Engineering from the Slo-vak University of Technology.

DANA BAITANCIUC is the new senior HRmanager of JW Mar-riott in Bucharest.She joined the com-pany in 2006 as sec-retary, and shortly af-terwards was pro-

moted to recruitment specialist, andthen to personnel manager. She is agraduate of the Alexandru Ioan CuzaUniversity in Iasi, with a major in so-cial work, and has a master’s degreein HR Management from ASE inBucharest.

CAMELIA BUBURUZ is the new director ofrooms operations ofthe JW Marriott inBucharest. She waspreviously the hotel’sdirector of human re-sources, a position to

which she was appointed in early2007. Buburuz joined Marriott in2002 as recruitment specialist andworked her way up to personnelmanager. Her earlier jobs were in theHR field as well, at Media Pro Inter-national and Metro Cash and Carry.She is a graduate of the Academy ofEconomic Studies in Bucharest, theFaculty of Accounting.

CORNEL IONESCU is the new national keyaccount manager ofAdePlast, after hav-ing previously occu-pied the same posi-tion at Fabryo Corpo-ration for three years.

In the last 15 years he has built upbroad experience in sales, havingworked for companies such as Coca-Cola Bottling, Brau Union Romaniaand Cumpana. Ionescu has workedat Coca-Cola Bottling for ten years,starting as assistant to the GM andadvancing to key account manager.His later positions include HoReCanational manager at Braun Unionand development manager for theSouth Romania region at Cumpana.

MARIUS SCUTA is the new head of officeagency at Jones LangLaSalle Romania. He has previouslyworked for BNPParibas Real Estate,CB Richard Ellis and

Vodafone Romania holding posi-tions such as office agency directorat BNP Paribas Real Estate, head ofoffice department at CB Richard El-lis and account manager at VodafoneRomania. Scuta holds a bachelor’sdegree in Economics from the Ro-manian-American University.

Business Review welcomes information for Who’s News from readers.Submissions may be edited for length and clarity. Feel free to contact us at [email protected]

EVENTS, BUSINESS AND POLITICAL AGENDAOCTOBER 20é Milupa Romania organizes press conference for the launch of a CSR

campaign in association with the Inocentii Foundation.

OCTOBER 21é More Than Pub organizes the first international conference on Direct

Marketing at the Diplomatic Club.

OCTOBER 22é Business Review organizes Italian Business Forum at Intercontinental

Hotel. For more information see www.brforum.ro.

OCTOBER 22é HR Club organizes a national conference on strategic partnership with

the business environment at JW Marriott. By invitation only.

OCTOBER 26é 17:00 – ProActive Solutions in association with the Chamber of Com-

merce and Industry of Romania organizes workshop on business net-working. By invitation only.

OCTOBER 29é Business Review organizes Realty Forum at Intercontinental Hotel. For

more information see www.brforum.ro.

NOVEMBER 4é Business Review organizes French Business Forum at Intercontinental

Hotel. For more information see www.brforum.ro.

M O N E Y


The executive director of the

corporate banking division at OTP

Bank Romania, Dragos Mirica, told

Business Review about the lender’s

strategy on the local market and

spelt out the future evolution of

corporate banking in Romania.

According to him, the first green

shoots in lending will be visible in

2010 but not at the same levels

posted over the last four years.

Dragos Mirica says that OTP Bank will adopt a specific rather than a general approach

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Anda Dragan

The Romanian banking market isstill feeling the negative effects of thecurrent crisis, but despite this, lenderscontinue to post positive results and arealso making promising noises for theend of 2009. One of the medium-sizedbanks active on the market is OTPBank Romania, which recently cele-brated five years of local activity. Itseems that the lender achieved at leastone of its most important goals: makinga profit. It posted an after-tax profit ofHUF 133 million in 2008, its first prof-itable year. Moreover, in the first sixmonths of 2009, the lender posted anafter-tax profit of HUF 586 million.

Talking to Business Review, Miricaaddressed the evolution of corporateloans both for his own organization andfor the whole of the Romanian bankingscene. He also outlined the lender’scorporate strategy on the local market.According to him, for its first five yearsin Romania OTP focused on consoli-dating corporate banking activity andamassing a high number of new corpo-rate clients. “It was a development timeand we intend to continue this strategyin the future. We also plan to strength-en our position on the corporate bank-ing segment,” said the executive direc-tor. To this end, the lender has deviseda significant and strategic corporate

client concept. Another element of its strategy was

to extend its corporate banking offer, inresponse to the specific needs of cus-tomers. It is quite clear to all that thecrisis has had a deleterious impact oncompanies’ turnovers, reducing themsignificantly. In order to meet its cus-tomers’ needs, OTP has decided to becloser to them, offering support servic-es during the turmoil. The aim of thisapproach was to minimize the damagefor its customers. “We have a flexibleapproach that let us conduct cus-tomized analyses for every single com-pany. Together with our customers wehave set up a specific framework tosupport them during the crisis,” addedMirica.

Despite this, much like the wholemarket, OTP’s corporate loans’ volumeshrank in the first part of the year, dueto customers’ reluctance to borrow. Butthere is also good news: some corporatecustomers are becoming more interest-

ed in taking out a loan, because of theirincreased need for short-term financ-ing. “The volume of corporate loancontracts shrank by 5 percent in the firstsemester on the end of 2008. Since Au-gust-September the volume of loanshas stopped falling and we expect it toincrease in October,” said Mirica. Heexpects OTP’s corporate lending activ-ity to rise by 10 percent maximum inthe future on 2009’s estimated end ofyear balance. Moreover, “we will take aspecific approach rather than a generalone,” said Mirica. The lender will focusin the months to come mainly on com-panies that have managed the crisisprofessionally, optimized some busi-ness lines and adjusted investmentplans according to the current situation.

As for adapting its range of prod-ucts for companies to suit the currentcontext, OTP has changed both theirdistinctiveness and prices. “The pricingpolicy for loans, cash management andthe exchange rate is structured as a

package and closely linked with cus-tomers’ future estimations of their ac-tivity,” said Mirica.

Turning to the innovation on theRomanian corporate banking market,Mirica says that it depends both on thelocal market and on each bank’s ap-proach. “A product must address a spe-cific and tangible need. As customersare becoming more sophisticated,banks will meet their requirements. It’sclear that there is plenty of space to in-novate on the corporate banking seg-ment,” adds the banker.

Regarding the most importantshort-term strategic principles of thebank, Laszlo Diosi, general manager atOTP Bank Romania, says that they arestability, liquidity and profitability, inthat order. “We want to become a sig-nificant member of the top ten marketplayers in Romanian banking and fi-nance, in the next five years,” saysDiosi. He adds that the lender has de-cided to reach this objective either theorganic way or through acquisitions.But he specifies that a possible acquisi-tion “could happen when we find a suit-able and realistic target”.

CORPORATE CLIENTS FEEL THEPRESSURE

In the last five years the Romaniancorporate segment has developed asquickly as the local economy did. Thebanking system has become mature,consolidated and sophisticated. A sig-nificant downturn has taken place sincethe economic crash, and companieshave needed to adjust their strategies, inresponse to their slumped turnovers.But, as Mirica says, private companiesreacted promptly to the crisis, restruc-turing both their activity and businesslines, cutting costs, focusing on theirmost profitable business divisions andpaying more attention to business deci-sions. In fact, the worst affected compa-nies were the small and medium ones,while large organizations felt the crisisless acutely than small players.

But once companies became reluc-tant to borrow money it was too hard topredict a recovery for lending in Roma-nia. “The first green shoots in lendingdepend a lot on awareness of the short-and medium-term evolution. Compa-nies are being more cautious and think-ing twice before signing a loan contractor revolving credit,” says Mirica. Heexpects lending to bounce back in thesecond half of 2010, but not as the samelevels as those posted from 2005 and2008.

OTP banks on corporate customers and focuses on expansion

E X E C U T I V E B E A T


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Dana Ciuraru

When did you decide to invest ingreen energy in Romania?

Over the past one and a halfyears we have started to invest inenergy projects in Romania, be-cause until then we were very in-volved with other investments wehad made in the country. One area inwhich we invested heavily was thereal estate sector. For our invest-ments in the energy field we formedMentor Group Energy as part ofMentor Group Holdings, a consor-tium of companies based in Roma-nia, but with operations all overEastern Europe.

Mentor Group Energy has twomain areas of interest. One is to de-velop around EUR 300 million ofwind energy projects, in whichMentor Group Energy will be share-holder. The second is to roll out eco-logical projects. We have just start-ed the Eco-Verde program, which

supports both the public and the pri-vate sector in dealing with the prob-lem of waste.

In how many wind projects isMentor Group Energy involved atthe moment?

We have four projects in whichwe are involved, either in the acqui-sition process or in a joint venturewith other investors. We have proj-ects worth EUR 250-300 million,meaning more than 100 MW. Cur-rently, we are in line for turbines atsome German companies.

There are no small projects inwind energy, like in real estate. Theminimum investment is betweenEUR 5 million and EUR 6 million,because to make 2-3 MW, every tur-bine costs between EUR 1 millionand EUR 2.5 million, depending onthe specifics.

Where do you get the financingfrom?

There is a lot of money on the

market. We have agreements withinvestment funds and banks and wealso have access to syndicatedloans. Recently, we were in a meet-ing with a client and he said thatbanks are not lending money duringthis period, which is actually wrong.All the banks have money to invest,but they need to have the securitythat they will get the money back,meaning that every project needs tobe realistic.

We have unlimited financial re-sources to put into such projects, ifthey are feasible. For instance, wehave an agreement with a fundwhich is willing to invest in wind energy in Romania, but only in projects of over EUR 100million.

What main issues do you facewhen completing a wind energyproject?

Many project owners have ap-proached us and want to be involvedin the green energy business.

Blowing in the wind, an investment opportunity in hard timesMany of them have a good location,but to make a wind farm from this point is a protracted process and usually they do not even haveall the permits from the local au-thorities.

One major problem we have todeal with is that most of the windenergy projects currently on themarket are not feasible. There are nomore than 15 projects in Romania atthe moment. Other key issues arethe limited capacity of the grid andthe legal issues we have to face. Asfar as small wind farm projects areconcerned, the people with feasibleprojects don’t usually have anymoney.

Is waste management a businessopportunity in Romania?

We launched the EcoVerde pro-gram, which deals with solid waste,three months ago. The municipali-ties have a huge problem managinglarge waste capacities. Currently,they are dumping this waste infields, but this is now forbidden byEuropean law. Through the programwe provide special machinery tomunicipalities which converts wasteto energy, thus creating a newsource of money for them.

How significant is the invest-ment in this type of technology?

Currently, we are in the finalstage with five small-medium townhalls. For one town hall we will getfinancial approval very soon and wewill be starting negotiations withtwo big town halls. The cost, givingas an example a town of about12,000-15,000 people, reaches EUR7-8 million for the entire technologyrequired to produce energy fromwaste. There is huge demand forthis program. We have also extend-ed this program to the medical andanimal fields.

Mentor Group Energy providesup to 100 percent financing forwhoever is participating in the proj-ect, which is one of the main rea-sons the government is showing somuch enthusiasm. Every town hallnow wants to get involved in thisproject and given their balancesheets we can say that in 95 percentof the cases we can grant financing.The decision depends on how keenthe town is to participate in the pro-gram.

[email protected]

Wind energy and waste

management are the two El Dorado

areas which could provide business

opportunities in Romania, say

market players. ALON PELED,

president of Mentor Group

Holdings, told BR that his firm was

currently assessing around EUR 300

million of wind energy projects, and

could provide municipalities and the

medical sector with technology to

transform waste to energy.

F O C U S


Several street infrastructure works are clogging up Bucharest these days,

some of which have been commissioned to foreign construction companies.

Business Review looks at some of the ongoing projects, their builders and

the status of the works.

High costs: the Basarab flyover project is likely to come in at EUR 10 million over budget

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The Basarab flyover will link Grozavesti and Nicolae Titulescu boulevards

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The Baneasa passage is being built by Portuguese company Lena

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Finished earlier than expected, the Unirea passage is an anomaly on the market

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Corina Saceanu

With infrastructure being one ofRomania’s investment priorities, itis no wonder several infrastructureworks projects are being carried outin Bucharest at the same time. Somehave been started recently whileothers go back several years, havingmet various obstacles along theway. These construction sites maykeep drivers sitting longer than everin Bucharest’s traffic jams, but theyoffer a ray of hope to constructioncompanies, which are no longerbenefiting from the real estateboom. The state has announcedEUR 10 billion of investments in in-frastructure, and some of this mon-ey should go to the constructioncompanies that win the tenders.

The BASARAB FLYOVER isone of the projects whose start datesback a long way, exactly three yearsto be precise. It has met oppositionfrom non-governmental organiza-

tions which contested the expropria-tions needed to build the flyover. Iteven saw construction halted for ashort period after a group of NGOswent to court and won, but it re-started with a government ordi-nance.

