English Section

30 august 2011

Man changes his surroundings (not always for the better)Bemoaning poverty doesn"t come cheap

On Sunday, the entire country celebrated a wedding.

The heir of the count Lennart Bernadotte of Wisborg and Sonja Bernadotte, who organized of the reunions of the Nobel prize awards, countess Bettina Bernadotte, took over in 2008 the management of the Board of the Foundation which organizes the event (pictured, at the opening of last week's reunion).

The Nobel award winners" dance party

Countess Bettina Bernadotte (37 years old) opened the annual meeting of the winners of the Nobel prize in economics, which took place between Tuesday and Saturday, on the island of Mainau, (named "Flower Island") of Lake Constance (South-Western Germany), not far from her family"s castle, in line with the tradition of the reunions set starting with 1951 by her father, Swedish count Lennart Bernadotte of Wisborg (a nephew of Gustav the 5th of Sweden, who in 1905 was the first Swedish king to award the Nobel prize), a meeting where Robert Mundell, who, in 1999, won the Nobel prize for his currency analysis, said: "I do not think that the Euro is nearing a collapse.

2010 - good year for some pharma companies, lousy for others

• "Sanofi-Aventis" - a fourfold increase in profit

"Sanofi-Aventis" has increased its profit four times, in 2010 compared to 2009, from 2.43 million lei to almost 10.5 million lei. Also, the turnover increased, to 898 million lei, from 562 million lei. The number of employees fell by 2, from 203 to 201, whereas debts increased from 224 million lei to 526 million lei. The company"s receivables also increased, from 211 million lei to 462 million lei.

THE ISSUE OF THE LISTING OF BCRFive SIFs, four opinions

• SIF "Transilvania" wants to speed up the completion of the negotiations with Erste to exploit its stake in BCR

Only three of the five financial investment companies (SIFs) have summoned General Shareholder Meetings in September, and included on the Agenda the initiation of the steps for taking BCR public, as requested by several investment funds, about one month ago.

Gold prices fall almost 200 dollars

The price of gold saw the biggest drop in the last 18 months, amid the stabilization of speculation on the financial markets, which eroded demand from investors, according to Bloomberg.

1 Euro5.0908

1 Fr. elveţian5.4784

BNR

1 Liră sterlină5.8301

BNR

1 Dolar SUA4.3146

BNR

1 Gram Aur622.2291

BET24140.09

BET FI91565.15

BET NG1776.92

Ten banks will offer loans under the "Kogălniceanu card" program

The following lenders will offer loans for small and medium enterprises, as part of the "Cardul Kogălniceanu" ("The Kogălniceanu card") program: Alpha Bank, Banca Comercială Carpatica, Banca Transilvania, Bancpost, BRD Groupe...

The head of the Vienna Stock Exchange: The listing of the Proprietatea Fund in Warsaw, would be a mistake

The listing of the Proprietatea Fund on the Warsaw Stock Exchange would be a mistake, and the company should be listed in Vienna instead, where it would have a lot more exposure to institutional investors and would be less exposed to currency...

The Casino of Constanţa was delivered to the Ministry of Regional Development and Tourism through a decision of the Local Council

Elena Udrea is preparing a spa center and a "small leaf" for Bucharest

Elena Udrea is decided to put back Bucharest on the map for European tourists.

Brokers of "UniCredit" tempt SIF2 with "warrants" based on BCR stocks

The brokers of "UniCredit CAIB" Securities recently met with the officials of SIF "Moldova" (SIF2) to present them a with a solution for building warrants using the shares that SIF2 owns in BCR as their underlying asset, sources...

SIF1 will not summon the General Shareholder Meeting to discuss the listing of BCR

The management of SIF "Banat-Crişana" (SIF1) yesterday announced, without too many details, that it will not summon the General Shareholder Meeting of Shareholders to initiate the process for listing BCR, as requested by several...

