Romania

June 2011

GDP DEVELOPMENT – Romanian GDP grew 0,6% in the Q1/2011 in comparison to Q4/2010 and 0,3% up y-o-y being the first quarter of growth in two years and marking an exit from recession.

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTS - Investment funds and strategic investors are showing an increasing interest in green and conventional energy, banking and financial sector, consumers goods and the industrial sector.

INFLATION - Romania’s annual inflation reached 8,0% in 3/2011, while the forecast for the whole year is still 3,6%.

CAR SALES - Car sales fell by 17,7 % in Q1/2011 y-o-y but grew by 44,6% in 3/2011 in comparison to previous month.

TELECOM - France Telecom plans to invest between 0,5-0,6 Bn € by 2015 in development of its subsidiary in Romania.

FOOD INDUSTRY - Portuguese Prio Foods, part of Martifer Group, has recently inaugurated a 93 M€ vegetable oil extraction unit. The company plans to invest further 8 M€ into an edible oil refinery during the next year

STEEL INDUSTRY - ArcelorMittal Galati will invest over 25 M€ in upgrading one of its plate mills.

AGRICULTURE - Canadian Agrium has bought Italian fertilizer manufacturer CerealToscana and its subsidiary in Romania, Agroport, for 20 M€.

CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS - Henkel will invest 10 M€ to its third factory in Romania. Works on the new production unit will begin in 2011 and be ready by the end of 2012.

MEDIA - US company Central European Media Enterprises has invested 8 M€ so that PRO Tv, Acasa Tv and Sport.ro can broadcast in high definition.

RETAIL - Jysk will enter the Bucharest market by building seven stores in the city in the next years. Jysk recently opened its first 1 600 m2 store in Militari Shopping Center in Bucharest.

RETAIL - C&A has signed a lease contract with Iulius Mall Group and will open a 1 400 m2 store in the Palas urban center in Iasi by the fall 2011 and two other stores in Iulius Mall Timisoara and in Iulius Mall Suceava.

OIL – SOCAR, The Azerbaijan state-owned oil company, plans to open 300 gas stations in Romania in the following three years. The company is currently rebranding several gas stations it bought in Romania.

CIGARETTE PRODUCTION - Japan Tobacco Inc. will move its production from Austria to Romania and Poland by the end of this year.

ENERGY - Italian Enel will invest 280 M€ in electricity distribution network in Romania in 2011. Enel has planned investments of 800 M€ in Romania in 2011-2015.

ENERGY – US Concorde Developments plans to invest 90 M€ into building two wind farms in Tulcea.

ENERGY - Holrom Rinewable Energy is completing a 21 M€ wind park in Baia and wants to develop 12 new wind projects in Romania.


March 2011

BUDGET DEFICIT – Romanian budget deficit in 2010 was 6.5 % of the GDP, which is 300 M€ below the target set together with IMF and EU.

FOREIGN DIRECT INVETMENTS – Investors from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait and Qatar are interested in investing in Romanian agriculture, infrastructure and financial sector. The minimum size of interesting projects is 20 M$.

REAL ESTATE - Real estate developer K&S Developments and Auchan have reached 80 % occupancy rate for Electroputere Parc shopping center in Craiova. The 90 M€, 55 000 m2 project is scheduled for opening in Q4/2011. Besides Auchan hyper market lease agreements have been signed with C&A, NewYorker, Takko, Orsay, Decathlon, Kiabi, Leroy Merlin and Norauto.

REAL ESTATE - Shopping center City Mall in Bucharest, is up for sale for 33 M€ , The owner of the mall, has a debt of around EUR 73 million. The shopping center filed for insolvency in November last year. Australian investment fund APN UKA bought the shopping center in 2006 for 103,5 M€.

IT - British IT company Endava plans to hire 200 more people in Romania this year and open new delivery centers in the country. The company will organize recruiting events in Bucharest, Iasi and Cluj – Napoca in the following months.

RETAIL - Hennes & Mauritz will begin operations in the Romanian 1,9 Bn € fashion market in March. Zara and C&A reported a profit from their Romanian operations after first full year in business.

AUTOMOTIVES - Ford will start producing B-Max model in Romania later this year. In 2012 150 000 B-Max will be produced, out of which 80 % will be exported to other European markets.

CHEMICALS - Henkel Romania posted a turnover of 133 M€ in 2010 as all of its three divisions detergents and home products, cosmetics and adhesives grew their market shares. The best selling brands in detergents were Persil and Pur, while Syoss was the best sold on the cosmetics segment. The construction materials segment under the Ceresit brand continued to be affected by the drop on the construction segment.

December 2010

GDP GROWTH – Romanian economy is expected to grow 0,2-2% next year after two years of recession. During 2010 the official GDP forecast moved from 1,3% growth at the beginning of the year to -0,5% in May and to -1,9% by the end of the year.

CAR SALES - In nearly 20 out of the 40 counties car sales continue to drop by more than 23%, the average market decline this year, with only Sibiu, Buzău and Bistriţa seeing rises. The biggest sales continued to be recorded in Bucharest, with almost 17 in 1 000 inhabitants buying a new car this year, though down from 22 last year.

TELECOM - Vodafone is going to invest 0,5 Bn€ in Romania over the next five years, with part of the sum to be directed toward the construction of a 4G network, which could lead to an over fourfold increase in the speed of mobile Internet services.

BANKING – Italian UniCredit bank plans to expand its network of 234 branch offices by another 300 branches during the next five years

CONSUMER GOODS - P&G opened a 76 M€ shampoo factory in Urlati, which will export 90% of its production.

AUTOMOTIVES - Ford is contemplating of investing several hundred million euro into establishing a technological centre in Romania, which would develop the company’s future car models.

LUXURY PRODUCTS - Swarovski is considering to start production in Cluj. The producer could sign the lease on over 3 500 m2 of space in Tetarom I industrial park near Cluj, or in Tetarom III, where Finish telephony producer Nokia is also active. If negotiations are successful, Swarovski could invest 10 M€ and hire 500 people for the local production facility.

MACHINERY INDUSTRY – Lufkin Industries, a US company specialized in providing equipment and services for the oil and gas industry, says it is building its biggest plant in Ploieşti. Out of the 100 M€ some 30 M€ come as an aid from the Romanian state.

IT - Microsoft expects business growth of 6% for the 2011 fiscal year that started on July 1st, double as much as that recorded in the previous year. All the company's divisions posted similar increases, with the biggest rise being recorded by the Microsoft Dynamics ERP solution and the CRM solution, whose revenues tripled against last year.

IT – Intel opened a software development centre in Bucharest and recruitment of dozens of programmers is underway.

SECURITY SERVICES - Swedish Securitas acquired Cobra Security, which in 2009 had a 13 M€ turnover.

REAL ESTATE – More than 200 M€ has been invested into Titan district in Bucharest. Developers have managed to sell about 80% of the homes developed during 2007-2010.

REAL ESTATE - Another 21 office buildings worth 300 M€ were finalised in Bucharest in the first half of this year, though almost 20% of offices built in Bucharest are empty and rents dropped by 5-15% during 2010. The 21 finished buildings, including Euro Tower or Lakeview in Barbu Văcărescu street, have 155 000 m2 letable area, showing that developers have started building smaller projects to reduce risks.

RETAIL - Romania's 25 largest cities, i.e. the ones with a population of above 100 000 inhabitants, have in the past ten years attracted investments of almost 5 Bn€ in shopping centres, hypermarkets and cash&carry-type stores. Out of the sum Bucharest, with an official population of 1,9 M, has received 1,6 Bn€.