The project is being built in part-nership by construction companiesAstaldi of Italy and FCC Constru-cion, which won the tender.

The 2-kilometer long flyover,which is intended to ease the trafficaround the North Railway Stationarea and connect Grozavesti andNicolae Titulescu boulevards, wasinitially to have required just overEUR 100 million in investment. Thesum has increased due to slightchanges in the project and to moreexpensive construction materials,according to the municipality, andshould now come in at around EUR110 million.

In May this year, one third of theworks for the flyover had been com-pleted, and it should be ready by the

BUCHAREST – THE INFRASTRUCTURE CONSTRUCTION SITE

F O C U S


The Lipscani district has been undergoing renovation works for three years

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end of next year, say its construc-tors.

ASTALDI expects a EUR 100million turnover from Romania thisyear, out of total group revenues ofEUR 1.5 billion. The company isworking on the Bucharest-Constan-ta highway project, and is also in-volved in the Spaiul Unirii works,improvements at Otopeni airport, aswell as the Lia Manoliu stadiumproject.

FCC holds a portfolio of proj-ects of over EUR 200 million in Ro-mania, such as the Cernavoda-Con-stanta and Comarnic-Brasov high-ways and the North Bucharest by-pass, the Cluj-Livada and the Liva-da-Dej portions of the road. Thecompany was planning to reachEUR 150 million in turnover in Ro-mania by 2010. FCC is also in-volved in the Vidin-Calafat bridgeover the Danube.

The UNIREA PASSAGE wasrenovated in record time, withworks having started on June 30, bya local company called Drum Art. Itshould have taken four months butwas completed at the beginning ofthis month. Two other passages willalso be renovated: Lujerului andVictoriei, both busy areas ofBucharest.

DRUM ART is controlled byconstruction company CCCF, whichlast year started a restructuringprocess, after being taken over byWagma Holdings, a company con-trolled by Romanian businessmanHoria Simu.

The BANEASA PASSAGE isbeing built by Portuguese construc-tion company Lena. Works startedtwo years ago and are now 75 per-cent completed. The project willcost the state budget EUR 13 mil-lion. The underground passage willbe 870 meters long and should easetraffic congestion at the Baneasaairport intersection.

Portuguese LENA CONSTRU-COES has been working on theBaneasa flyover and undergroundpassage in Romania, as well as onseveral road works in Bucharest.The company started operating inRomania in 2004 and was expectinga EUR 30 million turnover in 2007.

Works in the old part of thetown, the LIPSCANI AREA, startedthree years ago. The project wascommissioned to SEDESA CON-STRUCTION, which is to revamp14 streets in the old part of

Bucharest, of which only some havebeen finished so far. According toSedesa, three quarters of the worksare done. The project has been heldup several times during this perioddue to lack of payments from themunicipality, while in its turn themunicipality says the contractorwas behind schedule.

The entire contract is worthEUR 26.9 million. Works should becompleted by July 2010, with a pre-vious deadline set for the end ofSeptember this year. [email protected]

T A L E N T


The current economic turbulence has

hit all real estate players so violently

that they have had to adjust their

strategies. Ion Turcu has found one

way to leapfrog the crisis: he is

trying to save the EUR 9.5 million of

investment in residential compound

Stupinii Noi by including the

remaining buildings in a tourist

complex in Brasov County.

Ion Turcu has applied some lateral thinking to escape the fallout of the financial crisis

Anda Dragan

A young and inexperienced en-trepreneur who decides to set up hisown business gains managementexperience in time, step by step. Ashe matures, he needs to learn thedifference between a manager andan entrepreneur. But when you haveplenty of management knowledgeand start a business from scratch,the chances of succeeding are muchhigher. Plus, you know how to reactin times of crisis.

Ion Turcu, the developer of theresidential compound Stupinii Noiin Brasov, is one of the businesspeo-ple who have worked out how toturn the current crisis to their ownadvantage.

His first foray into the businessworld took place back in 1991.Since then, he has run many busi-nesses from different fields such asfood, tourism and plastics. NeslandBrasov (specialized in the distribu-tion and sale of food industry equip-ment), Camro (tourism and hiringself-locations), Moulding PaintingRom (small plastic mouldings forexport), Agrovit (vinegar producerbut with leasing as its main activityat present) and Bressan (real estateactivities) are among the companiesin which Turcu is currently involvedas shareholder or business partner.

How did the residential com-pound building take shape? “As a

result of a great cooperation withone of my Italian business partners,who is experienced in real estate,we decided to start building a resi-dential compound in Brasov,” re-members Turcu. He adds that thedecision to get involved in the busi-ness was not a difficult one, due tohis ongoing experience in the con-struction industry.

“Since I started out in business Ihave been involved in building andsetting up different locations for myown businesses, including the Nes-land office building and Vila Daria,which we own in Poiana Brasov,”says Turcu.

It’s obvious that the financialsupport offered by the Italian busi-ness partner in this project has beenone of the most important elementsin running the Stupinii Noi project.Starting to build the residentialcompound did not require a vision-ary approach, Turcu says. Likemany other Romanian businesspeo-ple involved in real estate projectsin recent years, the entrepreneur de-

cided to invest in a residential com-pound building because of the high-er yields, lack of both new and oldavailable homes and the mirage offuture real estate market develop-ment.

But personal factors were also atplay. “I think that the most powerfulthought behind the idea was to havemy own house in a residential com-pound too,” says Turcu. The dreamcame true: the businessman alsobuilt a house for his family, intowhich they will move in the near fu-ture. The 51-villa project was devel-oped with a EUR 9.5 million invest-ment.

It is no secret that the Romanianreal estate segment has been badlyhit by the crisis.

Real estate transactions havesimply frozen due to the combinedearnings of the population shrink-ing, tighter lending conditions andjob insecurity. As a consequence,just 15 villas at Stupinii Noi havebeen sold so far.

But rather than throw in the tow-

el, Turcu has torn up the old planand gone back to the drawing board.He has included the 36 remaininghouses in a tourist circuit of BrasovCounty, as part of a residentialtourism project. “We did this tovault the crisis and to rake in somemoney when nothing is selling. Be-sides, we had noticed increased de-mand for renting holiday homes,”adds Turcu.

The businessman expects 100percent occupancy for his 36 villasover the winter and up to 50 percentfor the rest of the year.

“Judging by the current localeconomic situation, it likely that wewill recoup the investment 10 yearsfrom now,” says Turcu. The residen-tial tourism project targets familieswith children or pets who are seek-ing self-catering holiday accommo-dation. The cost per night dependson the available space in eachhouse, ranging from EUR 90 for a150-sqm villa to EUR 140 for a215-sqm place.

As for the most difficult momentsince the beginning of the project,Turcu says that the frozen real estatemarket combined with increasedcosts of borrowing made him realizethat he had to find a way out of thewoods. However, he says there is noplace for regret in his business – andthere never will be. “It’s muchworse not to come to a decisionrather than make the wrong one. Itcould cost you much more.” If hestarted another business fromscratch, he would probably be morecautious and tenacious. On top ofthat, he would try to whittle awayeverything he couldn’t anticipatefrom the very beginning.

As for the future, Turcu intendsto extend the residential tourismconcept nationwide, targeting othercities.

“The real estate segment is notan investment opportunity, at leastfor the moment. But I expect thingsto be better in the next two years,”predicts Turcu.

REAL ESTATE PROJECT GETS TOURIST TWIST

é Total investment in the project (estimated): EUR 9.5 million

é Total numbers of houses: 51

é Sold houses: 15

Residential compound StupiniiNoi, Brasov

B I G F O U R


Mark Gibbins, the new head of tax

at KPMG Romania, has many

objectives on his agenda. One of

them is to focus, with his team, on

meeting the new needs of the

company’s customers. Meanwhile his

predecessor, Patrick Leonard, casts

an eye back over how the firm has

changed during his tenure.

Anda Dragan

The beginning of October broughtsome changes for KPMG Romania’smanagement. The company has appoint-ed Mark Gibbins as its head of tax, witheffect from October 1, replacing PatrickLeonard. Gibbins built a career at onecompany, staying loyal to the samebrand for a very long time.

“I have been with KPMG since be-fore it was KPMG,” says Gibbins. Hejoined Peat Marwick in 1980, after grad-uating from university, and in 1987 thefirm merged with Klynveld Goerdeler.

“My path through KPMG com-menced in London and took me to sev-eral locations in the UK. I then workedfor KPMG Portugal and more recentlyKPMG Slovakia, which included re-gional roles for the firm in Central andEastern Europe,” adds Gibbins. He con-siders himself fortunate to have been inSlovakia during a period of rapidchanges in the business environment,and expects to see similar fast changes inRomania.

His experience in different culturesand business environments has affordedhim an insight into the Central and East-ern European region, which shouldstand him in good stead for his stint here.Moreover, Gibbins says he is a real fanof Romania, which means that workinghere is both a pleasure and a step for-ward in his career.

“I’ve had a fascination with Roma-nia ever since I visited as a tourist a fewyears ago. When I heard that Patrick wastaking the next step in his career, thisseemed like the ideal opportunity forme,” says Gibbins.

But there are also a lot of profession-al challenges for the new head of tax atKPMG Romania, one of them being thecrisis. “This is a particularly tough timefor many businesses, so we need to beespecially focused on what customerswant. In this rapidly evolving market weneed more than ever to work hard tomeet new needs from customers,” saysGibbins. But he admits that he has a bigadvantage: he is lucky to be taking overa department that has been well man-aged by his predecessor.

He also emphasizes the importanceof teamwork, especially now, whenclients need more attention from theirconsultants. “We value continuity, be-cause we understand that a customerbuilds relationships with particular peo-ple. At the same time we are flexible andwe can modify the structure of a team asthe customer’s needs change, or if heneeds new services,” he adds.

As for the future of financial consul-tancy and auditing in Romania over thenext few years, Gibbins expects corpo-rate governance to be a growing issue inRomania, and so the professions maywell develop to take account of this.

ONE IN, ONE OUTThe departing head of tax, Patrick

Leonard, joined KPMG in Romanianine years ago. It was a time when bothRomania and KPMG were very differ-ent, he remembers. “For Romania, EUaccession was a distant prospect, andthere were many who thought it wouldnever happen. KPMG operated from amuch smaller office than we have now,

and we did not have a separate tax de-partment – it was tax and legal backthen,” says Leonard.

Today, the firm’s tax department hasover 100 specialists, operating from theBucharest office, and also from branch-es in Timisoara, Iasi, Cluj, Constantaand Chisinau.

“I have had a very exciting timehere, because the department has grownso fast, and I’ve had to be constantly on

KPMG changes tax head, sees growing importance of corporate governancethe alert to identify new client needs, andwork out on how we could develop newservices to meet them,” says Leonard.He adds that the most satisfying part ofhis time here has been seeing how staffmembers that were at junior levels whenhe started have developed and are nowat the highest levels in the company.

As for the challenges he has faced,he says that the biggest one has been toadapt to a rapidly changing market andlegislation. As Romania moved towardsEU accession and beyond, KPMG hadto assist its clients with some very com-plex issues.

“For example, EU accession meantmajor changes to VAT, to comply withSingle Market rules. There have alsobeen some non-EU related changeswhich have had a major impact on ourclients, such as the introduction of theflat tax for corporate and personal in-come in 2005,” explains Leonard.

Of his professional future, the for-mer KPMG head of tax says he has de-cided to take a brief period of time out toreview his career options. “There aremany opportunities out there, and I amlooking at them all very carefully,” hesays.

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Mark Gibbins’ fondness for Romania means hisnew position is a pleasure and a career move

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Patrick Leonard is leaving KPMG after nineyears in his position in Romania


Specialized companies cover 60 percent of the local facility management market

Property management makesup EUR 160 mln local market

The local subsidiary of construc-tion company Synergy Construct hassigned EUR 45 million of new con-tracts this year, but, all in all, the com-pany’s revenues will be around 20 per-cent lower than in 2008. Synergy Con-struct had foreseen this at the begin-ning of the year, Mehmet Bicer, busi-ness development manager at the com-pany, told Business Review.

“Synergy had expected an increasein the market by the middle of thisyear. It is obvious that this forecast wasnot realized. The financial crisis is con-tinuing and an emergence from it be-

Synergy Construct signs EUR45 mln in new contracts

The office segment of the localreal estate market has seen littlemovement this year, but increasingsub-leasing activity. “The growth inavailable office areas has been fueledby the development of the sub-leasemarket. The drop in the activity oftenants that have pre-leased areasover 1,000 sqm based on expecta-tions of expanding their business hasgenerated supply of sub-leases,”writes BNP Paribas in a recent officemarket report.

Relocations were the main sourceof revenues on the office leasing seg-ment, with most of the demand com-ing from small and medium compa-nies active in business consultancy,IT and private medical services, pub-lic institutions and utilities providers.These companies currently occupyclass B offices. Potential tenants are

looking for completed rather thanunder construction office space, es-pecially as ongoing projects do nothave other signed pre-leases.

