BRD plans to sell some tens of thousand of contactless cards
BRD planned to sell some tens of thousand of contactless cards - devices that allow fast payment processing at the special POS terminals, without the need of a physical contact or the typing of the PIN. Contactless payments were launched in Romania by Turkish-based Garantibank, that have a year-long tradition in their origin market, but the project was not extended to a large scale. (Romanian source)
CNVM urged SIF Oltenia to make a decision on whether to keep Dinel Staicu as chairman
The Romanian National Securities Commission urged SIF Oltenia to make a decision on whether it will keep Dinel Staicu as chairman, as he is charged for fraud at Transgaz and was convicted for another fraud at the International Bank of Religion. But this is not the only case in which a company executive was sent to trial by prosecutors. Recently, Horia Ciorcila, chairman of Banca Transilvania, faced money laundering and insider trading charges. Attorneys said the difference between the two cases is that in case of Banca Transilvania, the institution in charge of its authorization is the National Bank of Romania. The executives of credit institutions are validated by the Romanian National Securities Commission, based on the authorization granted by the National Bank of Romania. (Romanian source)
Raiffeisen Bank cut interest rate for applicants of unsecured consumer loans who accept to transfer their salaries into an open account at the bank by 1%
Raiffeisen Bank cut interest rate for applicants of unsecured consumer loans who accept to transfer their salaries into an open account at the bank by 1%. The offer is valid until August 31, and consists of promotional fixed interests between 9.5% and 11.5% for RON-denominated loans, depending on the borrowed amount. Customers will also have to pay a processing fee of 3% when the loan is disbursed. (Romanian source)
Establishing Electra and Hidroenergetica to be put on hold till fall
The merging of Romania's state-owned energy companies into two corporations, Electra and Hidroenergetica, will be put on hold until fall, at the very least. The reason is that a few companies, private individuals and labor unions have challenged the procedure in court. The decision to establish the two corporations in the energy sector was taken by the Cabinet at the beginning of the year, after a debate which lasted for approximately a year. Two months ago, the Minster of Economy, Adriean Videanu, stated that Electra and Hidroenergetica will be able to expand beyond Romania's borders, in countries such as Serbia, Albania, Muntenegro and Moldova. (Romanian source)
Petrom's oil and gas production down by 1.6% in Q2
Petrom posted a 1.6% decrease of the oil and gas production in Q2 of 2010, compared to January-March, to 182,000 barrels of oil/day. The decrease is explained by the seasonly decrease of the gas demand in Romania and also by the delays reported at the development of extraction wells. Compared to Q2 of 2009, the production's decrease was also of 1.6%. In exchange, Petrom's sales of natural gas rose in Q2 of 2010 by almost 6%, from 0.84 billion cubic meters last year to 0.89 billion cubic meters, a lower level compared to the one posted in winter months, of 1.37-1.38 billion cubic meters per quarter. (Romanian source)
Banks expect 10-20% borrowers to default on their loans
Together with the implementation of the 25% public wage cut, banks expect 10-20% of borrowers will fail to meet their monthly loan rates. Some banks have drawn special programs since last year, programs geared towards borrowers who face hardships in meeting their loan payments, while other banks prefer to talk to each customer. Raiffeisen Bank, Alpha Bank and OTP Bank use a standard program. BCR announced this week a standard loan modification program, the bank having 700 specialized councilors in its network. GE Garanti Bank preferred to restructure loans on a case-by-case basis. Piraeus Bank implemented a tax on the restructuring of the loan of 0.01% of the persona need loan, and 0.01% for mortgage loans. (Romanian source)
NBR: The banks refused payments of RON 4.85 billion in H1
Payments via orders of payment, checks and bills refused by banks hiked 20% in H1 compared to the same period last year, at RON 4.85 billion, and the average value of a rejected payment surged 57.5% at RON 25,861, according to the NBR. The increase of the refused payments via debit instruments was mainly determined by the 26.6% surge in the case of orders of payment which amounted to RON 4.54 billion. The value of refused payments via checks dropped 28.95% from H1/2009, at RON 304.3 million. The number of refused payments via debit instruments dropped 23.35% in H1 compared to the same period last year at 187,013 operations. (Romanian source)