RETAIL - French Decathlon, owning five sporting goods stores in Romania, announced it aims to build at least 20 stores in the Romanian cities with over 300 000 inhabitants during the next 10 years.

RETAIL – Tesco is eyeing Romania in view of making its entry on the market with its hypermarket division. The hypermarket chains currently active on the Romanian market are Carrefour, Real (Metro Group), Cora, Auchan, and Kaufland.

RETAIL - French-held Hypermarchee, owner of Cora hypermarkets, which has 329 M€ in sales from just three stores, is seeking to expand its store network to 20 stores and has during last two years invested 50 M€ into future stores plots.

RETAIL - British Nova Imobiliare has started construction of the Colosseum retail park near Bucharest. Leroy Merlin and Carrefour, are to invest over 40 M€ into opening stores in the park in 2011.

RETAIL - Bucharest's City Mall shopping centre, owned by Australia's APN investment fund, has entered bankruptcy proceedings at the request of the owners, which failed to reach an agreement with the representatives of UniCredit bank for the restructuring of a 40 M€ debt. The project is due to be put up for sale by the legal liquidator for debts to be covered.

RETAIL - DM Drogerie Markt, the German retailer selling cosmetics and consumer goods, is betting on Romania to expand its drugstore market. Against a 0,5 M€ average investment per store, the total budget for the next calendar year amounts to at least 10 M€ and the number of employees will expand from 200 to 340.

RETAIL - Although signs of a consumption rebound are yet to be seen hypermarket projects are being unfrozen. Retailers are signaling belief in a market rebound with 250 M€ worth of investments going into 19 stores either in planning or already under construction.

RETAIL - French retailer Carrefour will open two new hypermarkets in 2011, one in Bucharest, within the Colosseum shopping center in North West of the city and one in Botosani. For this year, three more Carrefour supermarket openings are expected. The store in Botosani will cover 7 000 m2 of sales area. The project will also include a shopping galleria with a leasable area of 9 500 m2.

RETAIL - The first Gucci store on the Romanian market was opened in December inside Hilton hotel after a 2 M€ investment. RETAIL - Armani opened its first luxury boutique Emporio Armani in Bucharest.

September 2010

GDP DEVELOPMENT - Romanian is forecasted to shrink by 1.9% in 2010 hence registering the worst economic performance in CEE this year.

EURO – Romania does not at the moment meet any of the four convergence criteria and thus Euro adoption is likely to be pushed back at least two years to 2017 or even to 2020.

CHEMICALS INDUSTRY - Germany's Meffert group, which was until 2005 owner of the paints manufacturer Dufa, is considering a return to the market through building a greenfield plant or by acquiring a domestic player.

IT – Oracle has rented 7,000 m2 of office space in Bucharest where it plans to hire around 500 employees to further grow its already 70 M€ business in Romania.

TELECOM - GTS Central Europe, one of the leading alternative telecom operators in Central and Eastern Europe, took over local company Datek, part of a consolidation strategy on the European market that began in 2004. The two companies did not reveal the value of the acquisition, but announced the revenues of the newly created entity would reach 25M€ this year.

FOOD INDUSTRY - More than 5-6 names had been initially mentioned on the list of interested buyers for Cadbury chocolate producer's Romanian operations. The deal is likely to revolve around 50M€.

CONSUMER GOODS – P&G mobilized 1,000 people in order to build and start operations of its 77M€ plant in Urlaţi in less than 1,5 years.

RETAIL - Swedish clothing retailer H&M, with 10Bn€ in turnover in 2009, will open its first stores in Romania in the spring of next year. The Swedes are expected to open around 1,400 m2 store on the ground floor of Plaza Romania.

RETAIL - German Kaufland has finalised investments of around 70M€ in expansion this year. The company has opened eight new stores during 1H/2010, bringing the total number to 53. During 2H/2010 the company will most likely open 5-6 new stores. Other plans include 80M€ investment to its second regional distribution centre, located near Turda.

RETAIL - Inditex Spanish retailer, owning Zara brand, is set to open, by year-end, its first store in Piteşti. The opening of the store, set to be over 1,000 m2, will require approximately 2M€ investment.

RETAIL – Lidl announced it started construction of its first stores in Romania. With the 50M€ investment into building up its 25 ready plots, the Germans will reach all regions in the country.

RETAIL - French sportswear retailer Decathlon, opened a 3,200m2 store in Polus Center shopping centre of Cluj. For the company, after Bucharest, Cluj is the most important city in the country due to the high number of students, the brands present locally and the client traffic.

REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT - Timpuri Noi industrial site, which covers 51,000m2, located one metro station away from Bucharest's city centre, has been bought by the real estate division of Swedish group IKEA for 35M€, which intends to build apartments, offices and retail spaces on the plot.

June 2010

RETAIL - French hypermarket network Cora will invest an estimated 22M€ in a new store in Drobeta Turnu-Severin, Mehedinti County, with a total surface area of 8,000 m2 and a 4,000 m2 commercial gallery. The hypermarket is set to be finalised in 2011.

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTS - Polish investment fund Enterprise Investors will invest an estimated 10M€ in expanding the Profi store network it acquired last year by at least ten new locations in 2010.

CONSTRUCTION - Romanian construction materials producer Soceram will invest 20M€ in the construction of an aerated concrete factory (that uses autoclave technology) in Roman, Neamt County. It is expected to become functional in the second half of 2011.

LOGISTICS - French logistics firm FM Logistics will invest an estimated 100M€ over the next 4-5 years in developing their second logistics park in Petresti, Dambovita County. The storage units will have a total estimated surface of 110,000 m2.

RETAIL - German discount retailer Kaufland invested an estimated 36M€ in opening four new stores in Botosani and Mioveni in Arges County; Medias in Sibiu County; and Reghin in Mures County, thus reaching a total of 49 stores in Romania.

PRODUCTION - South Korean Samsung distributor Shinheung will invest 20M€ in the construction of a production unit located within the Eurobusiness Parc Oradea industrial park where they are set to begin production in July.

CHEMICALS - Swedish paint manufacturer Fabryo invested an estimated 0,9M€ in acquiring and distributing paint colouring equipment.

AVIATION - The state owned Cluj- Napoca International Airport will invest an estimated 60-120M€ over the next two years in building a new 3,500 m runway.

WOOD INDUSTRY - Austrian wood-based materials producer Egger Group will invest 40M€ in the construction of a new adhesives factory in Radauti, Suceava County. The factory is set to become operational in 2012.

WOOD INDUSTRY - Swedish furniture manufacturer and distributor IKEA invested over 30M€ in acquiring the only IKEA franchise in Romania from Romanian multimillionaire Gabriel Popoviciu.

PHARMACY - Romanian pharmaceutical company Biofarm will invest 8M€ in a production and storage plant.

CHEMICALS - Romanian rubber adhesives manufacturer Duraziv invested 7M€ in the construction of a factory located in southern Bucharest with a total production capacity of 300,000 tonnes per year.

RETAIL - Romanian DYI network Brico Expert invested 7M€ in opening a new Mr. Bricolage store in Iasi. The store has a total surface of 10,000 m2; the largest in the network.

HEALTHCARE - Swedish health group Medicover will invest 40M€ in an 88-bed hospital in northern Bucharest.

