The institute has been bankrupt since 2011, with liquidator Remus Borza selling to an Iranian-held company 6,700 sq m of land for EUR2 million (EUR300/sq m) in Bucharest’s most active real estate area.
The National Wood Institute, which has since the interwar period designed most all of what has been developed in Romania in terms of furniture and wood processing, entered bankruptcy proceedings in the summer of 2011, with debts of almost 20 million lei (EUR4.7 million) and the designated liquidator was Euro Insol, run by Remus Borza, the lawyer whose name is also linked to the future of energy giant Hidroelectrica, currently insolvent.
“Irmex SA Braila bought 6,700 sq m for EUR2 million. The contract was sealed on February 20 2013. For the remaining 7,300 sq m the contract will be sealed in the first ten days of March,” Borza said.
Irmex owns a Suzuki dealer in Braila and is controlled by Iranian businessmen Rouzbeh and Ali Madadi, who also own the Radacini group, with annual sales of over EUR100 million from selling Opel, Chevrolet, Mazda, Citroen and Suzuki brands.
The institute’s assets – a 15,700 sq-m plot on Fabrica de Glucoza street, close to the intersection with Barbu Vacarescu street – was last year put up for auction for a starting price of EUR4 million, equivalent to EUR257/sq m. But no wood industry player bought the plot, which is located in Bucharest’s busiest area in terms of real estate development. Prices in the area are of around EUR700-EUR1,000 per sq m for plots that allow for the construction of at least eight-ten-floor buildings.
Borza did not say how many floors could be built on the plot according to town planning rules and Irmex representatives did not make statements on the construction plans for the land bought.
(English version by Daniela Stoican)