In
2004, the Baltic countries, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia,
Slovenia and Hungary, acceded to the EU. In the case of Romania
and Bulgaria, the accession date is set for 2007. Thus, both
the international trade and the legal frame for this region
is facilitated. The development steps for the EU accession
forced Romania and Bulgaria to rapidly solve their problems,
to reform their governing system and to become more and more
attractive to investors. According to American lawyer Gilbert
Wood, president of the Foreign Investors Council in Romania,
this process " applied a serious blow to the vicious circle
in which Romania was trapped ''.
On Thursday,
January 5th, NBR attracted RON 2.5 billion from the inter-banking market
Overnight deposits were traded, at the beginning of the session
on Thursday, January 5th, at interests of 3% for the amounts attracted and of
5% for the amounts placed. NBR attracted 57.55% in the money on the market, that
is RON 2.5 billion.
Foraj Sonde Braila intends to increase its equity by 25%.
For this, it summoned the General Shareholders Meeting for January 27th.
The company provides annex services for oil and natural gas drilling.
The
market value of the companies listed on BSE, including Petrom and Rompetrol,
was 64% higher in 2005 than in 2004
The companies listed on BSE ended 2005 with a market value exceeding
EUR 15.3 billion, 64% up from 2004. The legal scandals " tempered '' the appreciation
of Rompetrol Rafinare shares, that was only 18%. At the same time, the appreciation
of Petrom shares was limited at 46% by the political interventions at the time
of the fuel price hikes. Razvan Pasol, General Manager with Intercapital Invest,
considers that 2006 may be the year of oil companies.
MCTI
selected Credit Suisse First Boston for providing financial consultancy
services in listing the State's RomTelecom share package on the stock market
MCTI selected Credit Suisse First Boston for providing financial
consultancy services in listing the State's RomTelecom share package (44.99%)
on the stock market. In early November 2005, MCTI received 9 offers for financial
consultancy.
Mutual
funds with stock investments will keep gaining ground on funds of instruments
with fixed revenue
Mutual funds with stock investments will keep gaining ground on funds
of instruments with fixed revenue, that are suffering from the large decrease
in bank interests. An increasing number of investors orients toward funds with
investments on the Stock Market, looking for high outputs, a fact which determined
most fund managers to increase their investments in the shares listed on the
capital market. Managers forecast that the mutual funds market will increase
by 50%. A good stock market evolution would determine higher increases, while
any important corrections on the capital market might slow down the development
of mutual funds as well.
NBR's
hard currency reserves increased by EUR 62.1 million in December 2005
NBR's hard currency reserves increased by EUR 62.1 million in December
2005 from the previous month and by almost EUR 6 billion from December 2004.
At the end of December 2005, the reserves summed up to EUR 16.794 billion, EUR
5.956 billion up from December 2004.
In
2005, the Romanian franchise system generated a turnover of approximately
EUR 730 million
Approximately 44% in the EUR 730 million turnover generated in 2004
by the Romanian franchise system, is represented by the contribution of the companies
active in the soft drinks, spirits and construction materials industries. The
distribution and retail franchises (fashion, jewelry, electronics and home appliances,
oil products, body care products) registered turnovers of EUR 146 million.
As
of 2006, MEC will supervise the fuel quality on the domestic market
According to a Government Decree passed on Thursday, January 5th,
as of 2006, MEC will supervise the fuel quality on the domestic market. The Executive's
decree stipulates changes and completions to the conditions for introducing gasoline
and diesel on the market. MEC will forward to the European Commission each year,
by June 30th, a report containing the national data on monitoring the fuel quality
for the previous year.
At
the end of 2005, the Government modified the stipulations of the program
on granting financial help to those with low incomes, who are using natural
gas for heating
At the end of 2005, the Government modified the stipulations of
the program on granting financial help to those with low incomes, who are using
natural gas for heating. The new stipulations grant the beneficiaries of the
program access to any of the authorized companies. At the same time, the Executive
decided to raise the help given by 50%.
Out of the desire to increase competition, more and more managers
prefer to make decisions with the help of IT solutions for resources management
(such as ERP-Enterprise Resource Planning), instead of organizing the traditional
meetings. As number of clients, Romanian companies, especially medium-sized ones,
are dominating the ERP market. As for the value of ERP implementations, multinational
groups that took over large Romanian companies are the main beneficiaries of
integrated ERP solutions (Petrom, Distrigaz, Sidex or Electrica).