RETAIL - Belgian retail company Delhaize le Lion Group will invest an estimated 20-30M€ in expanding its Romanian network by 16 units in 2010: they will increase their Mega Image network by ten units and the discount chain Red Market by six units.

RETAIL - Cypriot Rolex importer and distributor Chronolink will invest an estimated 10M€ over the next five years in expanding its store network. The first is to be located in the centre of Bucharest following an investment of over 0,5M€

REAL ESTATE - Belgian real estate developer Atenor Group will invest an estimated 150M€ in the construction of an office building with a total surface of 70,000 m2, which will be located in northern Bucharest. Construction works are set to begin this year.

FOOD INDUSTRY - Spanish processed meats manufacturer Campofrio invested 12.3M€ in acquiring an additional 18% share (for a 49% total) in Lebanese foods producer Caroli Foods Group.

RETAIL - German clothing and accessories retailer New Yorker will invest an estimated 3M€ in opening three new stores in 2010, which is part of a larger 6M€ investment in network expansion (in addition to the three stores it’s already opened this year in Arad, Timisoara, and Bucharest).

OIL & GAS - Austrian oil and gas company OMV Petrom will invest an estimated 100M€ in the construction of a 45 MW Aeolian power plant in southeastern Romania, which is set to become functional in summer 2011.

WOOD INDUSTRY - Turkish wood processing company Prolemn will invest 80M€ in a chipboard factory located in Reghin, Mures County, which is set to become functional in 2011.

CONSTURCTION - Romanian businessperson Gabriel Popoviciu will invest 22M€ in the construction of a cinema centre, an entertainment centre, and a gas station. The 15,000 m2 cinema will have 13 screens, a total capacity of 2,700 seats and will be finalised in the second half of 2011; the entertainment centre will be 4,000 m2 in size, and is set to open in spring 2011.

FOOD INDUSTRY - Romanian meat processing company Unicarm will invest an estimated 10 – 30M€ in opening 10-15 new stores in various locations.

ENERGY SECTOR - Portuguese energy operator Energias de Portugal will invest 328M€ in two Aeolian energy projects located in Pestera and Cernavoda, Constanta County. The total production capacity of both projects will be of 228 MW.

MARINE - Korean industrial shipbuilder Daewoo Mangalia Heavy Industry invested an estimated 188M€ in converting one of its repair docks into a construction dock. The project is set to be finished by next month.

RETAIL - German discount retailer Kaufland will invest an estimated 45M€ in opening six new stores, for a total of fifty-six Romanian stores. The new units will be located in Caransebes (Caras-Severin County), Sighisoara (Mures County), Orastie and Deva (Hunedoara County), and Vaslui and Ramnicu-Sarat (Buzau County).

RETAIL - French retailer Carrefour will invest an estimated 30M€ in 2010 in opening 10 new supermarkets in Bucharest and a hypermarket in Drobeta Turnu-Severin, Mehedinti County.

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTS - Turkish piping manufacturer Superlit Romet will invest 10M€ in doubling the production capacity of its factory in Buzau by year’s end.

CONSTRUCTION - Romanian businessperson George Copos will invest an estimated 65M€ in the construction of an office building called Ana Tower comprising 28 floors, which is to be located in northern Bucharest.

WOOD INDUSTRY - Turkish wood processing company Prolemn will invest 50-60M€ in a plywood production line in Reghin, Mures County, which is set to become functional between October and December of this year.

PHARMACY - German pharmaceutical company B. Braun will invest 6M€ through 2011 in increasing the production capacity of its Helvetica Profarm factory located in Timisoara, Timis County.

REAL ESTATE - Austrian real estate developer S+B Grouppe invested 25M€ in the construction of a 13,000 m2 office building in northern Bucharest.

HEALTHCARE - Romanian private medical services provider Centrul Medical Elim will invest an estimated 40-50M€ in the construction of a private hospital in western Bucharest.

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTS - Spanish investment fund GED Capital invested over 12M€ in acquiring a 90% share of the Romanian printing house Infopress.

CONSTRUCTION - Romanian construction materials producer Arcon will invest over 8M€ in a new polystyrene production line and in modernising the existing one, doubling the production capacity of its factory in Sfantu Gheorghe, Covasna County to 900,000 m2.

ENERGY SECTOR - German energy developer PNE Wind will invest 622M€ in the development of four wind farms in several regions of the country, which will produce a total of 366 MW. The first farm is set to be finalised by yearend 2011.

CONSTRUCTION - Romanian construction materials retailer Dedeman will invest an estimated 42M€ in 2010 in opening four new stores.

RETAIL - French sports retailer Decathlon invested an estimated 35M€ in opening five new stores in Grand Arena Mall, Bucharest; and in Iasi, Constanta, Brasov and Timisoara.

METALS INDUSTRY - Austrian steel producer Voestalpine Group will invest 20M€ in the construction of a steel factory in Giurgiu with a production capacity of 130,000 tonnes per year. Work begins in June and is projected to be finished in one year.

HEALTHCARE - British medical services provider Medcenter will invest 8.1M€ in 2010 in adding medical imaging services to its clinics, and in opening a new medical centre in Ploiesti and a central laboratory in Bucharest

GDP DEVELOPMENT - Romania's first-quarter Gross Domestic Product fell 2.6% from the same period of last year, and 0.3% from the fourth quarter 2009.In gross series, the economy contracted by 2.6% in the Jan-Mar period, from the year-ago period, while seasonally-adjusted the contraction was 2.5%.

March 2010

CAR SALES – New passenger car registrations in Jan-February 2010 decreased y-o-y by 77%.

RETAIL - German discount retailer Kaufland will invest 40-50 M€ in expanding its network by 5-6 new stores. The first three stores will be located in Medias (Sibiu County), Botosani and Mioveni (Arges County).

RETAIL - French hypermarket network Cora will invest an estimated 30M€ in opening a new store located in the Sun Plaza Mall in Bucharest; it is set to open in February 2010.

RETAIL - French sports retailer Decathlon will invest an estimated 24M€ in 2010 in opening six new stores, two of which will be located in Bucharest.

RETAIL - German retailer Metro will invest an estimated 20M€ in its 25th Metro Cash & Carry store to be located in eastern Bucharest and set to open in the first half of 2010.

INSURANCE - French insurance group AXA will invest just under 10 M€ in acquiring Austrian insurance company Omniasig Life, thus making their entrance into the Romanian market.

ENERGY - State-owned electrical energy producer Electrica will invest 112 M€ in 2010 in modernizing its distribution networks.

STEEL INDUSTRY - Global steel giant ArcelorMittal will invest 50M€ in upgrading a steel furnace at its factory in Galati. The modernizing works are set to be finalized by January 2011.

RETAIL - French retailer Auchan will invest an estimated 40 M€ in opening two new hypermarkets through the end of 2011: one unit will be in Constanta, and the other in Brasov
(10 500 m2) within Coresi Shopping City Retail Park.

LOGISTICS - Canadian warehousing company Euro Mini Storage Romania will invest 28 M€ over the next three years in opening four new warehouses. The first (7 500 m2) opened in Bucharest following an 8 M€ investment.

HEALTHCARE - Romanian businessperson Virgil Mailat invested an estimated 11M€ the construction of a new private hospital called “Nova Vita Hospital” in Targu-Mures, Mures County, which is set to open at the end of this month.

January 2010

GDP DEVELOPMENT – In Q3/2009 decreased 7,1 % y-o-y, which was less than the analysts expectation of 9% decline.

