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ROMANIA’S PREMIER BUSINESS MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 29 - OCTOBER 12, 2014 / VOLUME 18, NUMBER 32
INTERVIEW: Romania should attract at least EUR 2.7 billion inforeign direct investment in 2014, and focus more on pitchinginvestment projects to countries less impacted by the financialcrisis, says Alexandru Nastase, head of the DPIIS »page 7
NEWS
Gas riskThe liberalization ofgas prices for industryshould be postponedto prevent any spikesduring peak demand,says Frank Hajdinjak,CEO of E.On Romania» page 4
NEWS
Tax breakInvestors welcome the reduction of CASbut say it should notlead to an increase inthe tax burden nextyear, impacting firms’investment plans » page 4
PHARMA
PHARMA FIRMSARE CALLING FOR A BIGGER MEDICINEBUDGET TO FINANCE THE UPDATE OF THE REIMBURSED DRUGS LIST, AND FOR CHANGES TO THE CLAW BACK, SAID OFFICIALS DURING THE FOCUS ON PHARMA EVENT » PAGE 8
THE GREENGREEN GRASS
OF HOMESome firms are reluctant to hire
Romanian graduates returning from
abroad, many of whom grapple with
whether to come home
» page 6
NEW S 3www.business-review.eu Business Review | September 29 - October 12, 2014
NEWS in briefNEW S 3
MARKETINGAdvertising market reversesfive years of decline2014 will be the first year of growthfor the Romanian advertising marketin five years, with a hike of 2.8 percentforecast, according to Zenith Romania.The growth is due mainly to digitalad expansion. By the end of the currentyear, total investments in advertisingwill have reached USD 394 million.TV remains the channel that will attractthe bulk of advertising investment (64percent), followed by digital (14 per-cent) and outdoor (10 percent). Ad-vertising on mobile devices, includingdisplay, classified, search and in-appads delivered on smartphones andtablets, is the segment with the fastestgrowth, due to the increasing pene-tration of smartphones as well as theintroduction of new formats, whichallow advertising clients to employusers creatively.
STOCK EXCHANGEFranklin Templeton securestwo-year mandate extensionfor Property FundShareholders in the Property Fund,the EUR 3.4 billion closed-end fund,have approved a two-year extensionof Franklin Templeton’s mandate asadministrator. The fund is currentlywaiting for approval from the FinancialSupervision Authority (FSA) for a sec-ondary listing in London and a newshare buy-back program on theBucharest Stock Exchange, said GregKonieczny, the fund’s manager, ac-cording to Reuters newswire. The FPhas stakes in 56 companies, out ofwhich 18 are listed and 38 unlisted. Ithas been pushing for the appointmentof professional managers and boardsat the state-owned companies in whichit holds minority stakes, and calling
for the listing of these companies onthe stock exchange.
TELECOMPC software piracy rate fell to62 percent last yearThe PC software piracy rate in Romaniadropped by one percentage point in2013 against two years ago, from 63percent in 2011 to 62 percent, due toefforts to combat the phenomenon,according to an IDC survey, quotedby Mediafax. “IDC believes the dy-namism of the PC market in Romania– the growth in the number of PCsbrought and installed by consumers –has led to a situation on the market inwhich, in the absence of enough anti-piracy efforts, the nationwide piracyrate would have increased by 2-4 per-cent between 2011 and 2013,” statedthe IDC, presented last week by theBusiness Software Alliance (BSA).
All the president’s men: PM Ponta throws hat into ring
A large-scale event took place at Bucharest’s National Arena to mark the announcement that Prime Minister VictorPonta was joining the race for the presidential elections on November 2. The campaign is due to start at thebeginning of October. The event launching Ponta’s candidacy opened with a concert by local artist Lidia Buble. Pontatold audiences that at 42, having become president of the Social Democracy Party PSD at 37 and prime minister at39, he feels ready to become Romania’s president.
ENERGYLukoil Europe Holdings increases Petrotel Ploiesti capital by EUR 35 mlnLukoil Europe Holdings BV, the ma-jority shareholder of the Petrotel-Lukoil refinery, is planning to increasethe refinery’s share capital by RON153.7 million (EUR 35 million), to RON455.3 million. Shareholders will voteon the increase on October 22. LukoilEurope Holdings owns 97.1 percent ofthe refinery’s share capital, with theremaining 2.9 percent split betweenother shareholders. The company alsomanages a network of 300 gas stationsin Romania. Petrotel Lukoil posted aturnover of RON 5.51 billion in 2013,down 20.4 percent year on year fromRON 6.93 billion in 2012.
EU FUNDSAustrian investors say EUfunds are critical for infra-structureRudolf Lukavsky, commercial coun-selor for Romania and Moldova at theAustrian Embassy, told BR that thegreater absorption of EU funds wouldbe “highly appreciated” by Austrianinvestors, as projects funded by EUmoney would generate more businessopportunities. “It would be a pity ifRomania were unable to make use ofthese funds and again faced substantialdelays in the further development ofits infrastructure,” said Lukavsky.
LOGISTICSTibbett Logistics expandsBucharest operations with2,000 sqm warehouseSupply chain logistics specialist TibbettLogistics, part of the UK-based KeswickEnterprises group, has opened a 2,000sqm warehouse for an automotiveclient in Bucharest. The move bringsTibbett’s total automotive operationsin Bucharest to around 11,500 sqm.According to company representatives,the firm has almost quadrupled thescale of its automotive logistics oper-ation in the Romanian capital in thelast five years. Tibbett is a leadingmanufacturer of turbochargers andturbo technologies for commercial,passenger and private vehicles. In ad-dition to managing the external ware-house, the company operates the fac-tory warehouse inside its Bucharestplant.
Courtesy of psd.ro
4 NEWSwww.business-review.eu
Business Review | September 29 - October 12, 2014
ENERGY
E.On Romania head cautious overgas price liberalization
MOST READ www.business-review.eu
1 Journalist Robert Turcescucauses public outcry by confess-ing he was an undercover armyofficer
2 Bloomberg: European aristoc-racy looks to invest in Transylva-nia
3 Raiffeisen Evolution in negotia-tions for EUR 150 mln sale ofPromenada Mall
4 14 candidates for Romania’spresidential elections
5 Siveco elects new president whileIrina Socol remains in detentionin tax evasion file
UPCOMINGEVENTSOctober 3
Presidential campaign beginsFrom October 3, the 14 presidentialcandidates are free to broadcasttheir campaign TV spots and makeother television appearances in sup-port of their campaigns. Following arecent decision by the CNA, televi-sion stations will not be able tocharge candidates for broadcastingtheir campaign spots or their ap-pearances.
October 8-9
Internet&Mobile WorldThis annual event brings togethermajor players in internet and mobilerelated businesses in Romania andthe region. 09.00-18.00, Romexpo.
October 14-16
Foreign Investors SummitThe first edition of the Forum In-vestors Summit will take place inBucharest, from 14-16 October. Thesummit includes six industry-tar-geted conferences, 12 workshopsand dozens of expert speakers. For registration, [email protected].
October 11 - 17
EU Code WeekThe second edition of EU Code Weekwill see millions of children, parents,teachers, entrepreneurs and policy-makers come together in massevents and classrooms to learn pro-gramming and related skills. Theidea is making coding more visible,demystify these skills, and bring mo-tivated people together to learn.Go to http://codeweek.eu to learnmore and find your nearest event
Frank Hajdinjak, CEO of E.On Ro-mania, part of the German utilityfirm E.On, has warned the market
that the price of domestic gas traded onthe energy exchange OPCOM could spikeif the country faces a gas crisis that co-incides with peak consumption periodand the continued liberalization of gasprices for industry.
