“In a period when the economy of a country is stalling, anybody seeks new markets to keep business within profitable parameters. Abroad, in the areas where Hidroconstructia has contracts underway, there are stability signals, at least for the time being,” Romeo Bogdanovici, HR management director at Hidroconstructia, told ZF.
Hidroconstructia’s move to tap new markets comes as the domestic construction field is struggling to return into the black and one of the company’s major clients, Hidroelectrica, has drastically reduced its investment budgets.
Despite the 3.5% GDP advance last year, the field of constructions did not feel the economic growth at all. Moreover, construction works declined by 1.8%, according to statistical data.
The largest project Hidroconstructia won last year abroad is worth $200 million and envisages the construction of a dam in Kurdistan. Hidroconstructia also works in the field of civil and industrial constructions in Germany, in the hydro-technical and civil sector in Belgium and in irrigation system fitting in the Republic of Moldova.
Hidroconstructia is not the first Romanian builder going abroad for projects, as construction investment has dwindled in Romania. Delta ACM 93, controlled by businessman Florea Diaconu, handles construction projects in countries such as Iraq, Gabon or Algeria.
Hidroconstructia expects the domestic construction market not to pick up this year, either, despite 2014 being an electoral year. “Considering the upcoming electoral period, 2014 is highly likely to bring important, sizeable projects in Romania, but not an upward trend for the construction field. The effects are likely to be seen in 2015,” concluded Bogdanovici.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)