EximBank granted SC EL-CO SA an export credit guarantee of EUR 800,000
EximBank granted SC EL-CO SA an export credit guarantee of EUR 800,000 for the purchase of raw materials and other materials for executing the works in a contract with a supplier in France. " EximBank has streamlined the state guarantee disbursement process, so as to limit paperwork and reduce response time to just 10 days '', said Ionut Costea, chairman of EximBank. (Romanian source)
NBR Governor met with the heads of several banks to discuss the exposures of large foreign groups and stress tests
NBR Governor Mugur Isarescu and the heads of several banks met on Monday evening to discuss the optimum limit of the large foreign groups' exposures to Romania, the recent macroeconomic trends and the stress tests performed in Europe on 91 credit institutions. The head of the Central Bank invited Minister of Public Finance Sebastian Vladescu to the meeting as well. The exposure of the banks compared to that of the state, which is lower than 15%-20% on average, was also discussed. Bancpost Romania President Mihai Bogza says it's likely that some banking groups would demand a lower exposure as the capital is inefficiently invested in Romania. The Vienna agreement, signed in 2009 by the main nine banks with major exposures to the local market (Erste Bank, Raiffeisen International, Eurobank EFG, National Bank of Greece, UniCredit, Societe Generale, Alpha Bank, Volksbank and Piraeus Bank) is based on the bankers' pledges to keep the total exposure to Romania and to inject capital into the local subsidiaries if needed. (Romanian source)
Hidroelectrica applies for EBRD loan for investments
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) could grant a loan of up to EUR 65 million to state-owned Hidroelectrica for the rehabilitation of six units belonging to the Stejarul Bicaz hydro power plant. The entire project is worth EUR 110 million. The project would allow the six units to increase their output above the current 210MW, with the help of state of the art technology, according to a statement issued by the EBRD. The EBRD board will decide on September 28 whether the bank will co-finance the project. (Romanian source)
An 8%-10% market share for OTP on markets in Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Croatia would be optimum, said Sandor Csanyi, the President and General Manager of OTP. The solid situation of the capital allows the group to look for acquisitions on the markets in the four Eastern European countries while in Ukraine and Russia OTP aims for an organic development of its business. According to the NBR report, OTP's balance sheet assets in Romania, amounted to RON 3.4 billion at the end of last year. (Romanian source)
ProCredit Bank Romania increased its share capital with EUR 5 million
ProCredit Bank Romania increased its share capital with EUR 5 million at the end of last month, reaching more than EUR 140.309 million. ProCredit Romania general manager Gian Marco Felice said the additional funds are meant to increase the SMEs' financing capacity as well as that of companies in the agricultural sector. ProCredit Bank Romania will increase its share capital with EUR 18 million by 2014. (Romanian source)
The Dambovita County Council wants to secure a grant worth RON 30 million in order to modernize the infrastructure of the Moreni industrial park
The Dambovita County Council wants to secure a grant worth RON 30 million in order to modernize the infrastructure of the Moreni industrial park. The modernization project will be submitted to the Regional Operations Program. (Romanian source)
European MP Cristian Preda says several leaders of the PD-L are completely unprepared for the elections of 2012
The conflict between Adriean Videanu, First Vice-President of the PD-L, and European MP Cristian Preda, also from the PD-L, is far from over. Videanu accused Preda live, on Antena 3, of not being aware of the party's internal problems, while Preda said several leaders of the PD-L are completely unprepared for the elections of 2012. (Romanian source)
State institutions are still hiring, even though the Government is pretending to restructure the administration
Some of the Government's institutions are advertising jobs for directors, advisers and inspectors, even though the Government had promised at the beginning of the year to freeze hirings. Valentin Mocanu, a secretary of state with the Ministry of Labor, stated that hiring new staff is allowed only if 7% of an institution's staff retires. (Romanian source)