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTS - Foreigners have invested into Romania enough to control 1/3 of the economy. At the same time companies owned by foreigners employ only about 760 000 people, which is 17% of the total workforce. In The Global Venture Capital and Private Equity Country Attractiveness Index ranking Romania was rose 47th place while in 2006 it was ranked 52nd (out of 66 countries).

TELECOM - Nokia has quietly reached half a billion euro turnover in Romania, becoming thus one of Romania's 40 largest companies.

ENGINEERING - Romanian transportation company, Metrorex, will invest 13 M€ in prefeasibility and feasibility studies for the design of a new major subway line, Alexandria-Voluntari, in Bucharest. An open tender will be held in March for the project that will be 21 km in length, have thirty-one stations and a depot.

WOOD INDUSTRY - Austrian wood processing company Holzindustrie Schweighofer invested an estimated 10 M€ into a take-over of Finnish Finnforest Baco Production Company in Bacau.

WOOD INDUSTRY - Romanian solid oak flooring manufacturer Alba, from Cincu, Brasov county, will invest 1,2 M€ in equipment for manufacturing oak parquet flooring.

MEDICAL SERVICES - German private medical service operator Centrul Medical Unirea invested 700 000 € in the development of its second unit in Cluj-Napoca, Cluj county.

RETAIL - Polish investment fund Enterprise Investors invested 66 M€ in acquiring the local retailer Profi, which has a network of 60 stores.

RETAIL - French retailer Auchan will invest over the next three years approximately 140 M€ into doubling the number of its stores in Romania to 14 units.

RETAIL - Several representatives of Hennes & Mauritz, one of the world's largest clothing retailers and one of the most popular on the middle segment, recently had meetings in Bucharest and in other Romanian cities with shopping centre owners to collect information in view of a potential entry on the Romanian market.

AVIATION - Europe’s largest aeronautic and defense group EADS will invest 90 M€ into a new production plant for Airbus aircraft parts at the IAR Ghimbav aeronautical industrial park, Brasov County. The factory is set to become functional in April 2010.

FOOD INDUSTRY - Danish agribusiness JD Agro Cocora has invested more than 45 M€ into an agriculture complex located near Cocora, Ialomita County.

WHITE GOODS - German home appliances manufacturer Miele invested 24 M€ into a Greenfield project for a new home appliances factory located in Brasov. This is the first Miele factory in Eastern Europe.

AVIATION - American aircraft parts manufacturer Universal Alloy Corporation invested an estimated 20 M€ in a new metal parts factory located in Dumbravita, Maramures County.

CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS - Romanian metallic construction materials distributor Damila is now also a producer following its recently finalized 2,5 M€ investment in a new metallic roof factory located in Ramnicu-Valcea, Valcea County. The complex has a total surface of
4 000 m² with potential for future expansion.

RETAIL - German do-it-yourself chain Hornbach will invest an estimated 40 M€ in the construction of a new store in eastern Bucharest along the DN1.

MEDICAL SERVICES - Romanian private medical services provider MedLife will invest 2 M€ into four new private clinics, three located in Bucharest and the fourth in Cluj. Each unit comprises a 0,5 M€ investment and a surface area of 8 000 m2. 36% of the company was recently bought by a French investment fund for 20 M€.

MEDICAL SERVICES - Romanian medical group Fiterman will invest 15 M€ in a new private hospital located in Iasi. The hospital has a total surface of 1 100 m2 and is set to open in January 2010.

MEDICAL SERVICES - BioTerra Med together with Dr. Nicolae Verga invested 3 M€ in a new oncology centre called Hifu Terramed Conformal, located in Bucharest.

CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS - Romanian construction materials producer Soceram will invest an estimated 40 M€ in the construction of two factories, which are set to be finalised in 2011.

RETAIL - UK's New Europe Property Investments (NEPI) investment fund is set to take over a retail park developed by BelRom Belgian company in Braila, in a 63 M€ deal. NEPI plans to also buy the projects BelRom developed in Focsani and Bacau, with total investments in the three projects due to go beyond 160 M€.

AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY - Auto components manufacturer Takata Petri has moved production of steering wheels for Mercedes and Honda to Arad, after closing the plant in Walbrzych, Poland, which had almost 600 employees, at the end of August. The company's turnover was 269 M€ at the end of 2008.

PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY - Romanian pharmaceutical company Antibiotice will invest 8-9 M€ over the next three years in developing their production capacity for new products.

AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY – Peugeot-Citroen and Mitsubishi will start the industrial assembly of cars in southwest Russia from March 2010. The companies are continuing their joint projects in Russia despite the ongoing economic crisis and subsequent difficulties, with total investment in the project expected to reach 470 M€.

AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY - Tyre manufacturer Pirelli is preparing to start construction of its second production facility in Slatina, near the plant built in 2004. The project of the Slatina plant provides for two similar tyre production facilities. The European Investment Bank (EIB) is currently analysing the granting of a 50 M€ loan for the project meant to boost the Italian company's production capacity. According to data published by the EIB, the overall value of the project is 159 M€.

FOOD INDUSTRY - Lebanese business people Mohammad, Hassan and Ahmed Murad will invest 4 M€ in a French-fries factory located in Roman, Neamt County, which is set to become functional in 2010.

LOGISTICS - Macromex, the biggest distributor of frozen products domestically, is poised to invest 20 M€ in the following year in a logistic centre in Campia Turzii, a move due to reshape the company's operations in central Romania.

IT - Asseco South Eastern Europe, part of the Polish group, plans to purchase four new companies in the region, for which it allocated a budget of 29 M€ to be spent within two years.

AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY - French auto maker Renault Tehnologie Roumanie will invest 200 M€ in 2010 in the development of a technology centre, mechanical plant and the modernisation of a Dacia factory’s installations.

REAL ESTATE - German banking group Deutsche Bank, through its real-estate division, invested 100 M€ in the acquisition of the largest office building in Bucharest. The building is located in northern Bucharest and has a total rentable surface of 57,000 m2

CHEMICAL INDUSTRY - Romanian chemical fertiliser producer Nitroporos, part of Romanian-English agribusiness InterAgro, will invest 20 M€ in the modernisation of its factory located in Fagaras.

STEEL INDUSTRY - Indian ferrous metals producer Transdanube, part of Indian Liberty International Group, invested 16 M€ in the acquisition of the Turol foundry located in Oltenita. This is part of a larger investment plan for the group, which intends to develop a new steel plant in Oltenita with an estimated investment of 150 M€.

MACHINERY INDUSTRY - American oil recovery equipment manufacturer Cameron Romania invested 80 M€ in the construction of a factory located in Ploiesti.

MACHINERY INDUSTRY - Romanian cable and wire producer Cord Buzau, part of Austrian investment fund Donau Finanz will invest 15 M€ in a new wiredrawing and thermal dip production line for its factory located in Buzau

MACHINERY INDUSTRY - Chinese agricultural equipment producer Hoyo Agricultural Machinery Equipment invested an estimated 14 M€ in the construction of a new factory located in Rasnov, Brasov County; it is part of a three-year investment plan of 34 M€.

BEVERAGES - Coca-Cola invested 30 M€ in the construction of a new fully automated 10 000 m2 warehouse near its factory in Ploiesti, Prahova County.

WOOD INDUSTRY - Austrian wood processor and manufacturer Holzindustrie Schweighofer invested an estimated 30 M€ in the acquisition of 11 000 ha of forests on the local market.