The foreclosure of the stocks owned by the AVAS, a difficult process

The liquidators of "Dobra, Coşoreanu& Dobra" said that they have attached four other blocks of shares owned by the AVAS located at the Central Depository, and they are preparing to put them up for sale on the Bucharest Stock Exchange,...

Gheorghe Piperea: "The AVAS is washing its hands on the matter of the listing of BCR"

Reporter: We have asked the AVAS about the means it has available to force the listing of BCR.

SOUTH KOREAThe brokerage firm of Deutsche Bank, accused of destabilizing the local stock market

The South Korean brokerage division of Deutsche Bank and four of its employees have been charged with destabilizing the country"s stock market, in November 2010, according to Bloomberg, quoted by Mediafax.

THE EUROPEAN GOVERNMENT, OR ...What can be done? (...OR THE NEED TO UPDATE DICTIONARIES)

A true economic European government - that is what the joint French-German proposal sounds like, after the meeting of August 16th, which was held in Paris, between the heads of the two states, Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel, whose idea,...

The BSE, investigated by the Council for Fighting Discrimination

Nicolaie Hoanţă: The optimistic scenario for Romania: going into default, the pessimistic scenario: the Greek tragedy

INTERVIEW WITH NICOLAIE HOANŢĂThe bankruptcy of countries (or the bankruptcy of a myth)

Reporter: Is the current crisis more severe than the one of 1929-1933?

OTP Bank Romania goes profitable in H1 2011

In the first half of 2011, OTP Bank Romania reported a net profit of 1.47 billion forints, after posting a loss of 2 billion forints in the similar period of last year, according to the financial statement of the Hungarian group OTP.

FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISESLoans with interest subsidized by the state, starting in September

Starting September 9, small and medium enterprises (IMM) will be able to register for "The Kogălniceanu Card", in order to access loans with interest subsidized by the state, PM Emil Boc said on Friday.

The Romanian National Securities Commission suspends the deals involving the shares owned by AVAS

• The settlement of the trades of shares of "Biofarm" and "Mercur" Craiova, suspended for two weeks

RECORD SALES ON THE DOMESTIC MARKETGold - the band-aid for investors

Gold id the safe haven for investors, in a crisis, as proven by the sales of yellow metal, which have exploded over the course of the last two months.

Adriean Videanu has set up an investment vehicle with Eugen Voicu

The Proprietatea Fund pressing for the listing of "Nuclearelectrica" and "Hidroelectrica"

The Proprietatea Fund (FP) has requested the summoning of General Extraordinary Shareholder Meetings at "Hidroelectrica" and "Nuclearelectrica", for the approval of the listing of the two companies on the Bucharest Stock Exchange...

The former president of the Bucharest Stock Exchange, Viorel Pană: "The BSE is a speculative institution"

Viorel Pană, who led the BSE between 1997 and 2001, is accusing it of lack of courage, passivity, and having a hesitant attitude, and the management of the institution is being viewed as obtuse.

Turnover of "Avioane" Craiova, down 23%

At the end of June 2011, "Avioane" Craiova (symbol: AVIO) reported a turnover of 1.46 million lei, down 23% over the similar period of 2010, due to lack of contracts.

A 170% INCREASE IN TURNOVERLosses of "Cocor" diminish

"Cocor" Bucureşti (symbol: COCR) posted a loss of 1.75 million lei, in H1 2011, according to the reporting sent to the Bucharest Stock Exchange, after the company reported a loss of 5.9 million lei in H1 2010.

Bogdan Chiriţoiu, the president of the Competition Council

AFTER OPENING IT FOLLOWING THE SPECULATIVE ATTACK ON THE LEU OF 2008The Competition Council has completed the investigation of the banking sector

The investigation by which the Competition Council has been reviewing the behavior of the banks in the context of the speculative attack of the leu of October 2008 has been completed, and its findings will be announced this autumn, said Bogdan...