Finished offices made up a 17percent smaller area in the first halfof the year than in the same period of2008, due to the several months ofdelay suffered by projects whichshould have been delivered duringthis period. Bucharest office stockhas reached 2.1 million sqm of builtarea. Of the office space finished inthe first half of the year, only 40 per-cent is actually occupied.

Rents fell by 15 percent in thefirst half of this year in all types ofoffice buildings, with the averagerents for class A downtown officesdropping to around EUR 18 to EUR20 per sqm per month.

Corina Saceanu

Stalled office market fuels sub-leasing

Danish furniture retailer BoCon-cept, which has recently opened anew store in Iasi inside Era Shop-ping Park, expects to reach a EUR 2million turnover in Romania thisyear. The retailer is operating in thecountry through a franchise ownedby BD Furniture, which plans tobring another Danish retail fran-chise, Flexa, by year-end.

BoConcept invested EUR300,000 in the store in Iasi, whichcovers 640 sqm.

The retailer opened units inBucharest in 2006 and in Sibiu inDecember last year. In August thisyear it started a logistics project,which supplies the three stores inthe country.

Corina Saceanu

BD Furniture opens new BoConceptstore, plans to bring Flexa brand

P R O P E R T Y

Property and facility manage-ment companies in Romania madeup a EUR 160 million market lastyear, based on estimated turnovers,according to the recently establishedRomanian Association of FacilityManagement (ROFMA). There are689 companies registered in Roma-nia as building administrators, but30 of those control 82 percent of themarket, according to ROFMA.Some 339 of the firms operate inBucharest. Out of the EUR 160 mil-

lion local facility management mar-ket, some EUR 70 million is cov-ered by specialized companieswhich offer outsourced services. Byway of comparison, in the EuropeanUnion this market makes up someEUR 440 million, with 60 percentcovered by specialized companies.

ROFMA was founded in Roma-nia by Archibus, BSS, MT&T, ISS,Drees & Sommer, Coral Constructand CB Richard Ellis.

Corina Saceanu

Mehmet Bicer, business development managerwith Synergy Construct

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fore mid-2010 does not seem feasible,”said Bicer.

Workload wise, Synergy’s activityhas fallen by around 30 percent. How-ever, the company has several ongoingprojects, such as a factory in Urlati,Prahova, desulphurization plant civilworks at Turceni-Gorj for Austrian En-ergy & Environment (AE&E), theRose Garden residential project forGTC and Grigore Alexandrescu officeproject in Bucharest for Ester AutoCenter. “Two Synergy investment proj-ects have been put on hold due to thereal estate downturn, one in Bucharestand the other in Iasi,” added Bicer.

So far, Synergy has encountereddelays and non-payment from only oneproject which was signed several yearsago and completed at the beginning of2009. However, “despite all the effortsand postponements, there have beenlay-offs. The operational costs havebeen minimized by cost-saving meth-ods such as restructuring the organiza-tion of the company, outsourcing someactivities and moving the headquartersof the group companies to one build-ing,” said Bicer. “Due to market condi-tions, the number of employees at Syn-ergy has dropped by around 25 per-cent.”

Corina Saceanu

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P R O P E R T Y

New Yorker to open 1,000-sqmstore in Suceava Shopping City

Local furniture producer and re-tailer Mobexpert has opened itstenth large store in Romania, in Iasi,following an investment of EUR 2million.

The store covers 7,000 sqm in-side Era Shopping Park Iasi. Theopening was included in the secondexpansion stage of Mobexpert’s net-

Mobexpert puts EUR 2 mln into Iasi store

D O A M -NA GHICAPLAZA is ares ident ia lc o m p o u n dconsisting of9 blocks,with 616apartments,from studios

to 4 rooms. With a height ranging be-tween 4 and 24 floors, it is among thehighest residential projects in the capi-tal.

All apartments in the complex arecompleted, so you can move in imme-diately and you will not have to live in adusty and noisy construction site, but ina welcoming, quiet and clean neigh-bourhood.

Doamna Ghica Plaza is located on19, Ziduri intre Vii Street, only 2 kmfrom Calea Mosilor, 4,5 km from PiataUniversitatii, 1,5 km from Lacul Tei, in acentral area beneficiating of kinder gar-dens, schools, markets, parks and lakes(Colentina, Fundeni and Pantelimon).

Here are some of the many facili-

ties you will enjoy: utilities have alreadybeen contracted, grey, aluminium car-pentry, granite interior jambs, air con-ditioners already installed, sanitary ob-jects made of porcelain, first qualitylaminate flooring in bedrooms and liv-ing rooms, bathrooms, kitchens, hall-ways and balconies covered with Aba-co, mio Cid, or Dallas tiles.

At Doamna Ghica Plaza you havethe opportunity to see any apartmentfinished. In addition, two model apart-ments with 2 and 3 rooms located inblock I are completely finished and fur-nished and can be visited anytime.

Regarding the financing modalities,we can help you with a preferentialmortgage, only 15% advance, a creditperiod no longer than 35 years, benefi-cial interest and no fees!

Upper floors have an exquisite viewthat few blocks in Bucharest can offer!And this is a view that you will enjoyevery morning while drinking your cof-fee in your new home from DoamnaGhica Plaza!

Telephone: 031 425 13 57, 59,60, 61; www.doamnaghicaplaza.ro

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DOAMNA GHICA PLAZA – A PROJECT OF NOBLE DESCENT

German fashion retailer NewYorker has leased 1,000 sqm inSuceava Shopping City, where it willopen a new store in December thisyear, Cushman & Wakefield, theagent for the project, has announced.New Yorker opened its first stores inRomania in 2007, in Cluj-Napocaand Sibiu, and followed those upwith shops in Targu Mures, Bacau,Oradea, Braila and Bucharest.

The retailer now runs sevenstores totaling some 6,000 sqm of re-tail space.

Suceava Shopping City openedits doors in April last year and covers47,000 sqm of leasable area. Theshopping center is owned by ArgoCapital Management Property Limit-ed.

The project required an invest-ment of EUR 65 million. It hosts ten-ants such as Carrefour, with 12,000sqm, Mobexpert (5,700 sqm), MediaGalaxy (2,000 sqm) and Baumax(13,500 sqm). The retail park attract-ed 250,000 visitors a month in thefirst half of this year.

Suceava is one of the mostcrowded cities in terms of retail de-velopments. It is number one basedon the density of retail space perthousand inhabitants, with 1,152 sqmin GLA, according to Razvan Gheo-rghe, general manager of Cushman& Wakefield.

New Yorker runs 690 stores in 25countries in Europe and the MiddleEast.

Corina Saceanu

The store covers 7,000 sqm

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work in Romania, which is part ofthe company’s regional brand con-solidation strategy.

The retailer will continue expan-sion in the coming years, both inRomania and regionally, accordingto representatives.

Mobexpert had previouslyopened similar sized stores inSuceava, Pitesti and Sibiu. The re-tailer runs two types of outlets – hy-perstores and shops for home furni-ture and decorations under the Mob-expert brand and office furniture un-der the Mobexpert Office brand. Ithas reached a 34-store network inRomania, with nine hyperstores inBucharest, Brasov, Suceava, Pitesti,Sibiu and Iasi, and 23 smaller shopsacross the country. It also runs alarge store in Sofia, Bulgaria, whichwas opened in 2007.

The Mobexpert group was set upin 1993 by Dan and Camelia Sucu.It now has 3,000 staff and includes10 retail companies, eight furniturefactories, six import companies andthree firms providing services. Thegroup posted EUR 169 million inturnover last year.

Corina Saceanu

C S R


Last year the corporate socialresponsibility market was evaluatedat EUR 30 million. This year, expertsare in the dark when it comes toforwarding a figure, since thisdomain neither has hard and fastrules on how companies budget theirCSR, nor is it sufficientlytransparent. While Romania isbehind other countries in the CEEregion regarding the volumes of CSRbudgets, mentalities, and ultimatelyin the consistency of the campaigns,the recession only makes thingsworse as the private sector hasslashed its CSR budgets hitting thenumber and quality of the programsthat NGOs roll out. Green shoots: NGOs are hopefully awaiting the end of the recession so firms will start giving again

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Otilia Haraga

The impact of the recession onthe budgets for CSR? “Like winter’simpact on water! Frozen!” says Lu-minita Oprea, communication man-ager at Holcim Romania andfounder of the International CSRConference that takes place inBucharest. “The wave of negativenews from the press and especiallythat transmitted by word of mouth,much more than the undergroundnews during Ceausescu’s time,caused panic and decisions weremade under the empire of fear.”

This year, things proceeded on acase-by-case basis. Some continuedtheir strategies and went on invest-ing, others reduced them and stillothers stopped them altogether. “Itwas the same phenomenon as inmarketing, where everybody saidlast year that it was impossible formarketing budgets to shrink drasti-cally, but, surprise! In the first halfof the year, at least, marketing budg-ets nosedived full throttle towardszero!” says Sergiu Sebesi, inde-pendent consultant.

An extensively applied measureto bear the brunt of the crisis was toslash the budgets of everything fromthe communication mix: imagecampaigns, marketing, PR, and lastbut not least, CSR. Companies ei-ther reduced the sums dedicated tothese types of activities or axedthem altogether.

Florian Beranek, senior partnerat The CSR Company, says it is in-teresting to notice that on the onehand markets are talking about lackof confidence but on the other handinvestments in confidence-raisingare decreasing – mainly in small andmedium-size enterprises. Multina-tionals may have reduced some ex-penses in the field of CSR (mostlysponsorships and charity) but havehung onto their core CSR strategiesand programmes. “Companies thatstill consider CSR something that is‘nice’ to do have all cut their pro-grammes by 40-50 percent. The oth-ers are aware of the importance ofenforcing their reputation and credi-bility and are cutting back as little aspossible (focusing on employee andclient engagement),” says Beranek.

Romania, where CSR is still a

new practice, is some distance be-hind other countries with a traditionin the field.

“Romanian companies lag be-hind other CEE countries likePoland and Hungary in standardizedreporting, transparency, use of stan-dards and labels and good gover-nance issues. However the top Ro-manian companies, multinationalsand local as well, are catching upfast,” says Robert Braun, managingdirector of Braun & Partners Net-work, a business-focused CSR con-sultancy. “I am sure the gap will be-come smaller and smaller and therewill be a lot of pressure and inputfrom regional or global headquar-ters as well, as we’re seeing in sev-eral cases already.”

While in Romania, the best casescenario means tens or hundreds ofthousands of euro, and only sporad-ically millions of euro, in othercountries where CSR is a maturepractice, spending millions of euroon CSR is common, says Sebesi. Inother countries, the CSR budget ofmultinationals reaches from USD200-300 million a year.

“The main gap is the under-

standing gap,” says LuminitaOprea. There are two typical re-sponses. The first is the answer: “Idon’t need that! I need to makemoney not give it away.” The sec-ond is when companies understandthe need for CSR. Here, also, thereare various issues such as lack ofstrategy or “the butterfly tactic,”which means doing too many thingsat once.

Apart from the money, consis-tency is an equally important aspect.Those who “apply the technique butthen fly from flower to flower”, dis-sipating their efforts by trying tocover as many areas as possible, runthe risk of being everywhere andnowhere.

“It is essential to understand thatnot only is the icing on the cake im-portant but the actual layers, thestructure of resistance. And this istranslated through an extremelyclear CSR policy, specific proce-dures, a strategy connected to sup-porting business objectives, instru-ments dedicated to evaluating aproject, both in the beginning and atthe end. If all these elements arelacking entirely, the icing on thecake will fall because there is noth-ing to support it,” says Oprea.

“If the compass that indicatesthe direction were always to followwhat happens on the market, itwould mean you would never reachyour destination. Once you havechosen your direction, just stay fo-cused on it. You must be consistent;otherwise you will not have a har-vest of apples, but will pick up anapple, a pear, two quinces and threeplums, metaphorically speaking.”

Generally, unsuitable strategiesare those that are based on ideas andvalues that are far removed fromyour core business, says Braun.“Banks should deal with issues offinancial literacy, energy companieswith sustainability and protection ofthe environment, beverage compa-nies with issues related to scarce re-sources, especially water,” saysBraun.

He says a typical mistake is notto involve your stakeholders inwhatever you do, especially your in-ner stakeholders, the employees.“Some companies will donate mon-ey to a good cause and do nothingafterwards. Long-term, strategicorientation and stakeholder commu-nication is key,” he explains. The

CSR fights to keep its piece of the pie in lean times

C S R


“We are optimistic for our children's future!”

We have built nine playgrounds for children, in nine cities in Romania.

A social project developed by real,- Hypermarket, Metro AG

Representative Office, Metro Cash&Carry and the local authorities.

Baia Mare

Bra[ov

Cluj

Constan]a

Craiova

Gala]i

Oradea

Sibiu

Timi[oara

budget should not stop at donationsor sponsorship but incorporatemany things: health and safety, rep-utation management, employertraining and loyalty programs etc,he says.