BEWERAGES - Greek group Valvis Holding will invest 13M€ in a greenfield project for a new mineral water bottling factory in southern Vatra Dornei, Suceava County and a new mineral water brand, Aqua Carpatica.

ENTERTAINMENT - Israeli cinema operator Cinema City International invested over 10 M€ in the construction of its 6th cinema megaplex located in the new AFI Palace Cotroceni mall in Bucharest. It is set to open in November 2009, and will include 21 cinema halls with a total capacity of 4 300 seats.

ENGINEERING - Dutch engineering group Imtech invested between 14-15 M€ in the acquisition of Romanian engineering group Arconi located in Bucharest.

September 2009

GDP GROWTH - The Romanian state's forecasting body CNP projects that GDP would drop by 7.7% in 2009 and recover by 0.5% in 2010 and 2.5% in 2011.

LOGISTICS - Belgian logistics developer Alinso in partnership with Romanian construction materials distributor Piritex will invest 750 M€ over the next six years in the construction of an industrial logistics park called Ploiesti West Park. The complex will cover a total surface of 2 200 000 m².

TELECOM - Greek telecommunication company OTE Group invested 207 M€ through its subsidiary Cosmote in acquiring the phone operator Zapp form Saudi telecommunication company Telemobil.

AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY - French automotive company Renault Tehnologie Roumanie invested 166 M€ in the first phase of converting a former military base into a technological centre for car testing. The necessary funds were obtained from BERD, BEI, and Romanian state and private funding. Currently, 20% of project construction is finished.

AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY - Italian tyre producer Pirelli will invest a total amount of 150 M€ over the next three years in developing its businesses in Romania.

AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY - American car maker Ford Motor Company began production in its new factory Ford Craiova last week. Total investment for the production unit is at 675 M€, 57 M€ of which represents acquisition costs.

ENERGY - Portuguese biofuel company Martifer will invest 93 M€ in the construction of an oil extraction plant located in Lehliu Gara, Calarasi County, where it already has a biodiesel production plant.

ENERGY - Swiss energy company Alpiq invested 100 M€ in acquiring Romanian energy distribution company EHOL Distribution, part of Energy Holding group.

ENERGY - Romanian-English agribusiness InterAgro, will invest 55 M€ in the development of twelve electric turbines, generating up to 7 MW per turbine, and five electric energy power plants designed for the company's industrial complexes.

ENERGY - Romanian agricultural producer Racova Com Agro Pan Vaslui will invest 30 M€ in the construction of two new energy production installations: one for electrical energy and one for thermal energy. Both units will run on agricultural raw materials (like sun flower, corn, dairy and bovine waste materials).

ENERGY - An Italian consortium, led by Activ Business Invest as main backer, will invest an estimated 60 M€ in building thirteen mill Aeolian (wind) energy field in Tulcea County (Casimcea, Murighiol, and Dunavat). The installed power will be above 45 MW.

ENERGY - Czech energy group CEZ obtained a 260 M€ bank loan to acquire the necessary equipment for starting its Aeolian (wind) energy project in Fantanele and Cogeac, Constanta County. The loan is part a total investment expected to reach 1.1 bn €.

ENERGY - Italian energy group Enel will invest 300 M€ in modernizing its electrical distribution infrastructure (electric lines, network control systems and acquisition of new equipments) in 2009 and intends to invest 150 M€ each year for the next five years; thus surpassing the initial investment estimate of 700 M€.

FOOD INDUSTRY – US company Pepsi Americas will invest an estimated 105 M€ in a new factory, located in Dragomiresti, Ilfov County on a 30 000m² plot of land. This will be the largest Pepsi Americas factory in Europe.

FOOD INDUSTRY - Romanian milling and bakery company Vel Pitar will invest 20 M€ over the next three years in developing a new milling and bakery production complex in southern Bucharest, relocating its two existing factories.

FOOD INDUSTRY - Romanian canned foods producer Scandia Romana will invest an additional 33 M€ in completing upgrades and renovations for its factory in Sibiu, and in the acquisition of equipment. The initial investment was 30 M€.

STEEL INDUSTRY - British steel producer Corus, in joint-venture with Romanian construction company P.A.B. Romania, will invest 6 M€ in a new metallic products and panels factory which will be located in Sfantu-Gheorghe, Covasna County.

PACKAGING INDUSTRY - American PET packaging producer Plastipak will invest 50 M€ in the construction of a new factory in Urlati, Prahova County, next to the future Procter & Gamble factory.

PACKAGING INDUSTRY - Romanian wrapping paper producer Tiger Somes will invest €5 million in the modernization of its factory located in Dej, Cluj County.

RETAIL - German retailer Metro will invest an estimated 80-100 M€ in 2009 in the construction of three or four new Real hypermarkets.

RETAIL - German retailer Selgros Cash&Carry, part of Rewe Group, invested an estimated 15-17 M€ in its 18th store (8,000 m²), which is set to open of September 1, 2009.

RETAIL - German retail company Kaufland will invest 150 M€ in loans from EBRD in the construction and operation of 20 new stores in Romania and 13 in Bulgaria, targeting smaller cities (25 000 to 45 000 inhabitants) with less purchasing power. At the moment Kaufland has 40 stores across Romania.

RETAIL - Finnish group Rautakirja Romania, which includes press distribution company Hiparion Distribution and retail chain R-Kiosk, will invest 1 M€ in modernizing its press and documents distribution process.

MACHINERY INDUSTRY - State-owned railway transport company CFR Calatori will invest an estimated 78.6 M€ in modernising 150 first-class wagons.

AVIATION - Dolj County will invest 10 M€ into Craiova Airport reconstruction and modernisation project. Works are set to finish in 2011.

SECURITY SERVICES - Global security services company G4S will invest an estimated 30-40 M€ in acquiring two new Romanian companies (a security services company and an electronic security provider) as well as integrating its three local divisions into a holding company. G4S intends to finalize the acquisitions by October 2009.

OIL INDUSTRY - Kazakhstani oil company KazMunaiGaz, which acquired Romanian oil company Rometrol last year, is planning to invest approximately 75 M€ in its Romanian branch.

LOGISTICS - Romanian bulk raw material handling company Comvex Constanta has invested 30 M€ in development and equipment acquisition; it is part of a 125 M€ investment project.

ENTERTAINMENT - Israeli cinema operator Cinema City International will invest 20 M€ in three new Multiplex Cinemas in Bucharest and Pitesti, Arges County, set to open by the end of 2009, reaching a total number of 72 units in Romania.

STEEL INDUSTRY - Arcelor Mittal invested 8 M€ in the implementation of a new automatic control system for one of its flatting mills in Romania.

REAL ESTATE - Austrian real estate developer Atrium will invest 330 M€ in the construction of three commercial complexes located in Arad, Constanta and Focsani (Vrancea County). The projects are set to be finalized by the end of 2009.

CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY - Hungarian real estate developer Futureal will invest 97 M€ in the construction of Gold Plaza Mall located in Baia Mare, Maramures County, which is set to open in 2010.

CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS - Polish construction materials producer Macon-Simcor will invest 7.1 M€ through 2010 in increasing its production capacity by 14% for concrete planks, and by up to 40% for its lime production factory located in Targu Jiu, Gorj County.

CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS - Swedish construction materials producer Somaco Grup Prefabricate will invest an estimated 8-10 M€ over the nest four years in increasing the production capacity of its factory located in Adjud.

CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS - German aggregates and building materials manufacturer Heidelberg Cement group will invest 55 M€ (up from the previous €50 million) in increasing the production capacity for its three factories.

CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS - Romanian construction materials producer Cemacon will invest 27 M€ over several years in increasing the production capacity of its factory in Bacau.

CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS - Italian construction and real estate group Euroholding will invest 15 M€ in the construction of two new prefab construction materials and concrete factories located in Timisoara.

CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS - Danish industrial group Danfoss finalized a 10 M€ investment in its new Romanian headquarters located in southern Bucharest. The complex includes a production unit for heating systems equipment, a warehouse, and a sales office.

CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS - German construction company AHG Simcor Industry will invest 40 M€ for the acquisition and reconstruction of a lime factory from ArcelorMittal Galati.

GLASS INDUSTRY - Greek glass producer Stirom will invest an estimated 20 M€ in the modernisation of its glass factory located in eastern Bucharest.
§HEALTHCARE - Dutch medical service company Medisystem, owner of Euroclinic Hospital, will invest an estimated €2.5 million in the construction of two new clinics under the ‘Euroclinic Medical & Hospital Centres’ brand, to be located in the northern and eastern parts of Bucharest. The two clinics are set to open in October.

June 2009

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTS – Over 5 000 Austrian companies operating in the Romanian market have together invested over 10 bn € into various sectors of the Romanian economy. The key sectors for Austrian investments have been banking, insurance, energy and wood processing.

AUTOMOTIVE - Volkswagen invests 25 M€ to build three new centers in Piatra Neamt, Targoviste and Constanta thus having a network on 31 authorized centers across Romania.

ENERGY – Spanish Iberdrola Renovables will begin installing its first wind turbine in the Dobrogea region. This will be part of a 1 500 MW project, of which the total value of the investment amounts to some 2,5 bn € by 2015.

SHIP BUILDING – Dutch Damen Shipyards Galati will invest 12 M€ in 2009 into constructing a new production hall to expand its building portfolio from cargo ships and tankers to more complex vessels and yachts.

RETAIL - Atrium European Real Estate, which finished a 75 M€ shopping gallery project in Bucharest in April, is encouraged by the good results from the first two months and is considering to start construction of three new commercial spaces.

ENTERTAINMENT - Estonian Olympic Entertainment Group invested an estimated 6,4 M€ to open its largest Romanian casino, located in the Pullman Hotel, in northern Bucharest.

AUTOMOTIVE – Italian Pirelli, which owns three factories in Romania, started a 150 M€ investment project, which will double the production capacity of the tyre manufacturing facility in Slatina. Previously Pirelli has invested some 250 M€ in Romania. Pirelli’s representatives stated that production was expected to go up by about 30% this year, from 3 million tyres in 2008.

March 2009

FOREST INDUSTRY – Finnish Tornator and Austrian Holzindustrie Schweighofer have invested 50 M€ in forest acquisition. The average hectare price the foreign investors have paid for forest in Romania has been around 3 000 €/ha.

AUTOMOTIVE – In January car industry companies laid off 4 000 people in Romania. During the last 15 years 220 000 jobs have been created in the Romanian the car industry companies.

CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY – French Lafarge, postpone by a year the completion of a 90 M€ investment project, which was started in 2008. However, the view on the Romanian market having significant medium term growth potential remains unchanged. In 2008 Lafarge's turnover in Romania was 380 M€, up 25-30% y-o-y.

FURNITURE INDUSTRY – Ikea revenues grew by 20% in the last quarter of 2008 y-o-y. Ikea has operated 1,5 years in Romania and is already the third largest furniture retailer.

ENERGY - Italian Enel, owner of former energy transmission and supply companies Electrica Banat, Dobrogea and Muntenia Sud, has announced that it will allocate 700 M€ over the next five years to bring the networks up to EU standards.

December 2008

ECONOMIC GROWTH - Romanian GDP is forecasted to drop 0.6% next year.

BANKING - Lending growth is forecasted to slow down to 5% in 2009, which will lead to a decline in consumption. Constructions and retail will be the fields hardest hit areas. With a non-governmental credit of around 40% of GDP, companies and the population's dependence on banking loans is significantly lower than in other CEE countries.

CONSTRUCTION - Romanian real estate developer Flavus Investitii will begin the first stage of 1.5 bn EUR its Brasov Coresi project next year.

MACHINERY INDUSTRY - German bearing producer Ina Schaeffler will invest 95 M EUR in 2009 into expanding its factory in Brasov.

PACKAGING - Belgian packaging producer VPK invested 15 M EUR into a 25 000 m2 corrugated cardboard factory in Bihor County.

WASTE MANAGEMENT - Swedish waste recycling company Usitall will invest an estimated 100 M EUR in the next 3-4 years in the development of a waste incinerator, which will also produce thermo and electric power for the 91 000 inhabitant Tulcea.

WASTE MANAGEMENT - American alternative energy producer Energy Quest and Italian garbage sorting systems manufacturer COFAMM will invest 73 M EUR in the development of a power gasification plant using municipal solid waste. The unit will convert daily 500 tons of household waste into 20 MW of power.

CAR PRODUCTION - Ford will most likely start production at the Craiova plant at the end of 2008 and intends to reach 300 000 cars annual production.

RETAIL - Plus discount stores plans to invest 30-38 M EUR annually for the next four years to expand its 70 store countrywide network by 20-25 stores annually. Although the chain has entered also cities with below 15 000 inhabitants, Bucharest has priority on its expansion list due to 3-4 times higher than the average customer flow than small localities.

FOOD INDUSTRY - South-African SABmiller will invest 50 M EUR to triple its beer production capacity. At the same time Heineken Romania is investing 22 M EUR into increasing the production capacity of its five Romanian plants.

HEALTH CARE - Romanian businessman Florin Andronescu will invest 50 M EUR in the development of a 14 000 m2 private hospital in central Bucharest.

PRINTING - German printing services provider Euro-Druckservice invested an estimated 20 M EUR in the development of a typography unit in Brasov County.

PRODUCTION - American Polaris will invest 50 M EUR into its first European production unit in Giurgiu. The factory will build up to 60 000 snow-mobiles, ATVs, Victory motorcycles and ranger cars per year. At this production capacity, the factory could generate some 120 M EUR in turnover.

MACHINERY INDUSTRY - American company Universal Alloy Corporation, operating in the aircraft industry, will invest 24 M EUR into a aluminum profile extrusion factory to be opened during 1H/2009.

CONTRUCTION MATERIALS - Romanian construction materials producer Adeplast invested 28 M EUR in expanding the production capacity of its factory in Oradea, Bihor County.

CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS - French construction materials supplier Lafarge will invest 100 M EUR in the development of a gypsum-board factory in Turceni, Gorj County.

CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS - Austrian aluminum profiles manufacturer HAI Aluminium will invest 40 M EUR in the development of a production unit in Santana, Arad County.

ENERGY - Romanian-English company Bio Fuel Energy, operating in the chemistry industry, invested 65 M EUR in the development of a bioethanol factory. The unit will be open for business from February 2009 and will have a production capacity of 80 000 tons annually.

FOOD INDUSTRY - Swiss canned meat producer Scandia Romana invested 30 M EUR in the development of a 20 000 m2 can factory in Sibiu. With a 36 000 tons annual production, the unit will be open for business in 2009.

FORESTRY - Finnish company Tornator, specialized in forest exploitation, invested an estimated 50 M EUR in the acquisition of 10 000 ha of forest in Eastern Romania

October 2008

PC SALES - The overall PC market is expected to increase by 60-70% in the fourth quarter, compared to Q3.