He suggested the government prolongthe liberalization calendar for big industry,as it has done for households.
“Nor do I think it is a good time forcontinued liberalization in January,which is in the middle of winter. Poten-tially in the middle of a gas crisis, I thinkthere is too high a risk of an explosionin gas prices in general,” said Hajdinjak,who is also president of the Associationof Energy Utility Companies (ACUE).
The government decided last weekto suspend the increase of domestic gasprices for households, with Parliamentdelaying the liberalization of gas pricesfor the same segment through to 2021.Gas price liberalization was included ina stand-by agreement with the Interna-tional Monetary Fund (IMF) and theEuropean Commission, the executivearm of the EU, signed in 2012.
The liberalization of gas prices forindustry should have been completedover the course of two years starting2012, but was halted in June. The De-
partment of Energy said that Romaniahad reached the same prices as othercountries in the region, maintainingthem at the level registered in April,namely RON 89.4/MWh, which is rough-ly EUR 190 for 1,000 cbm. Meanwhile,the liberalization of prices for householdsshould have been concluded, under theinitial calendar, at the end of 2018.
“I think it was an absolutely great andcorrect decision by the Romanian gov-ernment to first of all postpone the lib-eralization process and also not to in-crease the gas prices for the public be-cause this is an issue of affordabilityand we all know that the burden for ourcustomers and Romanian citizens is notnecessarily small – on the contrary,”E.On’s CEO told BR.
Asked if Romania would be able tomanage this winter potentially withoutany gas imports from Russia, he said hewas “confident” that the situation wouldbe managed, especially because con-sumption has fallen since 2009, whenRussian oil major Gazprom cut gas sup-plies to Europe for around two weeks.
“There might be some small problemscoming up in peak periods – becausethe extraction from storage and the dailyproduction of natural gas might not beenough for peak periods – but that canall be managed either by switching someof the consumers to other fuel sourcesor by reducing (e.n. consumption) ofcertain customers,” said the CEO.
Romania’s total gas consumption in2013 stood at around 12.4 bcm, out ofwhich the industry had a 75 percentshare and households the rest, accordingto energy regulator ANRE. Domestic gasproduction amounted to 10.5 bcm, whileimports reached 1.9 bcm Last year theprice of imported gas hovered aroundUSD 400 for 1,000 bcm, with most of itcoming from Gazprom, according to an-alysts.
The Department of Energy predictedthe average weighted price for gas im-ports would stay at around EUR 282 per1,000 cbm for contracts covering theSeptember-December period. ∫
Ovidiu Posirca
TAX
Private sector fears increase in fiscalburden following cut in labor tax
With social insurance contribu-tions (CAS) payable by com-panies to be cut by five per-
centage points from October, investorsare concerned that more taxes could berolled out next year.
Mihai Bogza, president of the ForeignInvestors Council (FIC), said the cut inCAS would have a “marginal effect” inthe last three months of the year.
“In 2014, prior to the cut in CAS, wehad an increase of taxes – several in-creases – such as the ‘pole’ tax and thehike in excises,” said Bogza last week,quoted by Mediafax newswire.
He suggested that companies coulddecide to invest more and increase em-ployment if the cut in CAS were main-tained for longer, while other taxes re-main unchanged.
“We fear that next year the state willtake with two hands what has beengiven to us in the last three months,”said Bogza, who added that there is arisk the government could decide to in-crease the tax burden to compensate
for lower revenues to the budget due tothe cut in CAS.
Scaling back the CAS will generatean estimated loss of EUR 191 million inbudget revenues this year and anotherEUR 1 billion in 2015.
Meanwhile, Florin Pogonaru, presi-dent of the Association of RomanianBusinesspeople (AOAR), said that taxeswould not go up because of the reduction
of CAS.“Until the CAS can generate budgetary
imbalances, we have to look at the otherfactors that are actually creating theseimbalances. We have to focus on col-lection, on reducing state waste,” saidPogonaru, quoted by business dailyZiarul Financiar. He added that thismeasure was necessary to stimulate thebusiness environment.
Coalitia pentru Dezvoltarea Romaniei(CDR), the association comprising themain business advocacy groups in Ro-mania, said this summer it supportedthe five-percentage point reduction insocial insurance contributions (CAS) asit would help the economy.
The CDR said, however, that the in-crease of the tax take and a more efficientbudget allocation should be pursued byauthorities to make the measure sus-tainable.
The additional funding generated bythe cut in CAS could be used for newinvestments . ∫
Ovidiu Posirca
Mihai Bogza, FIC president
Frank Hajdinjak, CEO, E.ON Romania
NEWS 5www.business-review.eu Business Review | September 29 - October 12, 2014
TELECOM
Romania will get its own satellite, says communications minister
Romania will have its own satel-lite within a few years, a gov-ernment minister has revealed.
“This is a satellite that will provide alltypes of communications – specialcommunications, communications ofthe Ministry of National Defense, com-munications specific to the Ministryof External Affairs and also the possi-bility to lease the communication lineto any private entrepreneur,” said Raz-van Cotovelea, minister for the infor-mation society, during the Interna-tional Digital Forum that took placein Bucharest last week.
The development plans for the proj-ect will be drafted next year, he an-nounced.
When asked how much it would cost,the minister said satellites can cost be-tween EUR 70 million and several hun-dred million EUR, but at this point it isunclear how much Romania will payfor the one it will acquire.
“A very simple business plan shows
that the Romanian state will have verymuch to gain over a four-five year in-terval if it has its own satellite and is
able to provide satellite services,” saidthe minister.
The Romanian Television Company
(SRTV) aims to set up a business de-partment dedicated to developing theonline division of the public televisionservice.
“We are trying to develop the newbusiness area. We will forward a proposalto the administration board to set up anew business department, in which theonline, video-on-demand and archivecapitalization are a strategic direction.I believe we are sitting on a gold mine,”said Lucian Romascanu, managementadvisor to TVR president Stelian Tanase.
“There is a video-on-demand projectthat is functional at the moment, tvr-plus.ro, which we wish to rethink andcreate the possibility that this premiumcontent can be accessed for money,”added Romascanu.
The public television service is dueto launch two new stations – an educa-tion and a weather channel – in linewith the transition to digital terrestrialtelevision. ∫
Otilia Haraga
Razvan Cotovelea, Romanian minister for information society
MEDIA
Journalist Robert Turcescu causes public outcryby confessing undercover army officer past
B1 TV journalist Robert Turcescushocked the public on Sundaymorning when he posted a con-
fession on his blog that he had servedas an undercover army officer.Laterthat day, Turcescu confirmed the ad-mission live on B1 TV, during a 20-minute speech.
The text on the journalist’s blogread: “Yes, I was an undercover lieu-tenant-colonel. I am publishing belowseveral of the payment records, withthe sums of money I received. I chosenot to betray God and make this publicconfession. I refuse to be Judas in frontof Christ, even though today, thosewho read this text will not understandvery clearly what is going on. Pray forme and with me to be forgiven and re-deemed. I am ready to face the publicoutcry – I deserve it – but I hope wewill have fair laws and judges. WithGod’s help everything will be fine. Iask forgiveness from you all.”
The blog post was accompanied bya copy of a military ID with Turcescu’spicture and two payment records.
The blog is no longer online, andthe post does not appear on the jour-nalist’s Facebook page.
Turcescu, who anchored a B1 TVtalk show called Sub semnul intrebarii
(Under Question) announced he wouldstep down from the show and withdrawfrom the media at least temporarily,and that he was ready to face the legalconsequences of his actions.