Most often, decisions that con-cern CSR budgets are made at thehighest level, and the top manage-ment in Romania does not have aword to say in the matter.

The big decision is made at thelevel of the region or headquarters,in which case it is probable that theinitial calculations do not match thereality in the field.

“While the adjustments aremade at a higher level, the Roman-ian branch acts according to theprinciple: ‘an order is an order’.That being said, it is up to the visionof those who are at the top of thepyramid in the company whetherthey make CSR a one-way street(going forwards) or against theflow,” says Oprea.

Romania is not going throughthe normal stages that other coun-tries went through. “Romania is outof time and it is transitioning rapid-ly; it does not have time to learn les-sons because we have entered theEuropean Union and we have toproduce results, not folklore!” saysOprea. She believes the launch ofthe CSR quality standard ISO 26000next year will accelerate things abit. “I mean just a bit: as it is notcompulsory (at first sight), the Ro-manian mentality will rear its uglyhead again,” she warns.

Unfortunately, there are manycompanies which promote projectsas CSR when they are nothing of thekind. More specifically, for manyCSR equals PR, and that can domore harm than good.

“This affects the market and es-pecially consumers. I, as a con-sumer of CSR, as a beneficiary, Iperceive it as PR all the way, al-though there are many positive ex-ceptions. It will take a while untilthis changes,” says Sebesi. For thisto happen, companies first need toidentify real needs and not make im-age campaigns out of CSR. Next,they need to learn to stop seeingCSR as something trendy. “CSR isnot a fashion; it is a way to return tothe community the revenues that itbrings to a company. And for the re-cipients, such as NGOs and theirbeneficiaries, they are a means ofsubsistence,” says Sebesi.

“What companies do, in fact, isto enumerate projects that they haveor will roll out but not their impact.

For example: after project X wasimplemented, Y number of peoplebenefited from it and we wish to ex-pand the project to other cities suchas A,B,C...” Sebesi concludes thatwhether they appear in the media ortake part in events, companies prac-tically do hidden publicity under theumbrella of presenting strategies.

However, the Romanian con-sumer does not stay loyal to a brandas much as people from more devel-oped countries. “Middle-class con-sumers, which in Romania meansthose with high and very high in-

comes, will always be loyal becausethey can afford to consume brands.On the other hand, a consumer whois price-sensitive will never be loyalto the same brands. They move fromone brand to another depending onwhich is cheapest,” says Sebesi.

Still, for those who do CSR cor-rectly, its advantages can go bothways and benefit the company inthis period. While the communitygains from a company’s CSR ef-forts, the company itself can do thesame. Oprea says CSR can help acompany retain its good employees,

retain clients and suppliers – whichis vital during troubled times – aswell as (if investments are made)earn itself the reputation of “beingresponsible” in the minds of theconsumer, benefiting positioning.With a sum that is considerablysmaller, you can in times of crisisobtain what in times of peace costsalmost five times as much.

Beranek says that a companywhich has organized and structuredemployee engagement programs(like health and safety, training, vol-unteering, etc.) will face less diffi-

C S R


culty in convincing its workers totolerate normally unpopular meas-ures (temporary salary cuts, unpaidleave and so on). “They love theircompany, they are proud of it and sothey will fight for the company andtheir workplace,” says Beranek.

Typically, medium-sized compa-nies spend EUR 25,000-EUR100,000 on CSR projects. Compa-nies that have already included CSRin their budgets for a number ofyears and are visible spend betweenEUR 200,000 and EUR 400,000.Players in highly-polluting indus-tries splash out much more thanthat: about EUR 1-2 million.

The NGOs in Romania thatcompanies can form partnershipswith have very high operationalcosts and low efficiency. “I wouldbe very attentive whom I allied my-self with,” says Sebesi. “I for onewould invest in projects or NGOsthat will become sustainable intime. Gone are the days when we in-vested USD 40,000 to clean a parkover a weekend and the other 362days of the year it was dirty. Now,with this sum, with a good projectmanager, you can keep the parkclean for the entire year,” says Sebe-si.

NGOS SPEND LESS CASH ANDRECONSIDER PROJECTS

The NGOs surveyed by Busi-ness Review unanimously reportedthat the cash they got from compa-nies, who are very important con-tributors, had slumped, by around20 to 50 percent.

In the first nine months of 2009,the “quantum of solace” that Savethe Children will give to beneficiar-ies of its projects will decrease,since companies donated 26 percentless money. “However, by the endof the year, we believe we will reachthe level of sponsorship we had in2008. We hope that in October-No-vember we will finalize several con-tracts with some very importantcompanies,” says Gabriela Alexan-drescu, executive president of Savethe Children Romania.

If the contributions from the pri-vate sector are not enough to meetthe value of the projects that the as-sociation needs to implement, Savethe Children will seek external fi-nancing, from international donorsand directly from the EuropeanCommission. “The in-flow of Euro-pean funds into Romania – we meanthe post-integration structural funds– come with great delays and evenendanger the financial balance of

NGOs and, we believe, the balanceof local authorities,” says Alexan-drescu.

Environmental NGO Mai-MultVerde is also considering theoption of applying for Europeanfunds if contributions from compa-nies stall. “These funds, for variousoperational programs, are large andaccessible to NGOs. Also, individ-ual donations represent a solution,but in Romania, the sums from indi-vidual donations are small and can-not finance the activity of an organ-ization entirely,” says AnamariaBogdan, communication manager atMaiMultVerde.

So far this year, MaiMultVerdehas had to settle for only half ofwhat it received from private com-panies in 2008. “In 2010 we will beat the mercy of the crisis, so it is dif-ficult for us to predict what willhappen. The crisis does not seem tobe nearing an end, so it is highlylikely that at least in the first part ofthe year, companies will be cautiousin allotting budgets, given that thefunds for CSR are in direct relationwith estimated turnover and profit,according to the law of sponsorshipwhich allows the deduction of thesesums, up to a certain quantum, fromprofit tax,” says Bogdan. The organ-ization has several traditional spon-sors and believes the number ofdonors, companies or individuals,will remain stable, and will even in-crease again in 2010.

“Compared with last year, in2009 contributions to United Wayhave taken a turn for the worse byapproximately 20 percent,” saysVeronica Guzun, resource develop-ment manager and PR at United

Way Romania. At the beginning ofeach year, United Way draws up alist of projects for which it strives toraise funds. After the end of the col-lection campaign, the organizationdecides how to deploy these fundswith representatives of the compa-nies involved. “In the best case sce-nario, we can support all the proj-ects we chose at the beginning ofthe year. If funds are short, we resortto reducing the budget, and depend-ing on the urgency of the project, wemay even regretfully give up onsome of them,” says Guzun.

BIG SPENDERS SHARE THEIRVIEW OF CSR

Overall, it is generally agreedboth that the recession has taken aheavy toll on CSR budgets and thatthe practice is indispensable. Also,CSR should not be influenced bythe context – in this case the reces-sion – as it is considered a continu-ous process with long-term gains.

“Since the funds allocated toCSR projects are in direct connec-tion to the level of profit of eachcompany, it is obvious that the gen-erally inauspicious situation hasnegatively influenced the CSRbudgets this year. This was also thecase for us, but we have made ef-forts to continue the collaborationand keep long-term projects and wehave got involved, not only finan-cially, in new ones,’ says Anca Nu-ta, interim communication managerat UniCredit Tiriac Bank. In 2009,the bank’s CSR budget amounted toEUR 600,000 while in 2008, thevalue of the projects surpassed EUR800,000.

“Most of the projects traditional-

Save the Childrené 2009 projects: educational inte-

gration of children from poorfamilies, prevention of violenceagainst children

é 2009: 26 percent less moneyfrom companies in first 9months

é Expected budget in 2009: EUR3.3 million

é 2010 budget plan: EUR 3.6 mil-lion

é Contributors: 50 companies,6,000 members and 2,000 indi-vidual donors

é Mix of funds: 30 percent offunds come from companies;8 percent from individual donors

MaiMultVerdeé 2009 projects: Recycle, Raft,

Race, Verdis, Viata dupacolectare, Romania prinderadacini, Cicloteque

é 2009 budget: EUR 529,941 forfirst 9 months

é 2008 budget: double this sumé Contributors: 11 private compa-

niesé Mix of funds: 99 percent of

funds came from companiesé Less than 1 percent of funds

came from individual donationsand 2 percent from taxes perrevenue paid by the public

United Way é 2009 projects: 24 projects in ed-

ucation, healthcare and econom-ic and social integration

é Two new offices, opened inCluj-Napoca and Timisoara thisyear

é 2009 budget: 20 percent lessmoney in 2009

é 2008 budget: RON 2.5 million é 2010 estimations: 15-20 percent

decrease in contributions fromcompanies

é Contributors: 41 partner compa-nies, 2,200 individual donors

é Mix of funds: 64 percent offunds come from companies

é 21 percent from individualdonors

é 15 percent of funds come frominternational organizations

é Beneficiaries: 6,500 people

Education is a good destination for CSR efforts in times of crisis, say experts

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C S R


ly had a substantial component ofvolunteering or involved alternativeforms of fundraising, so we havemanaged to continue them, even inmore financially restrictive condi-tions,’ says Nuta.

“Obviously, the economicdownturn has brought about moreprudent budgeting and use of exist-ing resources, in all fields, includingcorporate social responsibility,”says Adina Ionescu, head of thecommunication department at MOLRomania. She adds that CSR is notsupposed to be influenced by thecontext, as it is considered a contin-uous process, which fuels organiza-tional success. “However, this year,it is realistic to say that CSR proj-ects have been more attentively de-signed within many organizations,including ours. We also focus ongiving the initial push to projectsand initiatives, to create the condi-tions for them to become self-sup-porting,” says Ionescu.

MOL’s projects were decided atgroup level. “We have continuedimplementing our group level CSRat local level, by bridging an ex-tended regional expertise with localspecific features,” says Ionescu.

“Brand awareness is formedthrough a complex mix of percep-tions about how solid, performingand socially committed a companyreally is. CSR is increasingly moreimportant in this mix. However itsrole is challenged by the pressure ofthe economic crisis on consumers’everyday life,” she says.

A study carried out in Septemberfor Petrom Marketing by researchcompany Synovate ranks CSR cam-paigns in third place (after the qual-

ity and price of the fuel) in a list ofindicators which get consumers tobecome loyal or maintain their loy-alty to a brand. “This shows us thatalready the Romanian consumer ismuch more refined when choosing aproduct and that a company’s de-gree of involvement has become im-portant to customers,” says MariaBesnea, of the CSR office, corpo-rate communications & public af-fairs at Petrom. “The study alsoshows a direct connection betweenthe number of CSR activities, whichis proof of the company’s involve-ment in the community, and the de-gree of loyalty of the Petrom cus-tomer,” says Besnea. The oil firmhas allocated basically the samebudget for social responsibility in2009 as last year, namely EUR 5million. Education is one of themain areas of its CSR activities.“This year, given the economic con-text, we considered investment inthis domain should be a priority inour projects,” says Besnea. “A CSRstrategy should always reflect thebusiness of the company, even intimes of recession. On the otherhand, it is a well-known fact that thebest investment in times of crisis isin education,” she adds.

A sustainable CSR strategy runsfor the long term and involves mu-tual benefits for both the communi-ty and the company. “When imple-menting such a strategy the compa-ny must also take into account peri-ods of economic downturn, similarto the one we are passing through,when CSR projects keep on runningby reanalyzing priorities and reduc-ing costs,” says Catalina Pislaru, PRspecialist at Orange Romania.

Awareness of our effect on the earth is at the heart of the recent popularity of green projects

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C S R


The company is in the process ofreviewing its economic model indepth. “Information and communi-cation technologies have a key roleto play: cutting back on paper print-outs, limiting travel and promotingnew ways of collaborative workingare some of the possibilities offeredto our customers to optimize theirproductivity while reducing theirenvironmental impact and improv-ing the working conditions of theiremployees,” she says.

Among the advantages that acompany enjoys as a result of itsCSR strategies is to have more ac-cess to promising business opportu-nities. At Avon for instance, CSRhas facilitated the strategic alliancesthat the company has sealed overthe last few years; from the famousfashion houses such as Lacroix andUngaro to celebrities who have be-come ambassadors of the Avoncampaigns such as Salma Hayek,Reese Witherspoon and PatrickDempsey. In Romania, the companyhas collaborated with banks such asGE and Garanti Bank to launch theonly scented credit card in theworld, which includes insurance incase the owner is diagnosed withbreast cancer.

The social campaigns that Avoncarries out are self-financed throughthe sale of dedicated products. Allthe profit that results from thesesales is entirely used in a campaignagainst breast cancer and in oneagainst domestic violence. “It looksas if this year we will manage toraise a sum that is at least compara-ble with the campaign fund that wehad last year (over USD 500,000),”says Andreea Catu, PR specialist atAvon Cosmetics Romania.

