Banks granted new credits of 195 billion lei to people and companies in 2020 and 2021, when the non governmental credit was 330 billion lei at the end of December, said Gabriela Folcut, CEO of the Romanian Association of Banks. “In 2020 and 2021 the volume of new credits granted by banks to people and companies was 195 billion lei, when the overall non governmental credit was 330 billion lei at the end of December. Practically, in 2021 alone, credits worth a third of the non governmental credit were granted,” said Gabriela Folcut at “Financial Forum 2022,” organized by The Diplomat. She said that the digitization activity did not start during the pandemic, but long before, but over 2020- 2021 there was a certain acceleration from the investment perspective, of about two billion lei for the first 15 banks in the market. “We, the Romanian Association of Banks, we studied this area and we found out that after the first year of pandemic 47% of consumers used online bank services and products. 19% used both online and offline services and 34% which is devoted to the physical interaction with the bank will remain devoted to the interaction with a bank officer,” Folcut said.
June is the richest month. The most awaited two weeks in my annual festival pilgrimage. The route starts with Romania’s Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF), followed by Italy’s (and the world’s) most comprehensive festival for restored and archival film: Il Cinema Ritrovato. To shake up the traditional article on the two, I’ll start with the […]
Different Beauty, a recently opened exhibition of works by Czech photographer David Těšínský, offers a glimpse into everyday life in the war-torn region of Donbas in 2017. The photos were taken within the span of only a few days, as Těšínský traveled to eastern Ukraine to document the lives of women impacted by war. In […]
Different Beauty, a recently opened exhibition of works by Czech photographer David Těšínský, offers a glimpse into everyday life in the war-torn region of Donbas in 2017. The photos were taken within the span of only a few days, as Těšínský traveled to eastern Ukraine to document the lives of women impacted by war. In […]
Roughly 70% of Romanians are “very” or “moderately” concerned about how AI accesses and uses their data, according to the latest survey conducted by RoCoach in partnership with Novel Research between May and June 2025. Distrust in automated decision-making and the demand for regulation are becoming more pronounced, as Romania rolls out major digitalization projects […]
The Armenian Street Festival returns for a 9th edition between August 1 and 3, 2025, in the “Dimitrie Brândză” Botanical Garden in Bucharest. The festival brings into focus the living heritage of the Armenian community in Romania and the diaspora. According to the organizers, this year’s edition aims to strengthen the Bucharest–Chișinău–Yerevan cultural axis, articulated […]
The Romanian mergers and acquisitions market registered a total of 122 announced transactions in the first half of 2025, with a value exceeding EUR 2.7 billion, marking a slight increase of 6% in volume and 4% in value compared to the same period last year, according to an analysis by George Ureche, partner at PwC Romania. […]
