Romania is the most competitive country in the region in terms of labour costs relative to productivity, according to an Erste Group report quoted by Cursdeguvernare.ro. Although...
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) said it is lending 387 million euro ($424.3 million) to NE Property B.V. (NEPC), a subsidiary of Dutch-registered shopping centre developer NEPI Rockcastle, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and boost energy efficiency in the commercial buildings sector of Romania and Bulgaria. The senior unsecured financing package is structured as a green loan with sustainability-linked elements, which is the first loan of this kind for NEPI Rockcastle (NEPIRC), IFC - the World Bank's investment arm - said in a press release in late December. IFC is providing a 225 million senior loan from its own account, which is complemented by a syndicated senior loan of 115 million euro under IFC's B Loan programme and a senior loan of around 47 million euro under the Managed Co-Lending Portfolio Program. The financing will help NEPIRC, which is a major owner and operator of shopping centres in Central and Eastern Europe, to fund the decarbonisation of commercial buildings and advance a pipeline of energy efficient development projects. Underdeveloped infrastructure and a lack of modern energy-saving amenities make the buildings sector a major contributor to high greenhouse emissions in Bulgaria and Romania. In Bulgaria and Romania, buildings account for about 45% and 35% of national energy consumption, respectively. The supply of new, more green retail building stock has been slowed in both countries by the uncertain economic climate, rising interest rates and higher construction costs, IFC said. "IFC's loan enables NEPIRC to advance its development pipeline of modern, commercial retail assets that are expected to be more energy efficient than local benchmarks," Ary Naim, IFC's regional manager for Central and South Europe, said. Euronext-listed NEPIRC owns over 2 million square metres of retail real estate in Romania, Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Serbia and Lithuania. The company runs more than 50 shopping centres and employs over 600 staff. Bulgaria and Romania make up 44% of the value of the company's property portfolio, according to its website. Most recently, NEPIRC opened a shopping centre in the southwestern Romanian city of Craiova. In Romania, it owns shopping centres also in Bucharest, Braila, Constanta, Ploiesti, Sibiu, Timisoara and other cities. In Bulgaria, the group owns the Serdika and Paradise Center shopping malls in Sofia.
Romania is the most competitive country in the region in terms of labour costs relative to productivity, according to an Erste Group report quoted by Cursdeguvernare.ro. Although...
Romanian president Nicușor Dan announced on July 18 that he will return recent amendments to the country’s law against extremist organisations to Parliament, despite the Constitutional Court rejecting his objections. The announcement was made during a press conference at the Romanian Embassy in Berlin. The contested legislation, commonly referred to as the Vexler Law, amends […]
Corratec, the Romanian production division of the German bicycle group, has signed a production contract with the Austrian brand woom, with bicycles to be primarily delivered to the European and international markets, according to Ziarul Financiar. Production will begin in November 2025. "This partnership...
EEAF Financial Services BV, the majority shareholder of Patria Bank (BVB: BPK), is evaluating strategic options for its 84.05% stake in the Romanian credit institution, including a potential full or partial sale, the bank announced on July 18. The move marks a potential ownership change at one of Romania's listed banks, although no firm decision […]
The new multiannual financial framework (MFF) 2028-2034 envisages a total of EUR 54.6 billion for Romania under the cohesion policies and common agriculture policy (general allocation) – 17% more compared to the previous 2021-2027 MFF, but at the cost of stricter disbursement criteria, according to the 2028-2034 MFF draft published by
The construction works volume in April-May increased by 0.8% y/y, according to data published by the statistics office INS. The sector’s modest performance comes after the 10.6% y/y surge in Q1 that was, however, driven by low base effects, therefore not entirely relevant. In fact, the average seasonally and workday adjusted construction works index in […]