Many companies trace the re-sults to measure the impact. Orange

periodically receives activity re-ports from its community partnerswith highlights of the last period. Italso runs regular employee and cus-tomer surveys about brand imageand people’s perception of its CSRactivities. “By saving energy, or cut-ting down on our use of paper, weare not only reducing our environ-mental impact, we are also savingmoney,” says Pislaru.

Vodafone runs its CSR programsthrough the Vodafone Foundationand its corporate responsibility pro-gram. “We have continued all theprograms with our traditional part-ners, since they are all conceived forthe long term, and we aim to ensuresupport for them up to the momentwhen they can self-sustain,” sayVodafone reps.

The Vodafone Foundation isnow into its 11th year, having so farput EUR 7.5 million into supportingprograms. A total of EUR 3.5 mil-lion was given for these activitieslast year, according to Elena Serban,manager of the foundation.

The CSR budget and initiativesof Cosmote Romania remained con-stant in 2009, promoting environ-ment protection projects and socialcauses. “Our CSR strategy is to getinvolved in self-standing originalprograms, which we would eventu-ally integrate in a more complexplatform,” says Ruxandra Voda,corporate affairs manager at Cos-mote Romania. Among these, shementions the internal CSR programGreen Office. “It deals mainly withteaching environmental protectionto our employees. At the same time,every employee becomes a trainerfor family and friends and we cansay that through this program wewill eventually manage to impactthousands of people,” she says.

CSR activities, such as tree planting, can benefit companies by keeping their staff committed

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red finan

cial supp

ort to ta

lented yo

ung peo

ple throu

gh the "

Cautam

oameni m

ari" proj

ect; the

"Citizen

Act" pro

ject - an

internat

ional CS

R projec

t contest;

sole spo

nsor of t

he "Gala

Societat

ii Civile"

in 2008

and 200

9; devel

oped pr

ojects in

partner

ship with

UNICE

F, Valen

tina Ass

ociation,

Save th

e Childre

n Childre

n Organ

ization,

Habitat f

or Huma

nity Rom

ania,

Samusoc

ial Assoc

iation Ro

mania, M

otivation

Romania

.

approx.

EUR 1,

250,000

approx.

EUR 1,

250,000

money,p

roducts,

financial

services

, expe

rtisemem

ber of L

ondon B

enchmar

king Gr

oup (LB

G) Roma

niaNo

ISO 900

1; ISO

14001;

OHSAS

18001

BCR LEA

SING IF

N SA

financial

leasing

social, c

ulture, sp

orts and

events

Culture

– APTR G

ala Event

; Social

– Suppo

rt for the

opening

of “Cern

ica Socia

l-Cultura

l Center

” Event

sponsors

hip: “Inte

rnationa

l Chess

Festival

for Chil

dren and

Juniors”

; Health:

Anti

-Drug Ex

perts Me

eting of t

he Black

Sea Reg

ion;Sport

: support

ing, over

a 6-mo

nth peri

od, a te

nnis play

er aged

8 years,

with mu

ltiple dist

inctions,

playing i

n all the

nationa

l and

internatio

nal conte

sts collec

tion of g

oods an

d their d

onation

to variou

s instituti

ons; furn

iture don

ation by t

he comp

any eve

nt sponso

rship: “Pu

blic Tran

sportatio

n in the

Context

of a

Sustaina

ble Urban

Develop

ment

WND

WND

money, c

lothes, fu

rniture, f

oodNot

specifica

lly forma

lisedNo

N/A

BOSTINA

& ASSO

CIATES

legal ser

vices

educatio

nsupp

ort for y

oung stu

dents in

search

of excel

lence:

in 2008

/2009 “B

ostina sc

holarship

s” have

been a

warded t

o two stu

dents fr

om the

Buchare

st Unive

rsity’s La

w Faculty

, one

student

from the

A.I. Cuz

a Univers

ity in Iasi

and one

from Clu

j Univers

ity; contr

ibution t

o the Di

nu Patric

iu Schol

arships p

rogram

WND

WND

money

N/AN/A

ISO 900

1:2000 I

SO 220

00:2005

HACCP

ATHENE

E PALAC

E HILTO

Nhote

l industr

ysolv

ing socia

l problem

s, educat

ionmajo

r sponso

r of the

"Hallow

een Cha

rity Ball";

sponsor

of the "

Edelwei

ss Ball";

organiz

es "Cha

rity Christ

mas Tre

e" to the

benefit o

f 2 foun

dations ta

king car

e of und

erprivile

ged

children

(started

four ye

ars ago

); organ

izes the

"Small c

hange,

big differ

ence" ca

mpaign (

develope

d by Hilt

on Foun

dation);

sponsor

of "My wo

rld, our

climate”

- develo

ped by

UNESCO

- a draw

ing comp

etition fo

r childre

n in scho

olsWN

DWN

Dinkin

d - hotel

services

NoNo

EN ISO

9001:20

00 HACC

P System

ALEXAN

DRION

GROUP

alcohol b

everage

s produ

cerenvi

ronmenta

l protecti

on, edu

cation, a

rt & cultu

re, solvin

g social

problems

sponsor

of the Ro

manian O

lympic an

d Sports

Committe

e; the "T

hink. Re

cycle!" p

roject; "

Aristote

l Scolar

ships"; s

upport f

or the "

Johann S

trauss"

Internat

ional Fe

stival; su

pport fo

r theIasi

Rally; of

fered su

pport to

numerou

s founda

tions suc

h as Sai

nt Macrin

a Found

ation, SO

S Childr

en's Villa

ges, Sav

e the Da

nube De

lta, the D

isabled P

eople's

Associa

tion, Spo

rting

Club Gal

ati, Evolu

tion; offe

red supp

ort to th

e Chines

e Embass

y for ear

thquake

victims;

EUR 393

,440

WND

money, p

roducts

N/AN/A

ISO 140

01

AGRICOL

A INTERN

ATIONAL

SA

BACAU

meat pro

cessing

& mar

keting

health, r

esearch,

art&cultu

re, sport

, solving

soci

al proble

mssupp

ort for th

e Club S

cience B

acau - vo

lleyball te

am; sup

port for

the Fou

ndation

for Comm

unity Sup

port Bac

au - pro

jects for

children;

other s

upport p

rojects i

n ares s

uch as h

ealth,

educatio

n, resear

ch, sport

s, social

problems

;EUR

490,000

EUR 400

,000mon

ey & pro

ducts

N/ANo

ISO 900

1:2008

ACCENT

URE RO

MANIA

consultin

g, softwa

re deve

lopment,

outsour

cingsolv

ing socia

l problem

s, environ

mental

protectio

n, educa

tion, art

& culture

projects

and org

anization

s suppo

rted: Un

ited Way

Romania

, Second

Chance,

Pro Vita

, Viitor P

lus organ

ization,

Junior A

chievem

ent, “Pi

ctori de

azi la Ba

lcic"; clo

thes, toy

s and gif

ts don

ation for

the orga

nizations

: Touched

Romania

, Second

Chance,

Pro Vita

and Cire

sarii orp

hanage

; sports d

ay with c

hildren f

rom Uni

ted Way

;employ

ees payr

oll dona

tion cam

paign;

selective

waste d

isposal i

n the of

fice (pap

er, plasti

c and ga

rbage) -

in collabo

ration wi

th Viitor

Plus org

anization

; tree pla

nting with

Viitor P

lus organ

ization;

WND

WND

money,

clothes, b

ooks and

toysin R

omania t

he comp

any doe

sn't have

sustaina

bility

reporting

practice

sNo

Certifica

tion pra

ctices s

pecific

to the in

dustry

A & D P

HARMA

pharma

ceutical

health, e

ducation,

solving s

ocial pro

blems,

human r

ights the

"Casa B

lu" proje

ct - targ

ets victim

s of dom

estic viol

ence; the

campaig

n 'Home

is not a

prison' a

gainst do

mestic v

iolence; t

he camp

aign "Th

e year o

f your reb

irth" for

raising h

ealthawa

rness; fu

ndraising

campaig

ns; the S

ensiblu F

oundatio

n; the Se

nsiblu sc

holarship

program

approx.

EUR 345

,000WN

Dmon

ey, pha

rmaceut

ical prod

uctsAnn

ual repo

rtmem

ber of th

e Roman

ia Dono

rs' Forum

The tota

l value o

f donati

on / spo

nsorshi

pTyp

e of don

ation / s

ponsors

hipSus

tainabil

ity repo

rting pra

ctices

Members

hip in C

SR organ

izations

& netwo

rksCom

pany

Area of a

ctivity

Categori

es of pro

jects de

veloped

The mo

st import

ant acti

ons dev

eloped (

2008 -20

09)

Comp

anies

are l

isted i

n alph

abeti

cal or

der. O

nly th

ose co

mpan

ies an

sweri

ng th

e que

stionn

aire w

ere in

clude

d. ©

2009

Busin

ess Re

view.

The l

ist ma

y not

be re

printe

d or r

eprod

uced i

n who

le or

in pa

rt with

out p

ermiss

ion fro

m pu

blishe

rs. Co

rrectio

ns or

addit

ions to

the l

ist sho

uld be

sent

to res

earch@

busin

ess-re

view.r

o.


CO

MP

AN

IES

IN

VO

LV

ED

IN

CS

R A

CT

IVIT

IES

2008

2009

more th

an EUR

156,000

1% of t

he comp

any's o

peratio

nal pro

fit

The tot

al value

of dona

tion / sp

onsors

hip

EUR 10,

000( No

vember

2008 -

Septem

ber 200

9)

N.A for

Roman

ia

WND

Type of

donatio

n / spon

sorship

Sustain

ability r

eportin

g practi

cesMem

bership

in CSR

organiz

ations &

networ

ksCer

tificatio

n practi

ces spe

cific to t

he indu

stryCom

pany

Area of

activity

Catego

ries of p

rojects

develop

edThe

most im

portant

actions

develop

ed (200

8 -2009

)

FMCG

, adhes

ives,

technolo

giesenv

ironmen

tal prote

ction, a

rt & cul

ture, so

lving

social p

roblem

s

HOLCI

M ROM

ANIA S

A

HUMA

N INVES

T

industry

, constr

uction

materia

ls

training

& cons

ulting

environ

mental p

rotectio

n, solvi

ng socia

l pro

blems, e

ducatio

n, healt

h, spor

t

educati

on

HENKEL

ROMA

NIA

IBM RO

MANIA

JAPAN

TOBACC

O INTE

RNATI

ONAL

ROMA

NIA

KRONO

SPAN S

EBES

S.AKRO

NOSPA

N ROM

ANIA S

RL

MICRO

SOFT

ROMA

NIA

MOBEX

PERT

ORANG

E ROM

ANIA

DPD (PE

GASUS

COUR

IER) RO

MANIA

PRAIS

Corpor

ate Com

municat

ions

PRAKTI

KER RO

MANIA

PRO TV

SA

PROVID

ENT FIN

ANCIAL

RO

MANIA

IFN SA

RECOLA

MP AS

SOCIA

TION

IT

produc

tion & m

arketing

of toba

cco pro

ducts

PAL & M

DF pro

duction

IT

home &

office f

urniture

retai

telecom

municat

ions

courier

consult

ancy sp

ecializin

g in

integra

ted com

municat

ion,CSR

, bra

nding

do it yo

urself re

tail

media, t

elevisio

n

financia

l servic

es

waste c

ollectin

g

educati

on

art & c

ulture,

solving

social p

roblem

s

environ

mental p

rotectio

n, educ

ation, s

olving

social p

roblem

s, spor

t, health

educati

on, solv

ing soc

ial prob

lems

environ

mental p

rotectio

n, spor

t, solvin

g social

problem

s

environ

mental p

rotectio

n, educ

ation, s

olving

social p

roblem

s

environ

mental p

rotectio

n, solvi

ng socia

l pro

blems,ci

vic beh

avior

environ

mental p

rotectio

n

solving

social p

roblem

s, healt

h

solving

social p

roblem

s, envir

onmenta

l pro

tection,

health,

civic be

havior

solving

social p

roblem

s, educ

ation,

environ

mental p

rotectio

n,volunt

eering

environ

mental p

rotectio

n

Henkel

Art Awa

rd, Hen

kel Gol

f Cup, M

IT – He

nkel Sm

ile (Pet

rila Day

Care C

enter, C

orabia

Center)

, Festiv

al of X-

mas Tre

es, pro

duct do

nations

for the

Red C

ross and

Save t

he Chi

ldren; G

reen P

olice of

Childre

n.

suppor

ted “Le

t’s keep

the wa

ters cle

an!” init

iated by

the Na

tional A

dminist

ration of

Roman

ian Wa

ters; "H

ouseho

ld waste

manag

ement in

the Ap

useni N

atural P

ark" - ra

ising of

awa

reness

on effic

ient me

thods of

waste

manage

ment in

rural are

as; “Bu

ild your

future”

with Co

rporate

Dynam

ics Inte

rnation

al - per

sonal d

evelopm

ent sem

inars de

dicated

to one

hundre

d stude

nts from

the 11t

h grade

continu

ed the p

artnersh

ip with A

.I.E.S.E

.C Roma

nia by o

ffering t

rainings

and tea

m deve

lopment

worksh

ops;org

anized d

ebate c

ontests

such as

the reg

ional an

d nation

al Karl P

opper

debate

contest

for A.R

.D.O.R.

