22nd June
2007
GTC invests €130 million in a 1.300 apartment
complex in Romania
Real estate developer Globe Trade Center Romania (GTC), with Israeli capital,
will build 1,300 apartments in a residential complex close to in the northern
Bucharest Baneasa Forest.
The company will invest €130 million ($174 million) in the new complex. This
investment raises Globe Trade Center's portfolio in Romania to some €600
million ($803 million). The residential complex, to be named FeliCity, will be
built on a 10-hectare piece of land for which the developer paide €12.5 million
last year.
The three-stage construction project will begin next week, and is expected to
be completed in 2010. The project is being co-financed by HVB-tiriac Bank, in
collaboration with Deutsche Bank, putting up 29% of the investment value, and
the Bluehouse investment fund, with 20% of the funds, according to GTC Romania's
Manager, Shimon Galon.
The developer has also said that three commercial centers being built in the cities
of Buzau, Piatra Neamt and Suceava are to be finalized by the end of the year.
GTC also plans to finalize the City Gate office building in Bucharest next year,
and will launch a new project in northern Bucharest, to include office space,
a residential area and commercial center, covering a total area of 150,000 sqm.
GTC has been operating in Romania since 1999. The developer is controlled by Israeli
group Kardan and has projects also in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Serbia
and Croatia.
Source: HJJ
Discovery, ready to launch HDTV in Romania
Discovery Channel is prepared to launch its sixth TV channel in Romania, after
Discovery Channel, Discovery Science, Discovery Civilization, Discovery Travel
& Living, and Animal Planet. The new Discovery HD will have high-definition
broadcast.
Only cable operators with digital capabilities or Direct to Home (DTH) digital
platforms will be able to distribute Discovery HD. Furthermore, only HDTV compatible
TV sets, namely LCD or plasma, can screen the new channel.
Launching Discovery HD in Romania will involve a considerable investment for the
network station, as well as for distributors and subscribers. Katarzyna Kieli,
Discovery Network Europe Vice President, explained that the new channel would
only broadcast programs produced in HD standards, rather than converted ones.
“Because we produce at high-definition standards, everything about the new
channel will be different - from programs to the quality thereof,” the Discovery
VP said.
Discovery HD will broadcast programs from all the other five channels, including
documentaries on lifestyle, nature, travel, but excluding historical programs,
because archive images are not in HDTV format.
Katarzyna Kieli could not provide any information about potential price increases
of cable or DTH subscriptions following the introduction of Discovery HD in the
program package, but said that Discovery is also considering pay-TV (e.g. HBO).
“We are ready to launch Discovery HD today, if Romanian distributors are
willing to accept this. It all depends entirely on distribution. We hope to launch
this very soon,” added Katarzyna Kieli.
For the time being, there are no studies regarding the number of HDTV compatible
TV sets in Romanian homes. However, the transition from classical TV sets to LCD
or plasma screens could be very rapid, considering a rapid drop in prices, which
currently stands at some €400-500.
Discovery has a large archive of HD programs, produced in the past few years,
but because no distribution network was in place, the new channel can broadcast
these programs.
Discovery HD is the largest HDTV distributor, present in some eight million homes
in 15 countries. Poland was third of ten countries on the European continent to
have the HD signal, following the United Kingdom and Germany.
Source: Business Standard.
IFC Romania's loan volume up by 30%
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank's investment division,
has granted loans totaling $200 million this fiscal year (June 2006 - June 2007),
a 30 percent year-on-year increase, IFC officials told Business Standard.
Financing is granted in RON, a first in IFC’s history, in superior conditions
than ones obtained by a bank from the international financial markets. “We
get better benchmarks for our clients, because the rating of a loan institution
is limited by the country rating, according to the head of the IFC Office in Romania,
Ana Maria Mihaescu, for Business Standard.
The corporation is to grant another RON denominated loan, but declined to say
which financial institution this will be granted to. However, Mihaescu said the
funds will be further lent to small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), one of
the most attractive niches on the local banking market.
In June last year, IFC’s portfolio for Romania exceeded €500 million,
of which investments on the financial markets made up 78 percent, joint projects
with Distrigaz Sud amounted to 13 percent, projects with Petrotel Lukoil represented
11 percent, and one percent was made up of general production investments.
IFC is one of the largest international lenders for private companies in emerging
countries. Since its establishment in 1956, IFC has invested more than $56 billion
in the private sector of emerging economies. A further $25 million has been used
for syndicated loans to 3,531 companies.
Source: Business Standard.
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