Insolvency specialists’ ‘for sale’ list includes the upscale Silver Mountain residential complex in Poiana Brasov, Swan Office in Pipera, northern Bucharest, the 329 unsold apartments in Asmita Gardens in Bucharest, the Armonia mall in Braila, residential projects in Iasi (NE Romania) and land in Brasov and on the Republica industrial site in Bucharest.
Liquidators have been trying to find investors for some of them for several years now but the market is still frozen and they say banks are partly to blame for this. That is because they are often unwilling or not allowed by their parent banks to admit the losses and sell the assets at their real market value, considering the assets gradually deteriorate and maintenance and security costs keep piling up, says Florian Mateita, partner of Rominsolv insolvency firm.
“Banks’ decisions should no longer be grounded in papers, but in reality,” he added.
On the other hand, real estate consultants say at the beginning of this year that distressed assets are some of the best investments, because they can be bought cheap and put back on the market with efficient management.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)