Munteni

a

IBM Kid

Smart

- a pro

gram in

partner

ship wit

h the M

inistry o

f Educa

tion, Re

search

and Inn

ovation

; IBM C

orpora

te Servi

ce Cops

, IBM C

SR and

IT Volun

teering

School,

blood d

onation

cam

paigns a

nd mento

ring.

JTI Sen

iors, JT

I Schola

rships f

or Jour

nalists;

The Ce

nter of R

omanian

-Japane

se Studi

es; mem

ber of t

he selec

tion com

mission

of the “

Project

s for th

e future

” contes

t.

constan

t collab

oration

with sc

hools (f

inancial

suppor

t for stu

dents w

ith good

academ

ic result

s, finan

cial sup

port for

refurb

ishments

), church

es, hos

pitals, N

GOs( th

e Diaco

nia Ass

ociation

AIESEC

Roman

ia, the "

Centrul

Vietii N

oi" Asso

ciation)

sports c

lubs ( C

lubul Sp

ortiv Mu

nicipal

Sebes,

the tow

n's han

dball te

am and

footbal

l team);

organiz

ed proje

cts for

raising

awaren

ess on

environ

mental i

ssues,

project

s and ev

ents for

childre

n.

the "Pa

rtner fo

r Educa

tion" pr

oject in

partner

ship wit

h the M

inistry o

f Educa

tion, Re

search

and Ed

ucation

; the "Pa

rtnershi

p for Sa

fety" pr

oject in

partner

ship wit

h IGPR

- increa

sing

online s

afety fo

r childre

n;"Micro

soft Un

limited

Potenti

al" in as

sociatio

n with t

he NGO

s EOS

and CIV

ITAS;"D

igital Lit

eracy"

in asso

ciation

with Tec

hSoup a

nd Atelie

rs sans

Frontie

res Rom

ania; "Im

agine C

up"

environ

mental p

rojects

such as

the Gre

en Camp

Project

, suppo

rt for Ea

rth Day

2008;tr

aditiona

l spons

or of the

Roman

ian Ten

nis Ass

ociation

, the Ro

manian

Open te

nnis tou

rnamen

t, Gal

a Ioan C

hirila;m

oney an

d furnitu

re dona

tions to

Marie C

urie Ho

spital, F

undeni

Hospita

l,Grigor

e Alexa

ndresc

u Hosp

ital; fina

ncial su

pport to

indepe

ndent s

ocial ca

ses and

the

opening

of the S

aint Sp

iridon V

echi Ce

nter; su

pporting

flood vi

ctims in

Sucea

va with f

urniture

donatio

ns

particip

ated in 2

9 human

itarian f

undrais

ing cam

paigns s

ince 200

8 by offe

ring, for

free, s

hort SM

S dona

tion num

bers; c

orpora

te spon

sorship

actions

such as

: Gala P

remiilor

Com

unitare

Bacau

,organiz

ed by Fu

ndatia d

e Spriji

n Comu

nitar; O

verland

For a

Smile p

roject, c

oordina

ted by A

sociatia

Unimp

resa,Ha

loween

Ball or

ganized

by Fun

datia O

vidiuRo

m, sup

porting

a grou

p of tale

nted chi

ldren w

ith the h

elp of A

sociatia

Gaude

amus 20

03;Edelw

eiss Ch

arity Ba

ll coord

inated b

y Funda

tia Hosp

ice Cas

a Sper

antei an

d Chris

tmas B

azaar b

yInte

rnation

al Wome

n Asso

ciation;

created

a family

guide w

ith pract

ical adv

ices abo

ut how

both chi

ldren an

d adults

can saf

ely use

telecom

municat

ion serv

ices

suppor

t for the

develop

ment of

bicycle

tracks i

n Roma

nia - "B

atesaua

” organ

ization;

suppor

ts the in

tegratio

n of orp

hans in

the soc

iety – w

orking w

ith differ

ent org

anizatio

ns –

employi

ng orph

ans as

courier

s; deve

loped a

strong i

nternal

policy o

f protec

ting the

environ

ment by

reducin

g CO2

emissio

ns, pap

er, water

and ene

rgy con

sumptio

n, increa

se waste

man

agemen

t and th

e use of

recycli

ng reso

urces; p

romotes

road sh

ipping o

f parcel

s as a w

ay to pr

otect the

environ

ment

"Million

s of peo

ple, mil

lions of

trees"

- a nati

onal ini

tiative t

o plant

trees an

d plants

"Your w

orld? C

lean!" -

a nation

al proje

ct that a

ims to t

each pu

pils fro

m the 4t

h grade

about r

ecyclin

gthe

compan

y also o

ffers sup

port to

Habitat

for Hum

anity

“Color a

smile”

campaig

n for ch

ildren’s

hospita

ls was t

he most

importa

nt socia

l progra

m run b

y the co

mpany i

n the pa

st year

and the

largest

so far. I

t include

d a set

of artist

ic and

decora

tive pro

jects, s

pecially

adapted

for chi

ldren, w

ith the f

ocus on

colors

and fun

ny detai

ls that c

an tran

sform th

e hospit

al ambi

ent. Thi

s campa

ign was

organiz

ed as a

caravan

in 17

cities an

d the be

neficiar

ies wer

e 19 hos

pitals fr

om thes

e cities

.

Pro TV

News

campaig

ns: "Th

ere is l

ife after

death"-

aiming

to increa

se awar

eness o

n the im

portanc

e of don

ating or

gans, "R

omania,

the gre

at defor

estation

" - an ex

tensive

investig

ation on

the futu

re of the

country

's envir

onment,

" We ca

rry life

in our b

lood", "J

os palar

ia!", "Da

ruiesti s

i castig

i!"

suppor

ts the fir

st finan

cial edu

cationa

l campa

ign in R

omania

- " Buge

tul Fami

liei"; su

pports t

he "Sin

gur aca

sa" pro

ject init

iated by

Social

Alterna

tives As

sociatio

n and th

e "Inva

tare,

Partcip

are, Inc

redere

" projec

t initiate

d by the

Pact F

oundati

on; inte

rnal ca

mpaigns

for red

ucing th

e consu

mption

of natur

al resou

rces, re

cycling

and env

ironmen

tal prote

ction; tw

o tree

planting

campaig

n in par

tnership

with V

iitor Plu

s

initiated

and sup

ported

"The G

reen C

orner"

project

- offers

a free o

f charg

e servic

e packa

ge for c

ollectin

g electr

ic waste

, to all c

ompanie

s intere

sted in C

SR env

ironmen

tal activ

ities

N.A for

Roman

ia

more th

an EUR

260,000

more th

an EUR

350,000

1% of t

he comp

any's o

peratio

nal pro

fit

EUR 150

,000 (Oc

tober 20

08-Sep

tember

2009)

WND

WND

more th

an EUR

560,000

WND

WND

approx.

EUR 6

,000

approx.

EUR 1

11,000

more th

an EUR

160,000

WND

WND

WND

EUR 94,

000EUR

140,000

WND

WND

Henkel

produc

ts, equip

ment an

d mone

y

money,

cement,

concret

e

produc

ts, raini

ng servi

ces

money,

equipm

ent

money,

compute

rs, book

s, cloth

es, furn

iture

produc

ts, mone

y

money (

USD 200

,000) gr

ants (US

D 200

,000)

money,

furniture

,volunte

ers

money,

produc

ts,servi

ces, vo

lunteer

s, exp

ertise,kn

ow-how

exchan

ge

money,

produc

ts

expertis

e, pro-b

ono wo

rk, mone

y

money,b

uilding

materia

ls

money,

logistic

s, expe

rtise, lob

by

money,

voluntee

ring, fun

draisin

g

logistic

, exper

tiseN/A

Interna

tional P

ersonal

Finance

CSR R

eport

N/AN/A

By eva

luating

the info

rmation

dissem

ination

on a nat

ional

level.

6 SD in

dicators

are inc

luded in

the key

busines

s repor

ts

The Fra

nce Tel

ecom c

onsolid

ated CS

R repor

t takes i

nt ocon

siderati

on the r

ecomm

endatio

ns of int

ernatio

nal org

anizatio

ns, suc

h as the

Global

Reporti

ng Initia

tive

(GRI), th

e Unite

d Natio

ns Globa

l Compa

ct and t

he Org

anizatio

n for Ec

onomic

Co-op

eration

and

Develop

ment (O

ECD) gu

idelines

.

N/A

NGO's

reports

interna

l tools

N/AN/AN/AN/A

The An

nual Su

stainab

le Deve

lopment

Report

The yea

rly “Sus

tainabil

ity Repo

rt” (at a

n intern

ational

level)Sin

ce April

2008, H

enkel p

articipat

es in th

e Prod

uct Car

bon Fo

otprint p

ilopro

ject Ge

rmany

Holcim

is memb

er of the

World B

usiness

Counc

il for Su

stainab

le Dev

elopmen

t (WBCS

D).

N/A

IBM is a

ffiliate a

t CSR E

urope,

partner

of Red C

ross Inte

rnation

al, sup

porter

of Unite

d Way W

orld Wi

de.

N/A N/A N/A No

ETNO E

nvironm

ental Ch

arter, U

N Globa

l Compa

ct,ETNO

Sustai

nability

Cha

rter, glo

bal agr

eement

with Un

ion Net

work In

ternatio

nal, Eu

ropean

Fra

mework

for Saf

er Mobil

e Use b

y Young

er Teen

agers a

nd Child

ren,

Mobile A

lliance A

gainst C

hild Se

xual Ab

use

N/A

member

of the U

NEP: Pl

ant for

the Pla

net A B

illion Tr

ee Camp

aign.

Not at t

his mom

ent

N/A

member

of the R

omania

Donors'

Forum

N/AN/A

ISO 140

01

N/AN/A

Lohas (

Lifestyl

e of hea

lth and s

ustainab

ility)

N/AISO 900

1

N/AN/A

SRAC IS

O 1400

1;SRAC

ISO 900

1; IQ NE

T 9001;

IQNET

14001;

FSC; CA

RB

ISO 900

1 : 1999

;ISO 140

01 : 200

0;OHSA

S 1800

1

ISO 900

1, 2700

1, 1800

1 for CE

MA,and

standa

rd 1400

1 for

shipping

equipm

ent

CNFPA

Accred

itation

SR EN

ISO 900

1;SREN

ISO140

01;OHSA

S 1800

1

Henkel

evaluat

ed the S

ustainab

ility Re

porting

Guidel

ines of t

heGlo

bal Rep

orting In

itiative

(GRI) in

a pilot

project

as ear

ly as

1999


CO

MP

AN

IES

IN

VO

LV

ED

IN

CS

R A

CT

IVIT

IES

2008

2009

AA1000

APS 200

8 (GRI)

2006 S

ustainab

ility Re

porting

Gui

delines

ISO 140

01

founded

the Un

idea Fo

undatio

nISO

27001

COBIT

, ITIL B

S 2599

9 PCI D

SS

VODAF

ONE R

OMANI

Atele

commun

ications

solving

social p

roblem

s, healt

h, civic

behavio

renv

ironmen

tal prote

ction

suppor

ted hea

lth care

project

s, endo

wing m

aternitie

s, pedia

tric and

oncolog

y ward

s with m

edical e

quipmen

ts (Marie

Curie H

ospital,

Funde

ni Clinic

al Institu

te, "Vict

or Babe

s” Clinic

al Hos

pital fro

m Timis

oara; b

uilt soc

ial hous

es in pa

rtnershi

p with H

abitat fo

r Human

ity; offic

ial partn

er of "To

gether w

e Defea

t Autism

” campa

ign, dev

eloped b

y Roma

nian An

gel App

eal;sup

ported

sport p

rojects

– tennis

and bas

ketball

in whee

l chairs

, footbal

l; contin

ued the

partner

ship wit

h SMU

RD, Sa

lvamar a

nd Salva

mont in

the “Pa

rtnershi

p for Lif

e” platfo

rm;

initiated

and roll

ed out a

nationa

l blood d

onation

campaig

n, “A C

hance f

or Life”,

in partn

ership w

ith REAC

T Asso

ciation;

initiate

d a nati

onal pro

gram fo

r collec

ting and

recycli

ng mobil

e pho

nes; se

nt over

2 millio

n SMS

to its c

ustomer

s in ord

er to e

ncoura

ge them

to beco

me invo

lved in t

he Earth

Hour c

ampaign

; the “Cl

ean Se

aside” p

rogram

;

more th

an EUR

7.5 mil

lion (in

the last

11 yea

rs)mon

ey, serv

ices, log

istics, v

olunteer

sThe

CSR p

rogram

and the

annual

CSR re

port of

Vodafon

e Gro

up are a

nnually

audited

member

of “Cor

porate

Club W

orld Wi

de Fund

Roman

ia”, of

Romania

n Don

ors For

um, the

Americ

an Cham

ber of C

ommerce

, the B

ritish-

Romania

n Cham

ber of C

ommerce

, and th

e Roma

nian Mo

bile Op

erators

Associa

tion

more th

an EUR

800,000

approx.

