Romanian Real Estate Investment Volumes Grew 80% in 1H 2016
Romanian real estate investment volumes in the first half of 2016 are estimated at EUR340 million, 80% higher than the EUR187 million registered in the same period of 2015, according to real estate experts of JLL Romania.
Capital Bucharest accounted for nearly 48% of the total investment volume but the first half of the year also witnessed the first significant transaction outside of Bucharest, in Sibiu (29% of the total volume), since 2008.
Market volumes were balanced between retail transactions (45%) and office (38%) while industrial accounted for close to 17%. It is worth mentioning that 8% of the total transaction volume is represented by a bank repossession of an office building. (Adevarul)
Romanian Banking Market No Longer Impacted By Financial Crisis
The financial crisis is no longer impacting the Romanian banking market, as lenders reported profits of hundreds of millions of lei in the first six months of the year.
In Romania, the gap between lenders’ earnings and expenses is rather high. According to the data available so far, banks reported 160% higher earnings compared with last year.
Romania’s largest bank BCR, a unit of Austria’s Erste Group Bank (EBS.RO), reported a net profit of RON636 million (EUR141.5 million) in the first half of the year, due to an improved loan portfolio. Second largest lender BRD-Groupe Societe Generale (BRD.RO) reported a net profit of RON381 million for the first half of 2016, up 63.5% from the year-earlier period.
Banca Transilvania (no. 3) profit stood at RON458 million in the first half, while UniCredit Bank, the fifth lender on the market, reported a net consolidated profit of RON226 million in the first six months, up 159% compared with the same period a year before. ING Romania (no. 7) reported a net profit of RON278 million in the first six months of 2016, up 79% on the year. (Evenimentul Zilei)
CNADNR Head Promises 1,000 Km Of Highways By 2018
Every year in the last ten years, the heads of Romania’s roads authority CNADNR or Transport Ministers promised phantasmagorical projects which, obviously, did not become reality.
CNADNR head, Catalin Homor, has recently promised that Romania will have 1,000 kilometers of highways in the first half of 2018. Romania currently has 700 km of highways. Another 150 km of highways are currently under construction. The other 150 km left should be built in one year and a half, although this is a period enough for projection and auction. (Puterea)
Liviu Dragnea Puts The Screws To President Iohannis To Become PM
If the Social Democratic Party (PSD) manages to get the majority in the future Parliament with ALDE, the party is determined to support PSD president Liviu Dragnea for the position of Prime Minister at any cost, although he got a one-year suspended prison sentence in the case of election fraud at the referendum.
Sources within PSD have revealed the party’s plans for a “hot autumn”: if President Klaus Iohannis refuses the PM proposal, social-democrats are determined to cause a major political crisis, even considering the suspending of the President. (Evenimentul Zilei)
Study: Gene Mutation Linked To Psychiatric Disorders
A new study on human brain confirms that several psychiatric disorders are triggered by a gene mutation that affects the structure, function and chemistry of the brain.
According to researchers from Edinburgh University, this mutations increases the risk of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression. Brain scans have revealed that the mutation results in disruption of a gene called DISC1. Carriers of the mutation also had lower levels of a chemical called glutamate in certain areas of their brain, usually linked with schizophrenia in previous studies. (Romania Libera)