ABN
Amro, Bancpost, HVB and Raiffeisen Bank representatives, about the evolution
of bank interests in 2006
2006 should be a year of consolidation, that should bring slight
drops for RON interests, both on deposits and on credits. On the other hand,
clear capital entries in the Romanian economy should remain at the same level,
with a consolidation effect for RON even in nominal terms. Dorin Badea, Chief-Dealer
with Bancpost, considers that, in 2006, both active and passive interests will
guide after the monetary policy interest level, that mill most likely be somewhere
between the 2. Liviu Olaru, Senior Dealer with ABN Amro, expects, for 2006, a
narrowing of the spreads. Bogdan Mihoc, Treasury manager with HVB Bank Romania,
considers that the NBR interest will hike by 1%, since, otherwise, NBR will not
manage to reach its inflation target. Ionut Dumitru, Head of Research with Raiffeisen
Bank, expects NBR to keep the current level of the intervention interest, even
though a raise would be justified.
Critic
analysis on president Traian Basescu' attitude toward the recent energy
crisis
Bogdan Comaroni analyst wonders why didn't president Traian Basescu
take a stand in the dispute on the natural gas price that appeared between Russia
and Ukraine and that revealed the fact that Romania is paying a higher price
than the EU countries for the gas imported from Gazprom. The journalist mentions
the fact that the head of the state took a stand in the matter of fuel prices
hiking, as well as in late summer of 2005, when the press wrote about the " abuses
'' at Apa Nova. Bogdan Comaroni considers that the president's silence is " very
grievous '', since it affects all Romanians.
According
to a CNP research, the slowing down of industrial output in 2005 is no
reason for concern
According to a CNP research, the slowing down of industrial output
in 2005 is no reason for concern. In the first nine months of 2005, in the industry
of radio-TV and communications equipments, the increase in revenues was almost
40% higher than the increase in output.
Romanian
authorities are looking for energetic alternatives to diminishing the gas
consumption
Authorities are looking for solutions to diminishing the gas
consumption, by using Romania's resources: water, coal and fuel oil. in
order to achieve this thing, some projects already started need to be continued,
the investments required amounting to some EUR 15 billion. Just like France,
Romania might produce more nuclear energy. At the same time, experts consider
that the future belongs to coal, especially brown coal.
New connections to the natural gas network are to be set up on the
territory of the Distrigaz Sud branches. The company will organize an open auction
for choosing a entrepreneur. Bids can be submitted by February 1st 2006. The
deadline for the operations will be 12 months after signing the contract.
After the BCR privatization, Austria has gained an important lead
to the other foreign investors in Romania and will consolidate its lead position
by the investments already announced by Schweighofer and Egger (that will exceed
EUR 500 million). Johannes Becker, Commercial Attache with the Austria Embassy
in Romania, stated that, on the short-term, the CEC privatization is expected
with a high interest, Raiffeisen Bank being one of the bidders.
On
Thursday, January 5th, the PSD Bucharest leaders asked for the resignation
of the Calin Popescu Tariceanu Government
On Thursday, January 5th, the PSD Bucharest leaders asked for the
resignation of the Calin Popescu Tariceanu Government, " for the complete failure
in meeting the objectives stipulated in the governing program ''. Codrin Stefanescu,
PSD Bucharest deputy president, mentioned price hikes, including those for natural
gas and fuels, among the Executive's failures.
The
Government discussed the possibility of Romania doubling its natural
gas storing capacity
The Government discussed the possibility of Romania doubling its
natural gas storing capacity, reaching 6 billion cubic meters. It also discussed
creating a new hydra-electric power station at Macin, Tulcea county, as well
as turning on reactors 2 and 4 of the nuclear plant in Cernavoda.
Mihai
Voicu, delegate minister with the Government's General Secretariat,
has 70,000 shares in Rompetrol Rafinare
The members of the Calin Popescu Tariceanu Government have updated
their income statements. Mihai Voicu, delegate minister with the Government's
General Secretariat, bought shares in 10 companies, including Rompetrol Rafinare,
in which he owns 70,000 shares.
In
2005, the minister of Domestic Affairs made ROL 340 million from
an investment fund guaranteed by ING Nederlanden
Dignitaries have recently updated their income statements. Thus,
in 2005, Vasile Blaga minister of Domestic Affairs made ROL 340 million from
an investment fund guaranteed by ING Nederlanden.
Emil
Boc, PD president, stated that the priorities of the D.A. Alliance
in 2006 should include helping people to cope with the price hikes
generated by the soon to to come EU accession
Emil Boc, PD president, stated that the priorities of the D.A. Alliance
in 2006 should include helping people to cope with the price hikes generated
by the soon to to come EU accession. The Democrat leader has also stated that
helping people to handle the natural gas and electricity price hikes represents " a
true challenge '' for the D.A. Alliance.