EUR 6

00,000

money,s

ervices

, volunt

eers

Annual

Sustain

ability R

eport

UNICR

EDIT T

IRIAC B

ANKfina

ncial ba

nking

art & c

ulture,

environ

mental p

rotectio

n, edu

cation,

sport, s

olving s

ocial pro

blems

offered

suppor

t for the

organiz

ing of th

e Anon

imul Fil

m Festi

val, sup

ported

the pub

lishing

of the W

alls & F

loors (W

ithout th

e Ceilin

g) art ca

talogue

, the Bu

charest

metro.

Art pro

ject, the

UniCre

dit "Lite

rary De

but Com

petition

, created

Pavilio

nul Uni

Credit -

an inde

penden

t contem

porary

art & c

ulture c

enter; m

ain par

tner of t

he "Geo

rge En

escu" F

estival

and Co

mpetitio

nhos

ted the

"Masch

ere di V

enezia"

- fine ar

t expos

ition; su

pported

the fou

nding of

Ciclote

que; ini

tiated en

vironme

ntal pro

jects su

ch as "O

ur Fore

st" and t

he "Pap

er Fore

st"; invo

lved in

"Migratio

ns" - so

cial pro

ject; ini

tiated th

e Gift M

atching

campaig

n;

ISO 900

1, ISO 1

4001 O

HSAS 1

8001 T

APA A,

SA 800

0

URBB

bevera

ge prod

ucer

environ

mental p

rotectio

n, solvi

ng socia

l pro

blems

initiated

the "Gr

een Um

brella"

- enviro

nmental

project

that aim

s to inc

rease a

warene

ss abou

t the imp

ortance

of indiv

idual ac

tions in

protect

ing the

environ

ment; "T

ogether

, closer

to peo

ple!" -o

ffers pro

duct do

nations

and vol

unteers;

main s

ponsor

of the C

ommunic

ation O

lympics

;app

rox. RO

N 500,0

00 appr

ox. EUR

400,000

money,

produc

tsN/A

N/AISO

9002 O

HSAS 1

8001 H

ACCP

SR EN

ISO 900

1:2001 S

R EN IS

O 1400

1:2005

SR OH

SAS

18001:2

008

TNT RO

MANIA

SRL

courier

environ

mental p

rotectio

n, solvi

ng socia

l pro

blems, lo

cal com

munities

, art &

culture

suppor

ted Uni

ted Wa

y Roma

nia with

donatio

ns and v

olunteer

s; partn

er in the

project

" Resto

re the b

eauty" -

refurb

ishment

of the A

rt Muse

um: spo

nsor of

the Cy

clist To

ur of Ro

mania

& supp

orter of

The Ro

manian

Federa

tion of A

rchery; s

ponsor

of the A

urora D

ay Cente

r for ch

ildren w

ith disab

ilities;

more th

an EUR

50,000

more th

an EUR

50,000

money,

logistic

suppor

tAnn

ual Cor

porate

Respon

sibility

Report

(Monthl

y CR

Reports

) Comm

unity S

urvey S

upplier

Survey

N/A

N/A

TERAPL

AST SA

constru

ction m

aterial

produc

ersolv

ing soc

ial prob

lems, s

port,loc

al com

munity,

environ

mental p

rotectio

nfina

nced th

e refurb

ishment

of the E

vangeli

cal Chu

rch from

Bistrita

; offere

d suppo

rt to the

Paper

Tree ca

mpaign

by colle

cting th

e compa

ny's pap

er waste

and don

ating to

an NG

O that

later us

es the f

unds fo

r tree pl

antation

; offere

d financ

ial supp

ort to o

rganizi

ng the f

ifth Nat

ional Co

nferenc

e on Ca

rdiovas

cular Su

rgery

EUR 160

,000WN

Dmon

ey, pro

ducts

N/AN/A

SR EN

ISO 900

1: 2008

; SR O

HSAS 1

8001: 2

008 SR

EN ISO

14001:2

005

TELEVI

ZIUNEA

ROMA

NAtv s

tation

solving

social p

roblem

s, healt

h, educ

ation,

environ

mental p

rotectio

n, art &

culture

, civic

behavio

r

suppor

t for cul

tural ca

mpaigns

such as

„Pyram

us”, "10

, 100, 1

000 ... 1

.000.000

”, „Sighi

oara F

ilm Fes

tival”; p

artner t

o many

NGO's

and ins

titutions

: UNICE

F, the R

ed Cross

, Estuar

Fou

ndation

, Princi

pesa M

argare

ta Foun

dation,

Estuar

Found

ation, t

he Sche

hereza

de Foun

dation;

suppor

ted num

erous c

ampaign

s that a

imed to

raise aw

arenes

s on soc

ial, hea

lth and

environ

mental i

ssues;

N/AN/A

only me

dia sup

port

N/AN/A

N/A

SODEX

O ROM

ANIA

vouche

rs & car

dssolv

ing soc

ial prob

lems

the Sto

p Hung

er proje

ct in par

tnership

with S

top Hun

ger Ass

ociation

; the Sa

int Dimit

rie proje

ct - offe

ring mo

nthly fin

ancial s

upport

for pur

chasing

food w

ith high

nutrient

value,

medicin

es and s

tationer

y for ch

ildren in

need; V

alentina

Project

- spons

ored pa

rticipati

on in a

summer

camp of

40 chil

dren fr

om poo

r famili

es; pro

ject par

tnership

with G

eneral

Directio

n for So

cial As

sistanc

e and C

hild Pro

tection

(GDSAC

P- 4), D

istrict n

o. 4; H

ospice

Founda

tion Ho

use of H

ope; t

he camp

aign “Su

pport fo

r under

privileg

ed comm

unities

in 3

Villages

”; the “T

ogether

we can

offer m

ore joy

” campa

ign; su

pport fo

r "You t

oo can s

ave a li

fe! Dona

te blood

!" campa

ign;

WND

WND

money,

produc

ts, volun

teers

N/Amem

ber of G

lobal Fo

odBank

ing Net

work, th

e Euro

pean F

ederatio

n of

Food B

anks, A

lliance t

o End

Hunger,

Univer

sities Fi

ghting W

orld Hu

nger

other loc

al partn

erships

ISO 900

1:2008

SOCIE

TATEA

ROMA

NA DE

RADIOD

IFUZIU

NEmed

iaedu

cation,

research

, solvin

g social

problem

s,civi

c behav

ior, art

& cultu

re, hum

an right

s, hea

lth

media p

artnersh

ip with:

Childre

n's Hea

rt Asso

ciation,

Save t

he Child

ren Org

anizatio

n, the R

ebirth F

oundati

on, EM

A Orga

nization

, Estuar

Found

ation,W

orld Vis

ion Rom

ania,

Interna

tional A

dvertisi

ng Asso

ciation,

SPER,

the Re

d Cross

, UNICE

F, ANAD

, Hospic

e, the "N

adia Co

maneci"

Found

ation, S

ocial Alt

ernativ

es.N/A

N/Amed

ia partn

erships

N/AN/A

N/A

SIVECO

ROMA

NIAIT &

Cedu

cation,

solving

social p

roblem

sthe

"Siveco

Cup" -

a proje

ct dedic

ated to g

ifted pup

ils; the

"Champ

ion" pro

ject ; th

e Sivec

o Acad

emy pro

ject - o

ffering s

pecializ

ed infor

matics

courses

to stude

nts; pa

rtner of

ARDO

R incivi

c confer

ences;

offered

logistic

s suppo

rt to the

Ministry

of Educ

ation, R

esearch

and Inn

ovation

; suppo

rted eH

ealth pr

ojects a

nd eAgr

iculture

project

s.WN

DWN

Dmul

timedia

produc

ts, volun

teers

CSR Re

port

member

of Unite

d Natio

nal Glo

bal Com

pact an

d the P

artnersh

ip Again

stCor

ruption

N/A

SALANS

legal se

rvices

art & c

ulture,

solving

social p

roblem

s,sup

ported

Ovidiu

Rom for

the "Ev

ery chil

d in sch

ool" pro

gram;

suppor

ted the

Princes

s Marg

areta F

oundati

on with t

he "You

ng talen

ts" proje

ct; supp

orted th

e educa

tional p

rogram

s and

scholar

ships of

the Bu

charest

Law Sc

hool; su

pported

the Un

ited Wa

y Gala;

Suppo

rted the

:Start

Internsh

ip" prog

ram of J

unior Ac

hieveme

nt NGO

; is a tr

aditiona

l spons

or of Fu

lbright

Commis

sion and

suppor

ts its pr

ograms

every y

ear.

WND

WND

money,

pro-bo

no lega

l servic

esN/A

N/A

N/A

RTC FO

UNDAT

IONcult

ure & c

ivilizatio

nart

& cultu

re, edu

cation,

solving

social

problem

s, envir

onmenta

l protect

ion

the "Re

ad, Exp

erience

, Disco

ver" edu

cationa

l center

s - thre

e alrea

dy in B

uchare

st; the "

Summer

school"

project

at Scho

ol No 11

7; the re

ading cl

ub "On

Saturd

ay we re

ad toge

ther!";

the RTC

Found

ation lib

raries t

hat ena

ble any

one's a

ccess t

o books

: offers

creative

worksh

ops for

gifted c

hildren

and you

ng peop

le, camp

s, summ

er scho

ols for

underp

rivilege

d chil

dren;

WND

WND

money,

books,

statione

ry, toys

N/AN/A

ISO 900

1

ROMT

ELECO

Mtele

commun

ication

solving

social p

roblem

s, healt

h, educ

ation,

child pr

otection

, art &

culture

, resea

rch, spo

rt,env

ironmen

tal prote

ction

the "Sa

fe Intern

et" cam

paign in

partner

ship wit

h the C

onsume

r Protec

tion Ass

ociation

- raisi

ng awar

eness

about th

e risks t

hat the

online e

nvironm

ent pos

es; the

"Adopt

a River

" cam

paign in

partner

ship wit

h the "S

ave the

Danub

e Delta

" Assoc

iation; th

e "Antis

tress" c

ampaign

: the "Sa

ve for y

ou! Sav

e for to

morrow

!"- raisi

ng awar

eness a

bout th

e need f

or a

rational

consum

ption of

natura

l resour

ces.

WND

WND

money,

services

N/AN/A

N/A

ROMS

TAL IME

X SRL

sanitary

equipm

ent, ligh

tingand

electric

al equip

ment

solving

social p

roblem

s, healt

h,sports

constan

t collab

oration

with N

GOs,sc

hools, k

inderga

rtens, h

ospitals

, church

es, soc

ial cente

rs; don

ated san

itary equ

ipment

to 10 sc

hools fr

om Vas

lui Coun

ty; initia

ted the

"Vestia

rul meu

" projec

t that int

ends to

suppor

t the ref

urbishm

ent of m

ore tha

n 50 tab

le tennis

clubs.

more th

an EUR

200,000

more th

an EUR

170,000

(before

the 1st

oSep

tember

)pro

ducts, m

oney

N/AN/A

Certific

ation pr

actices

specific

to the i

ndustry

ROMP

ETROL

SAoil i

ndustry

health,

educati

on, env

ironmen

tal prote

ction,

solving

social p

roblem

s, healt

h

constan

t collab

oration

with O

vidiuRo

m - offe

red fina

ncial su

pport to

organiz

ing the

“Hallow

een Ch

arity Ba

ll"; sup

ported

together

with E

comaste

r the pr

oject "T

he Capit

al is gro

wing

green"

; partne

r of "Th

e Mons

ters of o

ur indiffe

rence"

project

; was a

partner

of Gala

Societa

tii Civile

in 2008

and 200

9; launc

hed "Th

e energ

y comes

from th

e soul" -

a CSR

platform

that

include

s numer

ous he

alth and

environ

mental p

rojects

("Togeth

er for e

veryone

"; "Monta

niada",

"The w

eek of y

our env

ironmen

t", "The

recycli

ng move

ment").

WND

WND

money,

logistic

sCSR

24/7 R

ating -

GRI (G

lobal Re

porting

Initiativ

e) The

Annual

Rompetr

ol Grou

p Repo

rt contai

ns a CS

R secti

onN/A

The tot

al value

of dona

tion / sp

onsors

hipTyp

e of don

ation / s

ponsor

shipSus

tainabil

ity repo

rting pr

actices

Member

ship in C

SR org

anizatio

ns & net

works

Compan

yAre

a of act

ivityCat

egories

of proje

cts dev

eloped

The mo

st impor

tant act

ions dev

eloped (

2008 -2

009)

I N T E R V I E W


LAU

RENTIU

OBA

E

Otilia Haraga

How many employees work forStar Storage?

