Private equity firms in Central Europe are becoming increasingly
confident amid the optimistic economic forecasts, and, for the first
time since 2007, none of the funds participating in a Deloitte study
expects the economic situation to deteriorate. Thus, 70% of respondents
believe that the economic situation will improve. The survey shows an
increase in the confidence index from 62 in the summer of 2020 to 149,
close to the peaks from 2007 and 2011, and 98% of respondents expect
activity on this market to intensify or remain at the same level in the
following months.
The cancelation of the tax exemption IT specialists benefit from could
bring another EUR 600 million to the state budget every year, according
to the Ministry of Finance. However, this decision could lead to a deep
personnel crisis in the IT sector, as some of the current employees
could switch to working from Romania for companies from abroad,
according to specialists in the field. Several talks about the
elimination of the income tax exemption that IT, constructions and
research employees benefit from have appeared in the public space
lately.
The majority of retail investors around the world are avoiding major
changes to their portfolios, despite growing fears about inflation and
the state of economic recovery, according to eToro’s latest quarterly
Retail Investor Beat survey. However, Romanian retail investors are
more concerned about the growing prices and are more likely to
reposition their portfolios.
The president of the National Liberal Party, Florin Cîţu has made
several statements about Romania’s economic situation. He has stated,
among other things, that the country’s economy is growing, general
economic parameters are improving, and political maturity is now needed
to support the positive trend. Moreover, Florin Cîţu has indicated
that, during this period, the Executive has managed to reduce the
budget deficit by 2.6% of GDP compared to the similar period of last
year.
BCR has decided to expand the online appointments system in its
branches. As a result, appointments can be made throughout the
operating hours of the banking units. The system, which was introduced
at the end of October 2020, has recorded nearly 5 million appointments,
both by phone and online, for physical operations in branches, with a
daily average of about 20,000 requests. Online appointments can be
rapidly made on www.bcr.ro.
A number of 445 clients reached an agreement with banks or non-banking
financial institutions (IFN) in the first nine months of 2021 regarding
the rescheduling of loans or other disputes through the Alternative
Banking Dispute Settlement Center (CSALB), the benefits to have
resulted from negotiations amounting to EUR 1.24 million. The total
value of benefits in the five years of CSALB’s activity is EUR 5.25
million.
Deutsche Bank saw a decline in its investment division’s revenues, but
managed to end the fifth consecutive quarter on profit, having thus
exceeded expectations. The bank has reported a EUR 194 million net
profit for Q3/2021, above the EUR 135 million level previously
estimated by analysts. This is the longest series of profitable
quarters recorded by the bank since 2012 up to present.
eMAG Ventures, the investment fund created by eMAG - the leader of the
local online retail market, with a strong presence in the region, has
announced its first investment, worth EUR 1.5 million, in Flip, a
start-up that buys and sells refurbished phones. eMAG Ventures is an
investments program for technology companies that bring innovations in
products and services directly or indirectly targeting end customers.
Apart from financing, eMAG will also provide the selected companies
with the know-how accumulated in the over 20 years of experience in the
most dynamic tech sector of the moment, thus boosting digital economy.
Simtel Team (SMTL), a Romanian engineering and technology company
listed on the AeRO market of Bucharest Stock Exchange, has announced
the acquisition of a 837,866 square meter industrial land in the
built-up area of Giurgiu. The company plans to develop a large
photovoltaic park with a total installed capacity between 40 and 60 MWp
and aims to enter the renewable energy production market. Once
construction works are finalized, it will be among the biggest
photovoltaic parks in Romania.
Packeta, which has the largest network of pick-up points in Central and
Eastern Europe, announced on Wednesday, 27 October, that it had
finalized the rebranding process of its branch in Romania, Coletăria.ro
being now called Packeta Romania, and that it estimated a volume of
over 2.8 million delivered parcels in 2021, double than in 2020. The
finalization of the rebranding process also involves a minimum 50%
supplementation of the local investment budget. Packeta Romania has
thus increased the value of investments allocated for the local market
in 2021 to EUR 3 million.
The draft law on energy price capping and bills compensation has been
adopted by Parliament. The measures will enter into force starting from
1 November, after the law is promulgated by President Klaus Iohannis.
Apart from household consumers, capped prices will also apply to new
categories of consumers, such as hospitals (public and private),
schools (public and private), nurseries (public and private), NGOs,
public and private social service providers and religious institutions.
Moreover, the VAT for energy and gas supplied to economic operators
(end consumers) will be reduced from 19% to 5%.
On Wednesday, 27 October 2021, senators debated and voted on the draft
law making the green certificate mandatory at the workplace. After the
MPs from the Alliance for Romanians Unity (AUR) had made a scandal in
the specialized committees the day before, yesterday’s plenary session
was not without incidents either. The draft law did not obtain enough
votes to pass. The Senate is the first notified chamber. The draft law
will now get to the Chamber of Deputies, which is the decision-making
chamber. The draft law was rejected by the Senate with 67 votes "in
favor" and 60 votes "against". 69 votes were required for the organic
law to pass. The Social Democratic Party (PSD) and AUR voted against
the bill.
US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on Tuesday, 26
October, that the United States was considering adding four countries,
including Romania, to its visa waiver program that allows citizens to
come to America without a visa for a stay of up to 90 days. In
September, the United States added Croatia to the visa waiver program.
US Travel Association Chief Executive Roger Dow said on Tuesday that
adding Croatia was a $100 million boost to the US economy.
Interim Prime Minister Florin Cîţu has announced that the budget for
the provision of vouchers to people who get vaccinated against Covid-19
will most likely be supplemented and that a Government meeting in this
regard will take place on Thursday, 28 October. Moreover, the
coordinator of the national vaccination campaign Valeriu Gheorghiţă has
stated that the persons who got vaccinated within the marathon in
Bucharest or in other areas and did not receive these vouchers will
receive them in the following period.
On Thursday, 28 October, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) is to
organize consultations with the representatives of economic sectors
affected by the pandemic, in order to identify solutions to overcome
the current health crisis in Romania. The Social Democrats believe that
a coherent and predictable plan, accepted by the representatives of
affected sectors, is needed for a "solidarity month", in order to
overcome the current wave of the pandemic and return to normal as soon
as possible.