Claudia Ariton
A dedicated professional and passionate hotelier, Daniel Ben Yehuda, general manager of Ramada Plaza, presses ahead with his development plans despite difficult economic conditions.
This year, the Ramada Bucharest Parc team is renovating its spa & pool sector, while larger expansion plans are in the works, such as a 2,500 sqm congress hall.
At the end of a troubled couple of months since the beginning of this crisis-ridden year, the wisest, most proactive, efficient and most experienced business leaders can now prepare their balance sheets for the first quarterly evaluation in 2010.
While having to pay maximum bonuses, even in the financially difficult times of 2009, to reward the work of its motivated and dedicated team of professionals, Remco Romania did not have to wait long to see the outcome. The value of its delivered projects in 2009 and of its work-in-progress, waiting to be delivered this year, exceeds 30 million lei.
While most segments of the local real estate market saw either a decrease or stagnation in 2009, this year the real estate experts indicate a possible improvement of the investment sector, although they refrain to predict whether 2010 will be a much more profitable year than 2009.
Considering the needs of its clients and requests as their top priority, the JTI Romania officials are determined to see even more sustained growth in the near future from their business. With an average share of market (SOM) of 25 per cent in 2008 and 2009, and with regular investment in developing its brand portfolio, JTI is keen on reaching higher results in the domestic market.
After ending a financially difficult and psychologically stressful 2009, due to the crisis-related changes endured by the local economy, most market players have learned the lesson of precaution quite well. The survivors have maintained the focus on developing their businesses, seeking expansion and new contracts, modifying investment plans and hoping for a better 2010 than forecasters have predicted.
Oportunitatile oferite de investitiile locale, dar si resursele de care beneficiaza Romania, care reprezinta un atu important in contextul economic european, s-au numarat printre subiectele principale abordate de reputatul consultant financiar Bogdan Baltazar in cadrul unui interviu acordat in exclusivitate revistei Business Arena Magazine.
As the New Year is knocking the on door, business leaders are checking their balance sheets and marking the "ups" and "downs" of their companies through 2009, all the while keeping their fingers crossed for a prosperous and crisis-free 2010.
Avis Romania is determined to strengthen its position in the domestic rent-a-car market by investing in cities with airports. In addition, Gabriel Galeteanu, General Manager of Avis Romania, said the company would continue to invest in training its staff and maintaining its fleet.
Having recently launched its retail banking segment, Citibank Romania is determined to attract more clients by offering a combination of new technology features, new and renovated branches, and a variety of new services, such as Citibank Online and CitiPhone banking. As Shamir Khaliq, head of Citibank Romania, told Business Arena Magazine in an exclusive interview, "being a global bank, with nearly 200 years of experience, we bring a lot of learning to the Romanian market. For instance, we offer personal loans only in lei and at a fixed interest rate, because we have seen people in other parts of the world lose money due to the exposure to foreign exchange- and interest-rate volatility. In Romania, as a result of the financial crisis, we have been prudent on the loan criteria, such as minimum income and debt burden ratio."
Using the skills and values he acquired as a light aircraft pilot in the Israeli Air Force, Reuven Havar, the CEO of AFI Europe, maintains the strength and determination needed to accomplish his goals in the business world. One of his biggest tasks in was the recent opening of AFI Palace Cotroceni shopping center, a project with around 79,000 sqm of rented space, totaling an invested sum of 300 million Euro.
Even though the current financial crisis has affected most economic sectors, and therefore the majority of guests at this years Halloween Charity Ball, the Ovidiu Rom Association has managed to raise 357,000 Euro, with 50 companies supporting the event financially. All the sums raised at the Charity Ball will become funds for next yeara
Following its involvement in a wide range of projects in Romania, US-based Victaulic has announced plans to expand its operations and cover many more industrial sectors. Sebastian Talabus, sales engineer Romania, said that Victaulics mechanical piping systems are used in many building projects, ranging from commercial buildings to hospitals, schools, data centers and power plants. Sun Plaza is the latest project in which Victaulic, long-time specialist in pipe-joining solutions, has been involved. Victaulica
Coming to Romania in mid April, Estanislao de Grandes Pascual, the Spanish Ambassador to Romania, was pleasantly surprised at how well this country presents itself, even
than he had expected. Now, six months into his mandate in Romania, he keeps the same positive impression about Romania, despite having little time yet to travel around the country.
After 36 years of experience in the tourism industry and seven years of double-managing two hotels in the Republic of Georgia, Igael Porecki, the new general manager of the JW Marriott, is determined to take up new challenges in Romania. Though he has been here for only four months, Porecki, who has Romanian roots in Iasi county, is counting on the team's support to bring the hotel's development plans across the finish line.
One of the most difficult tasks of Romanias business development in the last 10 years has been dealing with the recent
namely the 2008/9 financial crisis and this year’s presidential elections.
While its priorities include the management of 70 million Euro infrastructure projects, Arad authorities have also been working on supporting local companies, according to Arad Mayor Gheorghe Falca, who attended BAM's Arad Business Roundtable 2009. In the presence of local business representatives, Gheorghe Falca spoke about Arad's economic evolution and its development prospects at the event organized by BAM in partnership with Blue Air and Cosmote Romania at the Continental Hotel. "As opposed to the rest of the country where there is a 1.5 deficit, we have a four per cent increase in revenues and a raise in exports." On this note, Falca added that with one notable exception, exports had been on the rise. "In fact, Arad is the only city in Romania that exports more than it imports."
Steady progress is the phrase that best describes Shachar Shaine’s ten-year stint in Romania so far. Shaine is president of one of the largest beer producers in Romania, United Romanian Breweries Bereprod (URBB). Earlier this year he decided to serve the cause of investors by taking over as the new president of the Foreign Investors Council (FIC).
His company has gone from strength to strength, and the consolidation continues. “We will invest seven million Euro in developing our bottling capacity,” Shaine revealed in an exclusive interview.
After 17 years experience as a staff member inside the US Senate, Mark Gitenstein has turned a new page in his professional career by accepting the nomination as the new US Ambassador to Romania. Ambassador Gitensteina
While similarities between two very different countries in size may seem unlikely, Dagmar Repcekova, the Slovak Republic’s Ambassador to Romania, suggests quite the opposite. Referring to the effects of the glabal financial crisis, she pointed out that Romania and Slovakia have many things in common. “Both countries have very strong business links with large western European countries, such as Germany and France, which have been seriously affected by the crisis,” she said, adding that most banks in both Slovakia and Romania are subsidiaries of foreign financial institutions.