Star Storage has over 600 em-ployees. It is hard to find special-ized personnel on the Romanianmarket but we are still employingpeople at this point. If we cannotfind specialists, we recruit them atentry level and train them in-house.

The firm’s headquarters are lo-cated in a building in northBucharest. Star Storage owns thespace both for the offices and thedata center we have just launched.

What domains are your cus-tomers from?

For security reasons, we cannot

disclose the names of our clients.They come both from the public andprivate sector. We are talking hereabout clients from the financial-banking domain, utilities, variousindustries, telecommunications and,of course, the public sector.

We have signed over 20 partner-ships with companies such as Hi-tachi, EMC, Microsoft, IBM, Ko-dak, Adobe, Abbyy, Commvault,Quantum and GMC.

Star Storage invested EUR 4million in the new data center itopened in Bucharest. What did themoney go on?

We invested first of all to ac-quire the space, then in the designworks, project analysis and manage-ment side. We invested in the equip-ment, which includes the electro-supply aspect (here I am talkingabout facilities such as UPS and

emergency energy supply withdiesel generators), climatizationsystems, advanced security systems,systems for earthquake protection,fire detection and extinguishers andcommunication systems. All thesecomponents are part of this datacenter.

The funds that were invested inthis data center come from bothreinvested profit and bank loans.The main part of this project wasself-financed. I can’t tell you howmuch bank loans represented, but itwas not the majority. The businessplan is for 24 months, which meansthat within 24 months, we plan torecover our investments.

Star Storage plans to open a newdata center by 2011. Where will itbe opened and what clients will itcater for?

Our next data center will still be

Star Storage mines the data for outsourcing profitslocated in Romania, but in anothergeographical area. I cannot disclosewhere exactly, but it will be some-where in Transylvania.

This center will enable us to of-fer back-up and replication servicesto our clients in case something hap-pens to the center in Bucharest. Sowe will have a main production cen-ter (the one in Bucharest) and a sec-ondary back-up center in Transylva-nia. The investment that we willmake in this center will be aroundEUR 4 million, which will be rein-vested profit and some bank loanstoo.

What turnover and profit didyou have in 2008?

In 2008 we had a turnover in ex-cess of EUR 14 million compared tothe turnover of EUR 7.9 million thatthe company posted for 2007. Ourexpectations for 2009 are that theturnover will surpass that of previ-ous years, but not necessarily thefigure from 2008.

How is outsourcing perceivedby Romanian companies in compar-ison with other countries in Europe?

When we talk about Western Eu-rope, Eastern Europe and even theUnited States, we are talking abouta mature market which is open tooutsourced services. Fortunately forus, the Romanian market is aligningvery fast to this level because it un-derstands the need and is trying tofocus on the results.

Clients no longer have time towait for a long-term implementa-tion, especially when we are talkingabout services which are developedin house, because it can take themanything from six months to threeyears to carry out this in-house de-velopment.

Otherwise, they have to conduct market studies to see whosupplies this kind of services, choose the supplier, negotiate anddesign the solution, of course byconsulting professionals, afterwhich they have to acquire equip-ment which is rather costly. Thenthey have to implement and launchthat service.

It takes a long time and it is expensive. By outsourcing,a company can save a lot of timeand reduce its costs by over 70 per-cent.

VIOREL DELINSCHI, business

development manager at Star

Storage, is in charge of one of the

company’s business units – a data

center which offers outsourced

services for data protection and

administration. The 800-sqm center

opened recently in Bucharest

following an investment of EUR 4

million. By 2011 Star Storage will

open another such center with a

similar investment in Transylvania,

to offer back-up and replication

services for existing clients.

Delinschi joined the company in

October last year, after previously

working for Romtelecom.

R E S T A U R A N T R E V I E W / F I L M R E V I E W


I found this place in a cityguide. I am more andmore convinced that the

people who write these guidesnever visit the restaurants theycritique!

This guide had BistroPhillipe listed as beingFrench. I can assure you it isnot French, nor is it a bistro,nor is there anybody therenamed Phillipe. But I amthere, so let’s go inside.

The décor is pure 1960sstyle with communist clothchairs and all else is wood.There is a token genuflectionto France with a strip of pic-tures of Paris running aroundthe walls. But there the Frenchconnection ends.

The wine list is extensiveand reasonably priced, al-though there were no Frenchbrands on offer. As we pe-rused the menu, I noticed ourwaiter decanting a bottle ofwine at a nearby table.

He lovingly swirled andswirled the wine around thedecanter, and then invited thediners to sniff their wine fromthe neck of the decanter. Itwas all show business, butthis waiter was trying toplease his customers.

And we were pleasedwhen we read the menu, be-cause it represented remark-ably good value, with manymains costing an average ofRON 20.

So we started with an as-paragus soup, which was per-fectly acceptable. I was de-lighted to see it accompaniedby fresh hot crutons and warm

toast. But from then on thingswent downhill.

I chose a quail “Café deParis”. I had no idea what thispreparation was, but afterwaiting for 30 minutes for mytiny little quail, it arrived,wrapped in a slice of Prosciut-to ham on a roasted bun andswimming in a confusinglight brown sauce. It was alsosurrounded by sliced lemon.

The presentation and con-flicting colors on the platelooked awful, and the sauce(mushroom, I think) had noharmony with the bird.

Blondie ordered a pork“fillet mignon” with Gor-gonzola sauce. Another fail-ure. The “fillet mignon” wasnothing more than a porkschnitzel and the sauce con-tained so much cream thetaste of the cheese was utterlyindiscernible.

When the waiter came totake away two largely un-touched meals, he looked per-plexed. He asked us if wewere unhappy with our food,and I could tell by his de-meanor that he really wasconcerned for us. What a nicechap. He should get a payraise.

Having been disillusionedwith the names of our dishes“Café de Paris” and “filletmignon” we were not temptedto enquire about the details oftheir romantically named sal-ads, such as: Bordeaux,Delice, Ambiance and Ca-presse.

Nor were we curiousabout the preparation of their

mains, with names includingPairisien, Milanese, Savoia,Florentin and Napoli.

In truth this is a Romanianrestaurant giving itself someflair with non-Romanian dish-es. The prices are superb, andif you are shopping onMagheru, drop in. But do notexpect too much. To see therange of their menu, youshould check their website.

IT’S BRUNCH TIMESummer is over and all

the hotels are furiously com-peting for your Sunday busi-ness by doing something newand different from last year.So, all within walking dis-tance of each other are theHilton, Radisson and Novotel.

Let’s have a quick look.Hilton has taken the lead

on beverages by being the on-ly hotel which offers red andwhite wine as an alternative tofizzy wine. They have unob-trusive musicians playing atthe correct volume and offeryou an all-Italian buffet. Themeat on the carving stationchanges weekly.

But Novotel changesmore than the meat. Theychange the entire menu. Thismeans that each Sunday thereis a different ethnic choice ofmenu. There is entertainmentintermittently such as theirpopular fashion show to en-able you to dine and ogle.Radisson is the biggest

brunch in town with a selec-tion of dishes that is too vastto mention. They do keepsome signature dishes. Lastyear there was Peking CrispyDuck and this year it appearsto be a Mexican selection.Their lead on beverages is toinstall a much welcomedBloody Mary station. Livedancers entertain you.

Prices across town varyfrom RON 150-175. All of thehotels are kiddie friendly andoffer big discounts for youngchildren.

Michael [email protected]

BISTRO PHILLIPE26 CALEA ROSETTI, TEL 021 317 4128

Je ne sais... quoi? Bistro Phillipe is as French as sarmale but offers good value

LAU

RENTIU

OBA

E Sandy (Catherine ZetaJones) has it all: marriage to arich man (and one whom a by-stander would not assume washer father), 2.4 children and abig house in the suburbs. Buther self-satisfied existence isblown apart when she catchesher husband getting more than apiece of cake from a femalefriend at her son’s birthday par-ty. Off she goes with her kids tobuild a new life for herself inthe big bad city and re-enter theworkforce after a decade as astay-at-home soccer mom.

Aram (Justin Bartha) hasnothing: 25, ditched by hisFrench wife who was using himto get a green card (and not in anice, Gerard Depardieu-typeway) and living at home withhis parents, he is wasting hiscollege education in a dead-endjob in a coffee shop, into the flatabove which moves Sandy andher winsome brood. After beingroped into babysitting so Sandycan go on a date, Aram realisesthat he’s the paternal type andthe two decide to maintain thearrangement. He becomes hermanny (male nanny), while sherapidly climbs the ladder at aTV network (the typical back-to-work experience of the 40-something divorcee who hasn’thad a job for ten years).

The pair soon become clos-er (who saw that coming?). Butcan their May-to-December ro-mance survive the intrusions ofSandy’s mischievous children,bitter ex and burgeoning careerand Aram’s very Jewish ambi-tious mother?

Firstly, set aside the ironythat this is a film in which weare supposed to wonderwhether Catherine Zeta Jones

can have a relationship with a15-year age gap when she’s ac-tually in one with a 25-year agegap. Secondly, set aside any ex-pectations that the film is goingto shock you by diverting fromromantic comedy protocol be-cause it won’t. (If you sawPrime, the plot of 40-somethingdivorcee embarks on unlikelyaffair with 20-something Jew-ish boy is going to be particu-larly similar, with a couple ofscenes seeming to have beenlifted wholesale.)

But if you like the genre,The Rebound really isn’t a badcontribution at all. It’s not hilar-ious, but there are some funnyparts and lines, not leastthrough Sandy’s wayward chil-dren and the couple’s bestfriends. (Because of the im-mutable laws of Hollywoodromcoms, I do not need to addthat his best friend is a sociallyincompetent sex-mad geek, andhers is a pragmatic, cynicalman-eater.) Catherine ZetaJones might not be the greatestactress in the world, but she car-ries this relatively undemand-ing role well, investing Sandy’ssense of betrayal and her awk-wardness on pre-Aram attemptsat dating with some pathos (nosmall feat considering that it ispretty difficult to muster sym-pathy for someone who lookslike Catherine Zeta Jones, notexactly the typical cougar type).Justin Bartha mainly has to begood-natured young eye candy,but he also manages to makehis character sympathetic andlikeable.

Some of the scenes may behackneyed, but there is enoughcharm and wit here to cover forthe few flaws. Although proba-bly not enough credibility toworry Michael Douglas.

Debbie Stowe

Director: Bart FreundlichStarring: Catherine Zeta Jones,Justin BarthaOn at: : Cityplex, HollywoodMultiplex, Movieplex Cinema,The Light

A family affair: CZJ on the rebound

FILMREVIEW:The Rebound

C I T Y


The third edition of Kinofest, the on-

ly international digital film festival,

will take place from October 22-24

at The Light cinema. The event will

feature the most acclaimed digital

short films and disseminate new vi-

sions in media, technology and visu-

al arts. Each day of the festival will

include a competition between short

films that were submitted in three

categories: animation, fiction and

micro-movie.

It seems like only yesterdaywhen the SoNoRo festival waslaunched for lovers of chamber mu-sic. This year the event, now on itsfourth run, will take place from No-vember 1-10 in Bucharest. From thecapital, the festival will move to Iasiand Cluj on November 11 and 12.

Concerts will be held in dedicat-ed, spectacular venues such as theRomanian Atheneaeum, CotroceniPalace, National Military Centerand the George Enescu Museum, aswell as some less conventionalspaces for chamber music such asBragadiru Palace and Saint Joseph’s

Cathedral. The latter will host, dur-ing the German Cultural Days, aconcert by the ensemble led by fa-mous violinist Daishin Kashimotoof the Berlin Philharmonic. It willalso welcome the project Sans Or-chestre from fiddler Gilles Apap ofSanta Barbara and the Paris groupColors of Invention. Born in France,Apap now lives in the United States.He is recognized for his talent butalso his different approach to music,having being pronounced “the ex-emplary violinist of the 21st centu-ry” by Yehudi Menuhin.

Otilia Haraga

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Prepare yourself for a jazz ex-travaganza: titans of the jazz worldwill perform in Bucharest at anevent that holds a special place inthe hearts of many aficionados ofthis musical genre, Bucharest Mas-ters of Jazz 2009.

This year’s festival boasts a stel-lar line-up which includes musi-cians such as Richard Bona, ElianeElias, Chick Corea, Lenny Whiteand Stanley Clarke, to name but afew. The shows start at 8 pm eachevening at the Palace Hall.

Bucharest gets jazzed up for festival

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OCTOBER 23é Richard Bona / Eliane Elias Quartet OCTOBER 24é Power of Three: Chick Corea, LennyWhite, Stanley ClarkeOCTOBER 25é Brandford Marsalis / Mike SternBand featuring special guest artistsRandy Brecker, Dave Weckl and ChrisMinh-DokyNOVEMBER 25é Jan Garbarek Group

SoNoRo chamber music festivalreturns in NovemberSoNoRo chamber music festivalreturns in November

business review issue 37, oct 19-25, 2009

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