Turcescu’s statements were metwith public outcry, and a welter of heat-ed debate sprang up after his TV ap-pearance. His intervention was de-scribed as a “mystical delirium” byGandul commentator Cristian Tudor-
Popescu, while other outlets such asHotNews questioned the authenticityof the documents.
Tudor-Popescu said, “There shouldbe a complaint from the service in ques-tion (ed. note: the service whose confi-dentiality was compromised by Turces-cu’s statements). Someone must declarethey are a damaged party in all this. Itis a long process; I don’t think we willwitness anything like this,” said Popescu.
However, the Ministry of Public De-fense (MApN) declined to comment onTurcescu’s case, posting an official re-sponse on its website. “The Ministryof Public Defense will not make anystatements regarding this subject. MApNis applying the laws of the country andbelieves that debates that can hurt theimage of the Romanian Army are notbeneficial. If any irregularities are found,other state institutions have the au-thority to take a stand,” read the re-sponse.
On Wednesday, Turcescu appearedagain on television, this time on RTV,but refused to say more and maintainedhis position. “I, Robert Turcescu, am ina position in which I wish to get a fairtrial. (…) The judge should decide; I amnot the one who decides at the momentwhat I have done or not done,” said the
journalist.Under the Criminal Code, revealing
classified information is punishable withup to seven years in prison.
Turcescu’s statements, which comeas Romania readies itself for the presi-dential election campaign period, hasshifted the public eye from the candi-dates and has also sparked a debate onthe credibility of the Romanian media.
“I believe the position of officer under-cover is incompatible with the journal-istic profession. (…) A journalist dependson his credibility. If what he says is true,Robert Turcescu has lost his credibilitybefore the public,” said Cristina Guseth,executive director of Freedom HouseRomania, told Evenimentul Zilei.
By coincidence, Turcescu also fea-tured in a trailer for the movie De CeEu? (Why Me?) directed by TudorGiurgiu, inspired by the case of CristianPanait, a prosecutor who allegedly killedhimself in 2002.
Giurgiu told Hotnews.ro that Turces-cu was playing a version of himself, ajournalist presenting a talk show. How-ever, at the time of the Panait incident,Turcescu was not yet a talk show host,and the debate in the movie is fictional,according to Giurgiu. ∫
Otilia Haraga
Robert Turcescu has withdrawn fromthe media for the time being
Home, sweet home? Romanian graduates abroad weigh up options
Most are drawn to study abroad forreasons that have to do with the techni-cal equipment, university environment,quality of the teaching staff, cultural en-vironment and the quality of the classes.The fact that they can put into practicewhat they have learnt, flexible timeta-bles, the social life, professional oppor-tunities open to them after graduationand the system of evaluating knowl-edge also count a great deal.
Approximately 39 percent of theyoung people questioned for the surveyin 2014 said they did not wish to returnto Romania after finishing their studiesor in the near future, while 32 percentwere undecided.
The main thing that puts them off isthe government and politics, which de-terred 74 percent of respondents.
Other serious challenges that Roma-nia is faced with are high-level corrup-tion, cited by 73 percent of respondents,the non-representative political class(66 percent), petty corruption (54 per-cent) and low salaries (54 percent).
Coming back to Romania is still a vi-able option but it is becoming less and less attractive. Only 29 percent of respondents said they wanted to re-turn home after the end of their studiesor in the near future, according to thesurvey.
“In most cases, the reasons for return-ing are personal: idealism, patriotism,family. And then, from a strictly profes-sional perspective, there are greaterchances of moving up the ladder in Ro-mania, even though salaries are muchlower than elsewhere, at least in the be-ginning,” executive search consultantGeorge Butunoiu tells BR.
Gheban adds that from the point ofview of the number and diversity of jobs,cities like Bucharest, Timisoara, Iasi andCluj-Napoca are attractive, because 90percent of the multinational companiesin Romania are based here. Other citiessuch as Brasov, Sibiu, Ploiesti andCraiova should not be overlooked either,he says, because they have well-devel-oped infrastructure and positive growthopportunities.
Salary expectations are moderate,according to the LSRS survey. Most ofthe respondents- 54 percent- who cameback accepted starting salaries betweenEUR 400 and EUR 1,000. Another 12percent were paid EUR 1,500 salary.
“I don’t think anyone is overqualifiedafter studying abroad, no matter whatthe job. The high demands are the mainproblem. I know of many companiesthat do not wish to meet such candi-dates in order to avoid uselessheadaches. Indeed, they are highlyfrustrated, and the related professionalrisks, for the employer, and not only, arejust as high,” says Butunoiu.
This view is confirmed by a surveycarried out by the Pro Diaspora Institutein Romania in March, which found thatcompanies are reluctant to hire youngpeople who have graduated abroad, be-cause they fear very high financial de-mands. And young graduates who wantto work in state structures, especiallyfaculties or research institutes, mustface the corruption and reticence ofthose who make the decisions, says thesurvey.
“Employers fear two things when re-cruiting people who have studiedabroad: the candidates’ high expecta-tions regarding their responsibilities,and their maladjustment to the currentsituation in Romania, which meansthey might decide to return to the coun-try they studied in,” says Gheban.
For those who do decide to come back, there are various options open.
“They can start a career in a multina-tional company – and there are enoughtrainee management or junior jobs thatgive them the opportunity of fast per-sonal and professional growth. Theycan pursue a career in the NGO fieldwhich has grown in recent years in Ro-mania and still has a lot of room on themarket. We also encourage them to be-come entrepreneurs, even though thisis one of the most difficult and challeng-ing options,” says Comaneci.
The most frequent needs youngstershave upon returning to Romania are re-lated to access to the labor market.
Respondents to the LSRS surveycited the complete recognition of diplo-mas (in 67 percent of cases), special in-ternships, fellowship & traineeshipprograms (62 percent), online recruit-ment procedures (40 percent) and ca-reer fairs (33 percent).
∫ OTILIA HARAGA
“Recently, companies in Romania havestarted to feel acutely the lack of youngpeople with potential, who fit the va-cancies at their organizations. Whiletwo-three years ago, most complainedthat young people who undertook in-ternational studies come back with ex-aggerated expectations, over the pastyear the perception has changed a lot,”Adriana Comaneci, managing partner atReviro, tells BR.
Candidates with international expe-rience have certain skills that are in highdemand, such as openness to a new en-vironment and international culture,critical thinking, the ability to adjust tonew situations and flexibility, she ex-plains.
At the moment, there are no reliabledata on how many young people haveactually returned to Romania after com-pleting studies abroad, but the Reviroexperience of the past year shows thatapproximately 60 percent grapple withthe decision, Comaneci says, quotingthe Unesco data.
“This is because many of them leaveright after finishing high school or thefirst years of college, and they are notanchored in the business reality and thelabor market in Romania, so the careeropportunities they have in the countryare not clear,” she adds.
Dragos Gheban, managing partner atCatalyst Solutions, tells BR, “We advisethose who come back to the countryand are looking for a job to first of all fa-miliarize themselves with the currentsituation on the labor market in Roma-nia.”
A survey carried out this year by theLeague of Romanian Students Abroad(LSRS), called Studying Abroad andComing Back Home, revealed that thenumber of young people who want toremain abroad after finishing their stud-ies has increased substantially.
The political climate in Romaniaseems to weigh heavily against comingback to Romania, along with high-levelcorruption, the non-representative po-litical class, petty corruption and mod-est salaries.
Youngsters choose to study abroadmainly for the courses available at inter-national institutions. This supersedesother aspects such as the prestige of for-eign universities, getting to know othercultures or the prospect of learning aforeign language.
