“With the exception of Rapid, all my businesses are making a profit and are alive and well. None of them is behind on its payments to the state. If I didn’t have Rapid, perhaps instead of 2,000 employees in the entire Ana group, I would have had 4,000,” said George Copos, financer of football club Rapid. He added that he will keep the same number of employees this year.
“I have put my businesses in several baskets, and the basket that will see the biggest growth this year is the hotel one. I made the 2012 budgets at an exchange rate of 4.32 lei for one euro and I took into consideration a 1% economic growth,” said Copos, who was deputy prime minister between 2004-2006.
The 2012 budget of Ana Hotels, which manages the businessman’s hotels, provides for a 9% increase on last year.
Hotels Athenee Palace Hilton and Crowne Plaza in Bucharest, Sportul, Bradul and Poiana in mountain resort Poiana Brasov, and Astoria and Europa in seaside resort Eforie Nord posted turnover of EUR25 million last year, and will reach EUR27 million this year, according to Copos.
“During the crisis I had a very correct strategy. The investments I made (EUR25 million, editor’s note) brought me turnover of EUR3 million for the hotels in the mountains and a rising gross profit.”
In December 2011, Copos inaugurated one of the most important projects in Brasov, an 80-hectare skiing area in Poiana Brasov, following a RON120 million (EUR27.6 million) investment.
“In Poiana Brasov I finally was able to ski like I did in Courchevel, France. Now foreigners can come ski here (…) in the largest ski area in the country. Austrians should come and see what we’ve done here.”
Last year, Copos completed a EUR11 million investment in modernizing Sportul hotel in Poiana Brasov, where he developed a spa and a conference center. The businessman says he plans to bring improvements to Bradul hotel and has started design works.
Copos also says he will invest EUR1 million to boost the capacity of the cable transport line in Poiana Brasov to almost 8,500 people per hour in order to avoid overcrowding. Ana Teleferic cable car installations generated turnover of EUR1.4 million last year, with a capacity of 8,000 people per hour. Now only Bradul and Stadion slopes are managed by the businessman’s company, while the others are managed by the Brasov Local council.
At Ana Imep he expects a slight turnover decline and a profit increase. For the electric engine business developed by Ana Imep in Pitesti, Copos predicts a turnover of RON80 million (EUR18.4 million), compared to RON86 million (EUR19.8 million) last year. (EUR1=RON4.347)
(English version by Daniela Stoican)