At the same time, the builder’s net profit went down by 6%, to RON88.8 million (EUR20 million), according to Finance Ministry data.
Spedition UMB had 22 employees in 2013, fewer from 37 a year before. The explanation for the fact that the builder has so few employees while it carries out extensive construction contracts is that a large part of employees working on building sites are registered on the other construction firm owned by the businessman, Tehnotrade, with almost 1,400 employees in 2012. Tehnotrade’s 2013 financial figures have not been published, yet.
Spedition UMB in 2013 changed its activity field, being registered with the Finance Ministry as a business in the field of “passenger air transporter”, while in 2012 it operated in the field of “road and highway construction”.
Dorinel Umbrarescu did not answer ZF’s request for information on the reason behind this change by edition close.
Spedition UMB is among the largest Romanian-held builders, undertaking extensive projects in time, such as the construction of the second section of Timisoara-Lugoj highway, the only highway in Romania completed before the contractual deadline.
As a matter of fact, Spedition UMB generates the bulk of its revenue from contracts related to highway construction, national road rehabilitation, or highway maintenance, sealed with the Romanian road authority CNADNR.
The decline in public works last year also entailed a revenue drop at Spedition UMB.
Beside the two businesses in the field of constructions, Umbrarescu has recently got involved in the banking sector as well, launching Banca Romana de Credite si Investitii (BRCI), where he is a majority stakeholder.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)