Approximately 5,000 Romanians complete studies abroad every year, with more than 85 percent of them study-ing in Europe, according to Unesco data. They then face the choice of whether to come home or not – and thosethat do, while armed with valuable skills, must grapple with the realities on the local market.
6 FOCUSwww.business-review.eu
Business Review | September 29 - October 12, 2014
Should I stay or should I go? Romanian graduates must decide their future
INTERVIEW 7www.business-review.eu Business Review | September 29 - October 12, 2014
DPIIS casts a wide net for investors
[businesspeople] can invest, promotethe attractiveness of the country,show potential investors that Roma-nia is able to welcome them and ex-plain the advantages that Romaniacan provide over other states in theregion.
When do you think the new PPP law
will finally be approved?
The Parliamentary session has juststarted so we will rephrase the articlethat the Constitutional Court has re-jected and we hope the law will beready within a month. That dependson the legislative process.
From where do the investors looking to
step into Romania come?
They are largely from the US, China and the Middle East. Most of those from Europe are big companies in the energy, transport, infrastructure, environment and automotive sectors.
From the Middle East we havemainly investment funds interestedin buying or making direct invest-ment in Romania. The Americans arefrom the service sector, consultancyand human resources. The Chineseare well known for being interested ininfrastructure and the energy sector.
They have the capacity, ability andfunds to create and construct here.We just have to let them, or to clarify with them the legal framework for en-tering Romania, because as Romania
is an EU member state they mustapply EU regulation when they pitcha project here.
Prime Minister Victor Ponta went on a
three-day tour to China earlier this
month and signed some new memo-
randums, agreements for new invest-
ments in the country. We also had the
CEE-China forum last year in Novem-
ber. Why haven’t there been any an-
nouncements regarding the start of
investments since then?
Because the memorandum of under-standing and the protocols we signedwith the Chinese say that we intend to collaborate with them in order to create new jobs and investments in Romania.
We just have to find the legal wayof doing business with China, keepingin mind that they are not an EU mem-ber state and yet have to comply withEU regulation when bidding for orpursuing a contract in Romania.
Of course, we are keen to welcomeChinese companies and we will try tofind a way to create PPPs if possible orto facilitate this for the Chinese andfor all companies.
We have a memorandum of under-standing with China DevelopmentBank. They are coming here with pri-vate investors, offering financial con-sultation and financing for projects tobe implemented in Romania.
FDI to Romania contracted by 10.3 per-
cent to close to EUR 1.2 billion in the
first half compared to same period of
last year. Why did this happen and
what is your estimate regarding the
level of FDI by the end of the year?
I believe that we should attract atleast EUR 2.7 billion, like we did lastyear. This is a difficult year because inRomania we are affected by theUkraine crisis, which impacts all thestates in the region. The internationalbusiness community’s perception ofinvesting in a country very close toUkraine is a bit difficult to quantify.
Even if we make every effort to at-tract foreign investments, we are af-fected by what is happening in theregion and the geopolitics here.
How do foreign investors perceive the
legal and fiscal framework in Roma-
nia?
What an investor wants is predictabil-ity, stability and transparency. That iswhy we maintained the flat tax rateand have come up with a new PPP law.
A new tax exemption for rein-vested profit has recently entered intoforce and we are planning to reducesocial insurance contributions by fivepercentage points for the employer.Of course there is still room for im-provement and the enhancement ofoperational conditions but they willcome when the state budget allows it.
Romania has an amended LaborCode for increased flexibility, as re-quested by private sector representa-tives, and of course on the long term,as the labor market evolves, changeswill be made to further ensure an in-vestment-friendly environment.
∫ OVIDIU POSIRCA
How has the department’s strategy
been affected by the fact that the new
PPP law has not yet been approved?
The Constitutional Court declaredthat we have an article that is uncon-stitutional regarding the clarity of thelaw. We did not agree with that deci-sion, but we will try to redesign thesmall article in order for the bill topass through the Parliament approvalchain.
PPPs have to work for all countriesand the most important thing is that they have to work for Romania,because at local level, in the country-side, there is significant need for thelocal authorities to welcome investorsthat can make investments that theycan’t make from their own money locally.
In order to attract further foreigninvestments we will try to put on aroad show in various countries to pro-mote the fields of activity where
Alexandru Nastase, state secretary at the Department for Infrastructure Projects, Foreign Investments, PublicPrivate Partnership (PPP) and Export Promotion (DPIIS), says foreign direct investments (FDI) to Romania areexpected to reach at least last year’s level of EUR 2.7 billion in 2014. Nastase suggested that the five percentagepoint reduction in social insurance contributions will further increase the attractiveness of the market, althoughforeign investors active here fear that this could lead to higher taxes next year.
March 2014-present – state secretaryat the DPIISNovember 2013-March 2014 – statecounselor to Prime Minister VictorPontaApril 2013-November 2013 – statesecretary at the Department for Infra-structure Projects and Foreign Invest-ment1995-2003,2005-2013 general man-ager of a communication and advertis-ing firm
CV Alexandru Nastase
Photo: M
ihai Constantineanu
Top three nationalsources of FDI in Romania*
(EUR bln)
13.2 Netherlands
10.9 Austria
6.5 Germany*data from the end of 2012
Source: National Bank of Romania
8 www.business-review.euBusiness Review | September 29 - October 12, 2014
With around 136 new medicines awaiting approval for the reimbursed drugs list and a claw back tax that exceeds 20 percent of drugs makers’ sales, the government should move to increase the budget next year andlook at other mechanisms that could keep pharma expenditure under control, aside from the claw back, said industry representatives during the third Focus on Pharma event, organized by Business Review last week.
Pharma industry calls for higher drugs budget
∫ OVIDIU POSIRCA
The claw back tax was adopted fiveyears ago and is on its fourth version,but players in the market are angrybecause they are essentially coveringthe real consumption of medicines,while the initial goal of the contribu-tion was to rein in consumption.
Claw back covers gap in public funding
Dan Zaharescu, executive director ofthe Romanian Association of Interna-tional Medicine Manufacturers(ARPIM), commented that the realconsumption of patients is currently20 percent above the allotted budget.
“The collection rate of the claw backexceeds 90 percent at the moment – itis the tax with the highest collectionrate in Romania,” said the ARPIM ex-ecutive.
The executive added that authori-ties have used the claw back to con-trol the evolution of the pharmamarket in the last two-three years,with growth limited at 2-4 percent an-nually.
Zaharescu also pointed out thatthe steady revenues collected by thestate as claw back are not incentiviz-ing the fight against fraud in thehealth system.
“The state is not interested in get-ting and keeping fraud under controlbecause it has someone to pay for it.The claw back mechanism practicallyeliminates any state intention to con-trol fraud,” said Zaharescu.
According to Anca Grigorescu, co-ordinating lawyer and founding part-ner at law firm bpv – GrigorescuStefanica, the main challenges of theclaw back stem from its regulationand the computation mechanism.
Producers of both innovative andgeneric drugs (products with expiredpatents) have to pay tax of over 20percent of their turnover. The sum in-cludes the mark-up of pharmaciesand distributors. VAT was also in-cluded in the total payable amount,but in 2011 the Constitutional Courtruled that provision unconstitutional.
Cash injection: speakers outline the main challenges of the current claw back contribution
Producers of generics complainthat the current claw back tax is dis-criminatory, because they have lowerregulated revenues, but the tax is thesame as for producers of innovativedrugs.
Laurentiu Mihai, executive direc-tor of the Generic Drug Manufactur-ers Association in Romania (ARPIM),said the quarterly payment of contri-butions by producers of generics hasbecome a “life or death issue”. It hasalso seen cheaper drugs starting to betaken off the market in recent years.
