Stiri	Stiri afaceri	Stiri companii	Evenimente de afaceri

EBRD president on a two-day visit to Romania

President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Thomas Mirow starts on Wednesday in Bucharest a two-day official visit.

Thomas Mirow comes to Romania from neighboring Bulgaria, where he signed on Tuesday a memorandum of understanding with Bulgarian Minister of Finance Plamen Oresharski, on support to energy efficiency projects and green energy. The Bucharest agenda of the EBRD head includes meetings with representatives of the government of Romania and leaders of the local business circles, reads an EBRD release. Mirow will reconfirm the long-term commitment of the institution under his conduct towards Romania, especially during this period of global economic volatility

EBRD plans for this year include a significant increase in its investments in Romania from over EUR 300 million in 2008. Other priorities for 2009 will be to support the real economy by helping to ensure banks are in a position to carry on lending to small and medium-sized enterprises and also working particularly in the energy and energy efficiency areas.

Since its establishment in 1991, EBRD has invested about EUR 3.8 billion in 249 projects in Romania and helped mobilise a further EUR 7.2 billion from external sources, resulting in total investments of over EUR 11 billion.Romania is an EBRD member since 1991. Romania's governor at the EBRD is the Minister of Public Finance and the country's alternate governor at the international financial institution is the governor of the National Bank. Romania is a member of the Constituency led by Ukraine, which also includes the Republic of Moldova, Georgia and Armenia.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development acts as a major catalyst for investments in Romania, with its combined investment portfolio for the country standing at over EUR 3.5 billion at the end of 2007. Of this figure, 70 pct went to the private sector. Apart from its own investments, EBRD helped mobilize another EUR 6.4 billion in co-investments for the interval 1991 - 2008.

The bank's country strategy for Romania for the 2008-2009 period, which has been underway since April 2008, envisages investments consistent with the priorities and long-term needs of Romanian economy. Thus, some 40 pct of the funds will be assigned for investments in the private domestic sector, 35 pct will be directed to the financial sector and the rest will go to the energy sector.

Following Romania's EU accession, EBRD financing is scheduled to decrease progressively, as the country has access to community funds. Romania no longer relies on EBRD for financial assistance, but like all new EU entrants, it has a relation of strategic partnership with the institution, in the light of the moment when it will no longer implement projects with EBRD assistance; however, Romania will act as institution donor and shareholder beyond the horizon of 2010. EBRD currently operates only in the private sector.

EBRD revised downwards its growth projections for 2009 in the 30 countries where it has investments, to an average of 0.1 pct compared with a prediction of 2.5 pct which was based on country forecasts made in November last year.The bank also warned that recession is expected to set in in Ukraine, Hungary and the three Baltic states. A new forecast revision will be announced in May.

Based on the long-term foreign debt of the banks in the region, EBRD chief economist Erik Berglof assessed the refinancing needs of Eastern Europe at some 200 billion dollars. Excluding Russia and Kazakhstan, which can use their reserve to support local banks, the amount falls to 130 billion dollars, half of which is represented by debts of East European banks to parent banks on the West.

For the first time since 1998, the year of the Russian financial crisis, EBRD ended 2008 with net loss of EUR 602 million, the highest since its establishment. In 2007, EBRD had EUR 1.9 billion in profit, down from the record-high EUR 2.4 billion registered in 2006.

Despite loss, EBRD announced that it further plans to increase investments this year by some 20 pct to EUR 7 billion to help countries in its activity area which is particularly vulnerable to the global crisis. 'The EUR 7 billion is just a target. If needs are higher, we will go beyond this limit,' said Berglof.

The EBRD already informed that it plans to invest some EUR 3 billion in the financial sector to re-capitalize banks in its activity region. EBRD is currently in talks to assume a role with Hungary's largest financial institution OTP Bank and could provide EUR 100 million in a credit to the local market leader Banca Comerciala Romana. In February 2008 EBRD announced that it is ready to invest EUR 500 million in Ukrainian banks, after having already disbursed in December 2008 EUR 75 million to the Ukrainian subsidiary of the Austrian banking group Raiffeisen.

 

Sursa: http://www.actmedia.eu

Tags: romania billion financial which sector since banks energy million institution investments otp

Articole similare