ALUMINIUM INDUSTRY - Vimetco, a Russian aluminium company, will invest over 1.5 Bn EUR in the development of a 1 320 MW thermo-electric power plant in Turnu Magurele, Teleorman County.

REAL ESTATE - Y.H. Dimri International, an Israeli real estate developer, will invest 500 M EUR into developing two real estate projects in Bucharest and Ploiesti, comprising 5,300 dwellings and a shopping centre.

CEMENT PRODUCTION - Holcim Group, a Swiss cement producer, will invest 400-500 M EUR into opening a cement factory in Cluj County.

COSMETICS - Procter & Gamble will invest an estimated 68 M EUR into the development of a shampoo and hair care products factory near Ploiesti, Prahova County.

METAL PARTS PRODUCTION - Rautaruukki, Finnish metal-based components and system manufacturer, will invest 35 M EUR by the end of 2008 into a metal profiles production unit.

INVESTMENTS - Iem Top Investment and Shandong Ninjiang Construction Group, Chinese investment and construction companies, Romanian air transport company Atlas Airlines and Romanian authorities will invest close to 1 Bn EUR in the development of a 350 ha industrial park in Slobozia, Ialomita County. The park is to be completed by 2011.

August 2008

ECONOMY - Romania's real GDP growth accelerated to 8.2% y-o-y in Q1/08 from 6.6% in Q4/07. Domestic investment rose even sharper by 35.2% y-o-y in Q1/08 fueling concerns over overheating and high inflationary.

FDI - The FDI for the first 5 months of 2008 almost doubled compared to the same period last year, reaching 4.11 Bn EUR.

FDI - foreign investors from automotive, food and construction materials industries have committed to 2 Bn EUR worth of projects, which are to be completed by 2012. Once up and running the projects will employ 16 000 people.

ONLINE SALES - The online booking of air and rail tickets is becoming increasingly popular among Romanians, the sales growth y-o-y was 225%.

TRANSPORT - The Transport Ministry has asked to be awarded around 600 M EUR at the next budget adjustment in order to speed up road and railway infrastructure projects.

CONSTRUCTION - The booming construction sector increased the investment into new construction worksby 33.1% y-o-y and the investment into construction equipment rose by 35.4% y-o-y in Q1/08.

RETAIL - Romanian retail market, worth 31.2 Bn EUR in 2007, is forecasted to grow by 130% by 2017. Romania and Bulgaria are one of the markets with the biggest growth potential in the field.

RETAIL - Belgian developer Belrom will invest 800 M EUR in 40 commercial centers in smaller Romanian cities. French retailer Carrefour will invest 450 M EUR in the next 4 years to extend its network with 40 units by the end of 2012. French retailer Auchan will open 10 additional hypermarkets in Romania by the end of 2009, with total investments more than 300 M EUR.

REAL ESTATE - The prices of apartments in Bucharest fell by 5% during 01-07/2008. The drop has been the sharpest during the last two months.

REAL ESTATE - Greek real estate investment fund Global Emerging Property Fund will invest 200 M EUR in a project consisting of residential units and A-class business buildings on a 22 000 m2 plot in Bucharest. The project will be finished in 2010. British developer Atrium started construction works of a 85 M EUR commercial center in Cluj-Napoca. Works will be finished by the end of 2009. The real estate division of Deutsche Bank bought with 340 M EUR 3 projects in Northern Bucharest consisting of 600 residential apartments and 100 000 m2 of office space.

PRIVATE MEDICAL SERVICES - The private medical services market could reach 890 M EUR by 2011, more than double the 350 M EUR forecasted for 2008. 70% of the market is expected to be outside Bucharest.

MEDICAL CARE - Centrul Medical Unirea, a private medical services supplier owned by 3i investment fund, invested 7.4 M EUR in a diagnostic and treatment center. The company posted a 5.5 M EUR turnover for the 1H/08, up 74% against the same time the year before. Romanian medical service provider Gral Medical will invest 10 M EUR in a private hospital. Swedish medical service provider Medicover will invest 10 M EUR in building a regional laboratory in Western Bucharest. Romanian medical services provider Medlife invested 0,4 M EUR in a Physiokynetotherapy and Medical Recovery Centre.

AUTOMOTIVES - German engine components producer Kolbenschmidt invests 80 M EUR into 150 000 m2 of factory space in Cluj county.

TYRE PRODUCTION - Italian tyre maker Pirelli, will invest 68 M EUR this year to develop it activities in Romania making the company's total investments in Romania worth 235 M EUR by the end of 2008.

LOGISTICS - American GE Real Estate and Greek Helios Phoenix will invest in 2008 87.5 M EUR in building 6 logistics parks across Romania, with total floor space of 315 000 m2. French group FM Logistic, operating in logistic management, will invest 42 M EUR in the next three years to finance two warehousing projects with floor space of 200 000 m2.

AVIATION- Czech military aircrafts company Aero Vodochody become the main shareholder of Avioane Craiova aircraft works as a result of a 16.3 M EUR transaction.

MEAT INDUSTRY - American meat company Smithfield will invest 100 M EUR in doubling the number of the farms and in developing a combined animal feed factory. The project is part of an investment plan of 600 M EUR. Romanian meat producer CrisTim invested 1.4 M EUR in new packaging equipment. Spanish company specialized in meat products Campofrio will invest 20 M EUR in a ready meals factory.

MEAT INDUSTRY - Romanian agricultural company Agroli Group will make a total investment of 11.6 M EUR in increasing its production capacity, modernising its slaughter house and expanding its logistics and distribution capacity.

CEMENT PRODUCTION - Swiss cement and aggregates producer Holcim will invest an additional
75 M EUR to increase its factory?s bulk cement loading facilities and grinding clinker by 30%. Prior investments to the factory have been 120 M EUR. Also French giant Lafarge, the largest player on the Romanian cement market, will invest 54 M EUR to expand its production capacity.

IT - The IT market in Romania is forecasted to grow 30% and reach 1.9 Bn EUR this year. The hardware segment will advance the most (37%), followed by services (20%), and software (14%).

CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS - American producer of industrial construction materials, electronics and telecommunications Emerson will invest over 125 M EUR in five factories and two administrative buildings, with total floor space of 110 000 m2, in the industrial park in Cluj. Austrian company Wienerberger, the largest brick producer in the world, will invest EUR 100 million directed towards production units and potential acquisitions of local players.

FOOD RETAIL - Major food retail networks have expanded by 10% since the beginning of the year. The fastest growth is boasted by discounter networks with a growth rate of 14% from the end of 2007.

ENERGY - Czech company CEZ, plans to invest 800 M EUR if it wins the tender for the biggest wind farm in Europe.

PAINT AND VARNISH - Last year, the paint market, worth 200 M EUR, grew 20%, a rate that will fall to 12-15% over the next three years but will still appeal to global giants.

COSMETICS - Romanian cosmetics producer Farmec will invest 10.5 M EUR in the next 3 years in upgrading its production lines to EU standards.

May 2008

AUTOMOTIVE - Ford will start production at the Craiova plant most likely at the end of 2008 and intends to reach 300 000 cars annual capacity.

RETAIL - 500 M EUR are invested in hypermarkets this year. The French company Carrefour is planning to invest 120 M EUR to open 6 new units. Metro plans to open 7 new hypermarkets by year end, costing 140 M EUR. Auchan has budgeted around 80 M EUR to open 4 new stores.