Some 1,332 drugs have disappearedfrom the local market since 2011, in-cluding 500 in the last 14 months. Al-most 900 of them cost less than RON50 and half are manufactured in Ro-mania, said Mihai, citing a report byCegedim Romania, a data provider forthe pharmaceuticals sector.
Medicines under a certain value(RON 25) are produced at a loss due tothe claw back, according to anotherCegedim study cited by the APMGRhead.
“I am afraid that although the taxwas introduced as a temporary meas-
ure, it will stay around for longer,”said Mihai.
A draft bill is currently goingthrough Parliament, which aims toamend the claw back by introducing adifferentiated computation mecha-nism for the innovative and genericsindustries.
According to Mihai, the bill re-quires a final vote in the Chamber ofDeputies and would see generic drugsmakers pay a claw back at 65 percentof the 20 percent levied on sales.
This would reflect another legalprovision, which forces generics pro-ducers to price their medicines at amaximum of 65 percent of the inno-vative alternative.
If the current budget for drugs ismaintained, Zaharescu of ARPIM es-timated that generics producerswould end up paying a claw back of 15percent, while producers of innova-tive drugs would pay 22-24 percent, ifthe amendments for the differenti-ated tax get approved.
Zaharescu said there was also anissue with the quality of data col-lected by the authorities to establish
the consumption of drugs, comment-ing that some producers have chal-lenged these figures in court.
How to replace the claw back?Cristian Busoi, an MEP that sits on the
All photos: Mihai C
onstantineanu
“I am afraid that
although the tax was
introduced as a
temporary measure,
it will stay around for
longer,”
Laurentiu Mihai, executive director of the Generic Drug Manufacturers Association in Romania(ARPIM)
9www.business-review.euBusiness Review | September 29 - October 12, 2014
1. Laurentiu Mihai, executive director, APMGR 2. Cristian Busoi, Member of the European Parliament 3. Anca Grigorescu, founding partner and coordinating lawyer, bpv– Grigorescu Stefanica 4. Dan Zaharescu, executive director, ARPIM
1 2 3 4
Committee for Environment, PublicHealth and Food Safety, suggestedthat cost-volume agreements shouldreplace the claw back in the next twoyears.
“Price-volume agreements don’thave to be invented by us, becausethey already exist in many EU mem-ber states, which we can adapt to Ro-manian realities. Once agreed by mostplayers they should replace the clawback mechanism, maybe at the startof 2016,” said Busoi.
However, Grigorescu of bpv – Grig-orescu Stefanica pointed out that Ro-mania does not yet have the legalframework that would allow the clos-ing of such agreements.
Zaharescu of ARPIM added thatprice-volume agreements will notbring more money into the system ontheir own, urging the authorities toincrease the budget for pharmaspending.
He said that the current regulationbars the National Healthcare Insur-ance House (CNAS) from getting in-volved in negotiations overprice-volume agreements.
The discussions regarding price-volume agreements come against thebackdrop of the government’s inten-tion to update the list of reimburseddrugs by the end of this year.
Zaharescu of ARPIM said that outof 132-136 medicines pending ap-
proval for inclusion on the reim-bursed drugs list, there are 20-30drugs that could get on the listthrough price-volume agreements.However, he stressed that theseagreements will require at least threemonths of negotiations, adding thatthey could probably get on the listfrom the second quarter of 2015 at theearliest.
“Medicines are underfunded – weare the only country in the EU thathas not had the list of reimburseddrugs updated since 2008,” said Busoi,who also had a stint as head of theCNAS, resigning in February.
He said that during his tenure atthe body, officials were concerned
about the financial sustainability ofthe list update.
“In the Romanian healthcare sys-tem, if we had another half of the cur-rent budget it would work at decentparameters,” said Busoi.
The government let 17 new orphandrugs onto the list this summer and funded the move from the publiccoffers. At the moment there is noclear decision regarding the mecha-nism that will finance the update ofthe list.
Players are calling for a balancedapproach that would see both produc-ers and the state finance the move.
10 WHOSwww.business-review.eu
Business Review | September 29 - October 12, 2014
As Ken Blanchard used to say, “feed-back is the breakfast of champions”.If offered in the right way and properenvironment, feedback has a majorimpact on companies’ performance.In a high-performing organization, aCEO should give formal and informalfeedback regularly and instill thispractice among the other managers. Iwould like to share with you a bit moreinsight into it.
Boosting employee motivation hasbeen a research subject for psychol-ogists and anthropologists for years.But leaving aside the well-known the-ories about motivation (which are veryimportant), I want to focus on a specialingredient in leveraging employee mo-tivation: clear direction and feedback.
Progress is not possible withoutthe constant improvement of skillsand knowledge, and that’s why man-agers have a difficult role – to guideemployees towards progress. And thiscan be done only through clear goalsand feedback.
The way feedback is given by man-agers and received by employees hasof course a strong cultural influence.Some cultures are more oriented to-wards accepting feedback as a normalstep in the development process, whileothers are more reticent, perceivingit as criticism. The key to successfulfeedback is creating a fair referencefor it that would lead to a trustworthyenvironment so that feedback be-comes a normal activity in any team.
Combining clear goals with feed-back helps employees to evaluate theirperformance and continue to learn. Itis a main driver for their engagementand motivation, impacting positively ontheir performance.
The results of research by Corpo-rate Leadership Council (CLC) (Man-aging for High Performance and Re-tention, 2005), based on an extensiveanalysis of data gathered from morethan 90,000 employees in 135 organi-zations from around the world,showed that fair and accurate feed-back can boost employee engagementby up to 40 percent and discretionaryeffort up to 23.3 percent.
Also, managerial feedback thatrecognizes and rewards the achieve-ment of employees increases individ-ual performance by up to 4.4 percent.
The most challenging feedback isthat given on poor performance: howto deliver it in order to create positiveresults. The CLC research evidencedthe danger of negative performancefeedback. The emphasis on weaknessin the employee performance – in theabsence of specific, targeted feedbackfor improvement – will diminish em-ployee engagement and effort, reduc-ing performance by up to 26.8 percent. One of the most efficient approachesis to focus on solutions: feedbackshould be used to identify solutionsand discussions conceived to lead toan action that can be followed up on.The research showed that managersproviding feedback intended to findsolutions to employees’ problems canincrease the individual’s performanceby up to 23.7 percent.Offering and receiving feedback needsto start from very specific behaviors,with no judgments and starting fromthe premises that each employee isunique. Great managers know how tocapitalize on the strengths of their em-ployees and use feedback to challengeeach of them to excel in his or her ac-tivity.
CEO CORNER
Jean Istasse
CEO, Sodexo
The impact of clear direction and feedbackon employee motivation
Ana Maria Bajan has been appointed marketing, busi-ness development & PR executive di-rector at Caroli Goods Group. Bajanis a graduate of the InternationalEconomic Relations Faculty, withinthe Academy of Economic Studies,and holds a marketing MA from thesame institution. She has over 14years of experience in marketing andcommunication, mostly in the FMCGsector. Before joining Caroli, Bajanheld several positions at UnileverSouth Central Europe.
Aurelia Costache has joined EY Ro-
mania as finan-cial services in-dustry leader inthe consultancydepartment. Shehas been workingas a consultant in
the banking and telecom sectors formore than 16 years. Costache previ-ously led and developed the infor-mation risk management, IT advi-sory and performance & technologydepartments of another Big Fourplayer. She holds an EMBA from theEcole Nationale des Ponts etChaussees in Paris and a postgraduate diploma in interna-tional business from the Universityof Edinburgh.
Sonia Nastasehas steppeddown as GM ofHoward John-
son Grand Plaza
Bucharest tocontinue her ca-reer in aHoReCa related
business, more details aboutwhich will be made public over thecoming period. She will be re-placed by Daniel Ben-Yehuda, theGM of Ramada Plaza Bucharest &Ramada Bucharest Parc. Nastasetook over as GM of Howard Johnson Grand Plaza Bucharest in 2009. Her professional background in the hospitality industry goes back over 15 years,both in the operational area and in consultancy.
Razvan Szilagyiwill be the new general director ofRaiffeisen Asset Management
(RAM) from January. He is replac-ing Mihail Ion, who will remainboard president. Szilagyi is cur-rently director of sales in thetreasury division at RaiffeisenBank. He has spent the last 11years working for the lender, out-side of which he is also a memberof CFA Romania, since obtainingauthorization in 2006.
WHO’S NEWSBR welcomes information for Who’s News. Submissions may be edited
fo r length and clarity.Get in touch at [email protected]
ANNOUNCEMENT
Recruitment and selection of the non-executive administrators for Compania Națională a Uraniului S.A. and Societatea Electrocentrale Grup S.A., economic operators under the authority of the Ministry of Economy through the Department of Energy.
The Ministry of Economy through the Department of Energy selectedthe association formed between the companies “Boyden Global Executive Search” and „Choice Management & Consulting SRL”, forspecialty services of assistance in recruitment and selection of thenon-executive administrators for Compania Națională a UraniuluiS.A. and Societatea Electrocentrale Grup S.A., companies under theauthority of the ministry of Economy through the Department of Energy.
Interested candidates are invited to access the details regarding theconditions required to apply, selection criteria and the participationin the selection process on the sites of the companies www.cnu.roand www.electrocentralegrup.ro, on the site of the Department ofEnergy, www.energie.gov.ro or on the site www.boyden.com.
The files containing the required documents by the candidate will besubmitted / sent with confirmation of receiving at the Ministry ofEconomy – Department for Energy, Direcţia Generală Privatizare şiAdministrare a Participaţiilor Statului în Energie, Bucureşti, SplaiulIndependenţei nr. 202 E, sector 6, camera 109, cod poştal 060023,România, as well as in electronic format at the email addressdeptenergie@ boyden.com, until latest 29.10.2014 , at 16:00.
PROPERTY 11www.business-review.eu Business Review | September 29 - October 12, 2014
added Bordei. The expansion of retail-ers, hypermarkets especially, is driv-ing up demand outside Bucharest,while in the industrial sector, the au-tomotive industry is the main growthengine, she went on.
Rents have remained stable overthe first semester, with prime head-line rents for modern logistics ware-houses ranging from EUR 3.6-3.9/sqm/ month, but the net effectiverental level is down by 10-20 percent,according to the DTZ report.
Headline rents are expected to stagnate through to yearend andthere will continue to be flexibilityfrom owners as regards the durationand incentive packages, predicted Pop.
Romania’s total stock of modernindustrial and logistics spaceamounted to1.8 million sqm at theend of H1 2014. More than half of this– 53 percent, or about 930,000 sqm –is located in Bucharest. Outside thecapital, the largest cities in terms ofmodern warehousing are Ploiesti,Timisoara, Brasov, Pitesti, Arad andCluj-Napoca.
Speculative developmentahead?The market is more dynamic and thefact that it is being stimulated by newcompanies active in manufacturingoffers new perspectives to warehouseand logistics space developers, thinksTarcavu. “Given that over the pastfour years the main growth engine forthis sector has been ‘built-to-suit’
spaces, we predict that from 2015 de-velopers will reconsider the option ofspeculative developments, both inBucharest and in the main cities,” sheadded.There are signals the market could seethe start of works on speculative proj-ects in Bucharest and the other maincities, Timisoara in particular, con-firmed Bordei. “For now these proj-ects are in a development phase, notconstruction, but the situation couldchange rapidly,” she outlined.
“Yes, there are positive signs about future developments as thereare developers that are active on the CEE market but not in Romania.The main interest areas are hubs such as Bucharest, Timisoara, Arad,Ploiesti, Cluj-Napoca and Brasov,” said Pop.
The latest news about new logisticsand industrial developments concernsSwiss Artemis Holding, whose localbranch, Artemis Real Estate, has an-nounced that it will develop five logis-tics and residential projects nearTimisoara, on a 128 ha plot of land.Out of this surface, 40 hectares havebeen allocated to the development oflogistics and industrial parks. EUR 15million has been invested so far in theland and infrastructure works. Thedeveloper is now looking to sell orlease the plots of land for periods ofabout 15 years, but it is not ruling outthe possibility of starting develop-ments of its own.
The manufacturing industry and retailers are driving up demand for logistics andindustrial space both in Bucharest and outside, real estate pundits told BR. And forthe first time in several years, speculative development could resume.
Demand for logistics andindustrial space to pick up
Deep space: manufacturing and retail are driving demand for warehousing
∫ SIMONA BAZAVAN
Total leasing activity involving mod-ern industrial and logistics spacereached 89,000 sqm in the first sixmonths of 2014, while take-upamounted to 61,000 sqm, according toa DTZ Echinox report. Some 46 per-cent of this was in Bucharest.
“The take-up of logistics and indus-trial space increased considerably inthe first half of this year compared tothe same period a year ago – from20,000 sqm to 34,000 sqm. At a re-gional level, the take-up was similar toa year ago, but we anticipate a dy-namic evolution over the coming pe-riod,” Rodica Tarcavu, head of theindustrial department at DTZ Echinox,told BR.
CBRE data put the total leasing ac-tivity involving logistics and industrialspace at over 230,000 sqm in the firstsemester, up by 46 percent y-o-y.Renegotiations represent about half ofthis. “What’s worth mentioning is thatrelocations and extensions reportedan increase in surface area of close to50 percent this year against the previ-ous one,” Dana Bordei, head of the in-dustrial business development atCBRE, told BR.
The overall vacancy rate stood at 8percent in the first semester, with ahigher proportion in the capital – 10percent. Outside Bucharest this fell to6 percent and went as low as zero inCluj-Napoca, Brasov, Pitesti andOradea, according to DTZ data.
Looking at predictions for the re-mainder of this year, there are thepremises for leasing activity to top lastyear’s level, as demand from both lo-gistics operators and manufacturers ison the rise, pundits told BR. “By theend of the year we expect several im-portant transactions to be closed inBucharest and outside the capital,”said Tarcavu.
In turn, this should also lower thevacancy rate. “In 2014 we expect totalleasing activity to go up slightly com-pared to 2013 because of the manufac-turing industry. The vacancy rateshould drop slightly – in Bucharest wesee it at around 12-13 percent,” CristinaPop, head of the industrial agency atJLL Romania, told BR.
In the capital in particular, logisticsoperators are expanding their surfacesas a result of increased business, in-cluding from growing online sales,
NEPI could buy Promenada mall New Europe Property Investments(NEPI) has started a due diligence processfor the acquisition of Raiffeisen Evolu-tion’s Promenada mall in Bucharest, ac-cording to Mediafax. The 35,000-sqmPromenada shopping mall in northernBucharest opened last October followingan investment of over EUR 130 million.Raiffeisen Evolution had said from thebeginning that plans to sell the projectwere in place. NEPI’s commercial port-folio comprises approximately 330,000sqm (GLA).
Immofinanz reports declining local revenues Austrian real estate company Immofi-nanz has reported revenues of EUR 11.6million for the period May 1-July 31 (Q1of the fiscal year) in Romania, downfrom EUR 12.6 million during the sameperiod of 2013, according to a companyreport. Immofinanz, which owns 16 of-fice, retail and logistics properties inRomania, saw rent revenues decline inQ1 mainly because the occupancy ratefor its 206,411 sqm (GLA) of office spacedropped to 76.7 percent from about 90percent a year ago.