RETAIL - German Tengelmann Group will invest 310 M EUR in extending the Plus discount stores network from current 52 to 175 - 200. The retailer plans to expand at a pace of 25-30 stores per year, targeting cities with over 15 000 inhabitants.

RETAIL - Romanian group Pic will invest in retail parks in Calarasi and might also invest in one in Ploiesti (total value for both locations EUR120 million). The retail parks will both include a Pic Hypermarket. The hypermarket in Calarasi will be one third of the EUR 60 million investment.

RETAIL - Selgros Cash & Carry retailer, part of the German group Rewe, opened its 17th store in Braila, as a result of a 20 M EUR investment. The unit has a selling surface of 10 000 m2.

AGRICULTURE - The prices of agricultural products have doubled or tripled over the last year and are driving up the price of agricultural land in Romania. Today, the average price per hectare is 1 500 EUR and it is forecasted to triple during the next 3 years. Foreign investors have already boosted land prices as buying is possible through Romanian registered companies, although the law bans foreign investors from buying land until 2014.

FOOD INDUSTRY - Meat products producer Caroli Foods started the construction of a logistics center in Pitesti, in which the company will invest up to 5 M EUR. The center will ensure a daily flow of 80-130 tons of merchandise. The works will be finished this year.

BEVERAGES - Dutch beer manufacturer Heineken NV acquired Bere Mures, the second-largest independent domestic beer brewer, at 150 M EUR. With this investment, Heineken secures its leading position on the market with a 31% market share.

CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS - French group Lafarge plans an investment of 35 M EUR for 2008 for developing its aggregates and concrete division both through acquisitions and through new units.

CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS - Romanian manufacturer of aluminum and PVC trim Gecsat will invest around 6 M EUR this year to expand production of glass mineral wool.

CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS - Polish wooden floors and parquet producer Barlinek will invest 20 M EUR in modernizing and extending Romanian company Diana Forest , recently acquired from Spanish real estate group Martinsa - Fadesa, for 23 M EUR.

HEALTHCARE - MedLife, a private medical service provider, will invest 30 M EUR by 2010 to open four hospitals in Romania. The company plans to widen its medical services portfolio by providing doctors from the US, UK and Israel.

CHEMICAL INDUSTRY - Dutch company Den Braven, which is the worldwide leader in professional sealants, has invested over 10 M EUR to a 10 000 m2 polyurethane foam production unit, warehouses and offices in Bucharest.

FURNITURE - Romanian furniture producer Staer will invest 7 M EUR this year to extend its shops network to 30 locations and to upgrade the related warehousing and logistics.

PACKAGING - Austrian group Greiner, packages producer, budgeted 3.5 M EUR this year for the acquisition of equipment, increasing the degree of automation and doubling production and warehousing capacity.

March 2008

EUROZONE - Romanian government and Central Bank of Romania (BNR) have set 2014 as the target for country's joining to Eurozone. The parties trust that by this time they will have had enough time to take all the fiscal and monetary measures needed.

CONSTRUCTION - Romania was the fastest growing contruction market in the EU during the period 11/06-11/07, states Eurostat.

COMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY - Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone producer, opens its first assembly line in Romania at the Jucu factory in Cluj County. The investment in the factory amounted to EUR 60 mln and it will operate at full capacity as of 09/08.

BANKING - The 40 players in the Romanian banking industry earned EUR 825 mln net profit in 2007, which is record high. In percent terms the net profit grew 32% y-o-y which is three times faster than the 10.2% net profit growth recorded a year earlier.

OUTSOURCING - Major Indian outsourcing companies consider Romania as one of the best locations for developing their business due to employees' language skills and low salaries. WNS Global Services recently opened its first center, which will employ 150 people, in Bucharest. The center provides outsourcing services to EU clients in French, German, Italian and Spanish.

AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY - Romcar, the importer of Ford, will invest EUR 30mln to open 14 showrooms across the country in cities such as Targoviste, Slatina, Deva, Caransebes, Bistrita and Oradea.

CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS - Austrian group Holzindustrie Schweighofer will invest EUR 90mln to its lumber mill and attached electrical plant with capacity of 9 MW in Radauti. The factory is to start production in 2H/08.

RETAIL - German retailer Kaufland will invest EUR 75 mln to open 10 new hypermarkets in 2008. A typical Kaufland hypermarket stretches on 20,000m2, has a selling surface of 4,000 m2 and 200 parking spaces.

CONSTRUCTION - Italian Cefin Holding group and British investment fund Teesland will invest EUR 200 mln to construct 5-6 industrial parks in the Romania's main cities this year. Each park will cover 6-10 ha and worth around 40 million euros.

January 2008

FOREIGN INVESTMENTS - Non-resident buyers doubled their stock market investments in 2007. Nonresident investors spent over EUR226.4 million on the stock market in 2007, 33.8% more year-on-year. Foreign investments on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) reached EUR 1.66 billion, compared to last year's EUR 845 mln.

LEASING MARKET - The domestic leasing market has reached approximately 3.31 billion euros after the first nine months of this year. The companies belonging to the two professional associations in the sector, ALB and ASLR, which control almost 97% of the market, had released financing worth almost 3.19 billion euros by late September. During this period, the companies that are part of ALB (The Leasing and Non-banking Financial Services Association) financed the acquisition of goods worth more than 2.46 billion euros, while the members of ASLR (Association of Romanian Leasing Companies) granted financing standing at 725 million euros. From the similar period of last year, the market has expanded by 42 percent.

RETAIL - Bucharest remains the most attractive market for retailers in Eastern Europe in 2008. Bucharest is currently the most attractive retail market in Romania and the offer is estimated to keep growing this year by adding some 750,000 square meters of commercial space, however the level is still low compared to other Eastern European cities, Coldwell Banker Romania analysts said.

TYRE INDUSTRY - Japanese tire producer Yokohama Rubber is considering establishing a production facility in Romania. Representatives of the company have so far asked for details on the possible location and other facilities in the area. The targeted region is in the southeastern part of Romania in Calarasi. The value of the investment has not been established but the vicepresident of the local city council on economic matters, Marian Dinulescu, said the tire producer could invest between EUR 40 and 100 million in the local facility production.

CAR INDUSTRY - Ford will start production in Craiova by end-2008. John Fleming, president of Ford Europe, said that Ford would start production at the Craiova plant most likely at the end of 2008 and intends to reach 300,000 cars annually for a total 2.2 million cars capacity throughout Europe. "We established from the beginning of this process that we wanted a business to develop the industrial area in Craiova. The fact is that the car maker from Craiova was dying; that is why we wanted to bring a strategic investor here", said Theodor Atanasiu, president of AVAS. PM Calin Popescu-Tariceanu said, "The acquisition of Automobile Craiova by Ford will put Romania top of the list of car makers in South East Europe, which will attract more spare parts suppliers to Romania."

CAR INDUSTRY - American all-terrain vehicle producer Polaris will build its first production unit in Europe in Romania.The necessary investment will reach around EUR 50 million, said Bogdan Gheorghiu, regional director at Polaris for Romania, Bulgaria and the Republic of Moldova. The exact location of the factory, for the moment said to be located in Giurgiu, will be decided in November this year. Initial talks also included the option to build the factory in Bulgaria. The factory could be functional by the end of 2008. Gheorghiu hopes the Polaris factory will build up to 60,000 snow-mobiles, ATVs, Victory motorcycles and ranger cars per year. At this production capacity, the factory could generate some EUR 120 million in turnover.