Telekom Romania to sell real estate assets A real estate portfolio consisting of threeassets – Palatul Telefoanelor, the Tandembuilding and a land plot in Matei Millo –have been put up for sale by telecomoperator Telekom Romania Communi-cations, with a starting price of EUR 21.6million. Those interested in participatingin the auction must present a letter ofguarantee and submit their offers byOctober.
Colliers: real estate market up 60 pct y-o-yReal estate investments could reach EUR500 million by yearend, up 60 percentagainst 2013, with two large transactionsabout to be completed, said Ilinca Paun,MD of Colliers International, last week,according to Mediafax. Should this figurebe reached, it would mark the highestlevel in the past six years. By comparison,last year investors brought propertiesworth EUR 300 million.
Imobiliare.ro launches online automated valua-tion toolReal estate platform Imobiliare.ro haslaunched an automated valuation model(AVM), the first of its kind available inRomania, and two other valuation serv-ices, following an investment of approx-imately RON 1.1 million (about EUR240,000) out of which some RON800,000 consisted of EU funds. Thethree online tools, which went live inJune, target real estate agents, valuatorsand banks and are intended to providesupport in property evaluation.
BRIEFS
12 FUNDRAISINGwww.business-review.eu
Business Review | September 29 - October 12, 2014
Hope rises: EUR 5.7 mln palliativecare center opens in Bucharest
∫ OANA VASILIU
After a EUR 5.7 million investment,Hospice Casa Sperantei has opened anew palliative care center, inBucharest’s District 2. In 2009, theUK’s Duchess of Norfolk made the firstcall for donations for the center, a pleaechoed by Princess Marina Sturdzaand HIRH Dominic von Habsburg,among other donors, patrons, spon-sors and founder members. “We havebeen able to achieve more than weeven dreamed was possible, to raiseEUR 5.7 million during a worldwide re-cession that hit Romania just as webegan our fundraising campaign.Tonight marks a victory for this coun-try’s civil society and represents alandmark in the country’s progress.And, make no mistake, civil society isalive and well in Romania,” said Stur-dza in a speech to mark the launch ofthe center.
“Today is a day of great celebration,and I think it is a miracle that we arehere. I can imagine how much workwas put in and how many obstacleswere surpassed to open this center, and I want to congratulateeveryone because it was teamwork. Ibelieve that this hospice will becomeincreasingly strong and I can alsoimagine how many people it will helpover the years,” said the Duchess ofNorfolk, patron of Hospice Casa Sper-antei for 20 years now, in her openingspeech.
According to a Hospice Casa Sper-antei report, over 5,000 people die ofcancer every year in Bucharest, withonly 9 percent of cancer sufferers hav-ing access to free palliative care in thecapital. The report found that morethan 15,000 patients need this serviceannually in Bucharest and the sur-rounding areas.
“It’s true that there is a great tradi-tion that certainly started with mygrandmother, Queen Maria, who was a nurse and went to the front-line to take care of soldiers from both sides of the line. She also founded several hospitals in Romania. (…) Ileana, my mother,opened her doors to Romanian soldiers when she was living in Austria, turning her house into a hospital. She knew it wasn’t enough, so she returned to Romaniaand built another hospital in
Bran. (…) For me, the great meaning ofthis hospice is a continuation of what these two great women have done before,” added von Habsburg.
The new center, which has threefloors and covers 3,421 sqm, is the firstand only palliative care center with in-tegrated services in Bucharest, provid-ing free support to terminally illchildren and adults. Patients have ac-cess to homecare services, ambulatorycare, hospital admissions, social serv-ices and psycho-emotional counseling.
The facility also has a multilingualteaching center for physicians andnurses, with courses to start in October. Subscriptions started twoyears in advance. Hospice Casa Sper-antei will serve as a training center forover 12,000 hospice staff from Serbia, Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria,Moldova and also Asian states such asKyrgyzstan. It has partnered with theMinistry of Health to develop a na-tional program for palliative care inRomania.
“Bucharest can rightly be proud of what has been accomplished. This building is a model for EasternEurope and will also provide a teaching center that spreads its wings and knowledge to the entirecountry and beyond, forming thephysicians and nurses and hospice advocates to whom we will entrust the future care of
our parents, our friends and children,and perhaps, whose services we ourselves may need,” added Sturdza.
Another EUR 390,000neededThe Bucharest center can accommo-date 2,000 patients a year, while the Hospice Casa Sperantei team can perform 11,000 homecare visits and over 8,000 ambulatory consulta-tions. Moreover, 5,000 visits can take place in the center, where patients can take part in recreationalactivities.
To fund all this, the Bucharest center needs EUR 390,000 to function fully for a period of ninemonths. “And now, we have anothermiracle to perform, and we surely will!We must raise another EUR 400,000 to complete the equipment and fund the first nine months of the new hospice. Together we will make that next miracle happen. Itcannot come soon enough for those hundreds of terminally ill children and adults waiting for our help,” commented Sturdza in herspeech.
The center includes two units, onefor adults and another for children,with 23 beds that can accommodate700 admissions in one year.
Over 5,000 people die of cancer every year in Bucharest, but only 9 percent of the capital’s sufferers have accessto free palliative care, according to Hospice Casa Sperantei. But patients can now take heart from the opening ofa new palliative care center in Bucharest.
l Englishman Graham Perolls came toRomania as a tourist in 1975 and re-turned several times throughout theseventies. In 1989, after some familyproblems, he revisited the countryand was horrified by the poor condi-tions. A few months later, he pio-neered hospice care in Romania,which was then nonexistent. In 1992,the Brasov Hospice Casa Speranteiwas opened. Dr. Constantin Voincubecame the first medical director,and was soon joined by Sylvia Jarrett,a homecare sister from the ElleanorFoundation, who started training thefirst Romanian nurse, Gabi Baila. In1996, a pediatrician and children’snurse joined the team, which meantthat families with terminally ill chil-dren had some form of support forthe first time. Since then, the centerhas continuously grown, training over12,000 doctors and nurses in all as-pects of hospice care and providingcare for thousands of children andadults who needed support to fighttheir diseases.
l In 2013, in her New Year’s HonoursList, the UK’s Queen Elisabethawarded Perolls the Order of theCompanion of St Michael and StGeorge for his services to hospiceand palliative care in Eastern Europe.The order is given to people who doextraordinary or important non-mili-tary service in a foreign country,which Perolls has been doing in Ro-mania for the last 22 years.
PROFILE Graham PerollsFounder & executive director of Hospice of Hope
Graham Perolls, founder and executive director Hospice Casa Sperantei, theUK’s Dutchess of Norfolk and HIRH Dominic von Habsburg
Courtesy of H
ospice of Hope
CITY 13www.business-review.euBusiness Review | September 29 - October 12, 2014
Homo Europaeusand the Europeanproject
∫ ANCA IONITA
This is the question Julia Kristeva, aninternationally renowned philoso-pher, sociologist, psychoanalyst andliterary critic, tried to answer duringthe conference La culture dans le pro-jet europeene (Culture’s role withinthe European project) she held lastweek at the French Cultural Institutein Bucharest.
Starting with a simple observation– the multilingualism of Europeans, atrait that in her opinion differentiatesthem from North American or Chi-nese citizens – Kristeva tried to cap-ture the kaleidoscopic identity ofHomo Europaeus, who can no longerbe identified with the 20th centurybourgeoisie, nor with the last cen-tury’s anarchist.
The ability to speak several lan-guages brings with it the ability tothink in those languages. This couldbe, among other things, a trigger forthe rediscovery and re-evaluation ofthe richness of each national language,and a starting point for the birth of thenew European ‘us’.
What actually is the new Europeanidentity that is currently in the mak-ing, asks Kristeva? The paradox is thatEuropean culture is based on a cult ofidentity, the identity dogma that hasonly brought troubles so far. “Wehave to live our identity as an openquestion,” she says. Identity shouldbe a matter of constant debate, of on-going questioning, not a ‘cult’. HomoEuropaeus is very much like a re-searcher, constantly asking questions,
Can one draw a profile of the 21st century citizen livingin the geographical area of Europe, a so-called HomoEuropaeus of today?
Julia Kristeva explored the kaleidoscopic identity of Homo Europaeus
including self-interrogation. “Thehuman voice of reflection is infinite,”says the philosopher.
Kristeva’s future Europe is a spaceof national cultural diversity, where
“the banality of thinking” (to para-phrase Hannah Arendt’s concept ofthe banality of evil) is undermined bythe constant apolitical interrogationof identity and the valorization of na-tional cultures.
Bulgarian-French Julia Kristeva is aphilosopher, literary critic, psychoana-lyst, sociologist, feminist, and novelist.She has lived in France since the mid-1960s. She is currently a Professor atthe University Paris Diderot. Kristevabecame influential with her first book,Semeiotikè, published in 1969. She haswritten extensively on intertextuality,the semiotic and abjection, in the fieldsof linguistics, literary theory and criti-cism, psychoanalysis, biography andautobiography, political and culturalanalysis, art and art history. She is re-garded as one of the major structural-ists, alongside names such as RolandBarthes, Tzvetan Todorov, Lucien Gold-mann, Gérard Genette, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Jacques Lacan, AlgirdasJulien Greimas and Louis Althusser.
CV Julia Kristeva
Courtesy of French Institute
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Dracula Film: Horror and Fantasy
Festival
Brasov, October 2-5
Now on its second run, six internationalfeature films, eight international shortsand seven Romanian shorts will go headto head at the festival. Gary Shore’s firstfeature movie, Dracula Untold, whichopens in Romania on October 3, will bescreened at the grand opening.
Anim’est
Studio Cinema, Elvira Popescu Cinema
and Atelierul de Producţie,
October 3-12
A record number of films were submit-ted for this ninth edition of the festival –over 1,260 short and feature-lengthmovies – of which 400 productions fromover 60 countries will come to Bucharest.This year’s special guest country is Den-mark, the home of one of the most pres-tigious animation schools in the world,The Animation Workshop. The Jacques-Rémy Girerd Retrospective and Animashselection will also be highlights. Thosekeen to learn more about the genre canattend Re:Animating Bucharest, a con-cept that has grown along with the fes-tival’s educational platform, designed toreinvigorate elements of urban culturethrough animation.
Vaya Con Dios
Sala Palatului, October 5
After three sold-out shows in Bucharest,in 2009, 2010 and 2013, Dani Klein andher band are returning to Romania fortheir Farewell Tour, extended last yeardue to public demand. Following a 28-year career, Vaya Con Dios is currentlyBelgium’s most popular band. Ticketscost RON 135, 170, 230, 300 and 400 (VIP).
Astra Film Festival
Sibiu, October 6-12
Some 120 films from 40 countries will bescreened during the 20th run of this doc-umentary festival. There are four com-petition sections: international, featuringworks from Frederick Wiseman, MichelGondry and Corneliu Porumboiu; Centraland Eastern Europe, tackling subjectsthat define the region’s identity and por-tray realities unknown even to neighbor-
ing countries; student, featuring produc-tions by young directors from the greatuniversity centers of Geneva, Manchester,London, Munich, Budapest, Bucharestand San Antonio de los Baños (Cuba); andRomania, showcasing local films.
Miles Davis Kind of Blue
Radio Hall, October 9
Ranking alongside Louis Armstrong,Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker and JohnColtrane, Miles Davis was one of the mostfamous names of the jazz world. Kind ofBlue won acclaim not only as Davis’sbest-selling album, but as the best-sell-ing jazz record of all time. Some 55 yearssince its release, six musicians bring thelate singer back on stage: trumpeterRyan Carniaux, saxophonist Plume, con-trabass Chris Dahlgren, drummer DroriMondlak, pianist Mircea Tiberian andsaxophonist Nicolas Simion. Tickets forthe Jazz Syndicate Live Sessions eventcost from RON 85 to RON 125.
Cluj Comedy Week
Cluj Napoca, October 10-19
Over its five editions, Comedy Cluj haspresented to the public over 600 comedyfilms and this year is no exception: over150 movies will be screened, alongsidemusical events, a Frank Sinatra jazzshow, stand-up comedy, contemporary
dance staging of Carmina Burana, Ro-manian theater and many other sur-prises.
Colors of Maria
Radio Hall, October 11-12
Artists from seven countries have em-braced the voice and music of the greatRomanian chanteuse Maria Tanase,transforming her most famous songsinto unique and colorful interpretations.The event will bring together jazz im-provisation, folk themes from the musi-cians’ countries of origin and originalcompositions, all in a journey betweenEast and West. Traditional instrumentssuch as the ney, duduk and oud will com-plete the atmosphere, accompanied bythe exceptional local voices of MonicaMadas and Maria Casandra Hausi. Ticketprices range from RON 40 to RON 80.
Bonnie Tyler & Smokie
Radio Hall, October 13
Bonnie Tyler enjoyed her peak fame inthe 1980s when she collaborated withJim Steinman, with international hits To-tal Eclipse of the Heart and Holding Outfor a Hero becoming golden oldies. Shewill perform a three-hour set withSmokie, whose biggest global smash isLiving Next Door to Alice. Tickets cost
from RON 150 to RON 500 (the latter forVIP entrance).
Lara Fabian
Sala Palatului, October 20
With hits including Tu t’en vas, Si tum’aime and Deux ils, deux elles, LaraFabian has sold over 20 million recordsand is the best-selling Belgian-born fe-male artist of all time. This will be hersecond time on a Bucharest stage.
Les Films de Cannes a Bucarest
Cinema Patria, Cinema Studio, Cinema
Elvira Popescu, October 24-30
Now on its fifth run, the festival givesRomanian audiences a chance to seesome of the movies screened in Cannesthis year, both in and out of competition.It will open with Leviathan, which wonthe Best Screenplay Award, directed byAndrey Zvyagintsev and starring AlekseiSerebryakov, Elena Lyadova andVladimir Vdovichenkov. The 2014 Russ-ian drama, set on a peninsula by theBarents Sea, tells the story of a man whostruggles against a corrupt mayor whowants his piece of land.
La Traviata Premiere
Bucharest National Opera, October 30
Director Paul Curran will stage the pre-miere of Verdi’s La Traviata at theBucharest National Opera, with the helpof designer Gary McCann. “A combina-tion of old and new, classic and modern,”is the institution’s promise.
James Blunt
Cluj-Napoca, October 31
James Blunt comes to Romania to pro-mote his latest album on the Moonland-ing World Tour 2014. The first single,Bonfire Heart, has been a success, withthe video receiving well over half a mil-lion views in one week. “I am so excitedfor me and my band to get back on theroad and play these new songs live, alongwith some of the older hits. My fans havenever let me down, and there’s nothingbetter than playing for them at the shows.They have been incredibly supportive ofme over the years,” commented the artist.Tickets cost from RON 175 to RON 225.
DON’T MISS
OCTOBER EVENTS ROUNDUP
Blunt force: British singer James Blunt returns to Romania for a show in Cluj
