French firms show savoir faire on local market

French step into the local financial leasing market
The largest leasing company in France, BNP Paribas Lease Group, which provides financial solutions for enterprises, recently announced it was planning to establish a local subsidiary in Romania, as the country was becoming an important emerging market, especially since joining the EU in 2007. According to a company statement, leasing firms had much to gain from providing financing solutions especially for local companies with activities in transportation, construction, agriculture and infrastructure. The Romanian subsidiary of the French leasing group will be run by Philippe Chabert as general manager and the head of the international development division within BNP Paribas Lease Group. “The Eastern European countries' development facilitates the investments coming from international companies. By opening the Romanian subsidiary, we plan to support the industrial partners operating in Romania,” Chabert said.
In Romania, BNP Paribas owns insurance company Cardif, leasing company Arval and Cetelem, active on the consumer goods loan market.
In 2007, Cetelem Romania planned EUR 242 million in granted loans, a 74 percent increase on the previous year's figure. The French financial group also made a move on the Romanian market at the start of 2008 when Atisreal, subsidiary of BNP Paribas Real Estate, the real estate division of French group BNP Paribas, took over Cornerstone International, the former Romanian-based franchise of the American company CB Richard Ellis. For 2008, Atisreal Romania, managed by Ioana Momiceanu, planned a turnover of EUR 4.8 million, expecting a 60 percent growth by year-end. Within the group, the real estate division attained a total turnover of EUR 681 million in 2007, 30 percent more compared to 2006, with the company forecasting EUR 1 billion turnover for 2008. On the insurance segment, the first quarter of 2008 came with a major acquisition on the local market, with French insurance company Groupama acquiring the third largest Romanian insurer Asiban, for a price of EUR 350 million at auction. The takeover offers for Asiban was presented to international companies, the French company Axxa, Aegon and Eureko from Holland, and the Italian group Generali. After the deal, which is expected to be completed in Q3 of 2008, the French insurer and the other two big players, Vienna Insurance Group and Allianz-Tiriac, will control 70 percent of the local insurance market. Currently, Groupama plans to make changes to Asiban's board, following the same pattern of 2007, when the French insurer changed the board of BT Asigurari two months after the takeover.

French show oomph on the local market, spot new investment opportunities
The French laid multiple bets on the Romanian economy from the early 90s, and have reached all the important economic segments. Despite being an emerging market for some industries, Romania displays investment opportunities for foreign companies which came to a peak on the already developed Western markets. The most recent French economic moves were within FMCG, the financial and insurance market, retail and energy. French officials say that investments in other sectors, such as tourism for example, are still to come.

Retail, one of France's strongest suits on the Romanian market
According to recently published data by French retailer Carrefour, the retail players that have come to Romania are harvesting big sums at this time, with Romania raking second in Europe regarding the earnings per sqm in a retail unit. In 2006 alone, the big retail chains' sales were estimated at EUR 10,200 per sqm yearly in Romania, after France, where the figures indicated EUR 13,200 per sqm yearly. For the same indicators, Spain registered EUR 7,100 and Germany EUR 4,200. In 2008, on the Romanian market, Carrefour hypermarket chain registered sales of EUR 9,775 per sqm, the second best result after Metro.
The French presence on the Romanian retail market is consistent, with the strongest player Carrefour, Auchan, the DIY franchise Brico Expert and the retail shop chain Interex. According to Jacobo Caller Celestino, former general manager of Carrefour Romania, the Romanian retail market is expected to go through a consolidation process in the next two years, with only the strongest players surviving on the market and a trend of local M&A transactions, as in the last two years.
According to Celestino's estimates, only around three major hypermarket operators will withstand the competition, while at most four players will remain on the supermarket segment. “By 2010, the local market will undergo consolidation. On the discount-type segment, the market will be able to accommodate the operations of two big players,” said Celestino. The manager left Carrefour Romania to take over the operations of the French retailer in Russia. He was replaced in Romania by Patrice Lespagnol, who was previously in charge of the retailer's Spanish hypermarket division. Celestino was appointed head of Carrefour's Romanian operations in April 2006, when the former country manager, Francois Oliver, left to head the Romanian operations of Metro.
According to Celestino, the retailer is looking for further acquisitions on the local market, depending on the available offers. “If there are companies willing to sell, I know we have the money to buy,” said Celestino.
Carrefour entered the supermarket segment by acquiring Artima chain from investment fund Enterprise Investors for EUR 55 million in 2007 and now the retailer has launched an aggressive campaign of rebranding the 21 Artima supermarkets as Carrefour Express supermarkets, with an investment of EUR 6 million. Carrefour Romania posted EUR 866 million in turnover last year, a 42 percent increase on 2006. The retailer expects a EUR 1 billion turnover this year from its hypermarkets division alone, while the supermarket division should bring revenues similar to last year, around EUR 120 million.With a development plan of four openings per year stated in 2007, French retailer Auchan, which operates on the Romanian market through MGV Distri-Hiper company controlling 29 percent from the French group, is accelerating the developing plans and said it would open eight units in 2009. For this year, the retailer plans to expand the company's retail network with two more hypermarkets in Bucharest and Suceava, following an investment of EUR 80 million. The average investment in a hypermarket is EUR 40 million, the company said. Retailer Auchan Romania reduced its losses in 2007, registering a turnover of EUR 137 million, compared to EUR 19 million registered in 2006, the year when the French retailer opened its first hypermarket in Romania, in Bucharest. By 2006, Auchan had invested 300 million in developing five hypermarkets in Targu MureA¯A¬a€s, Cluj-Napoca, Bucharest (Titan), Timisoara and Pitesti.
In Q1 of 2008, Brico Expert, the Romanian franchise of French DIY chain Mr Bricolage, announced it planned to open in Pitesti the second Mr Bricolage unit on the Romanian market, following an investment of EUR 7 million. The company plans two more openings in 2008 and four DIY Mr Bricolages in Romania in 2009, according to officials. Brico Expert is controlled by businessman Cezar Rapotan, the owner of construction materials distributor Arabesque. The French company holds 20 percent of Brico Expert. Meanwhile, retail operator Interex, part of the French group ITM Entreprises, plans to open 40 retail shops in Romania by 2012, and is also considering purchases and franchise transactions on the local market, the company said. Currently, it runs 11 shops and plans to open two more in Fetesti and Craiova by year-end. The average investment in a shop is estimated at EUR 2.7 million to EUR 4.5 million, the company preferring to own the space instead of renting it, according to representatives. An average Interex shop displays 2,500 sqm and the financing for opening a shop is fully met by the group. By the end of 2009, the company plans to open retail shops in Bucharest, in up to 10 locations. In 2007, Interex attained a turnover of EUR 98 million and estimates EUR 138 million for 2008.

New development opportunities on FMCG local market
As the local and international producers try to find development opportunities on the market, the FMCG players are looking at new segments, related to their basic operations. Consequently, the Romanian branch of the French dairy producer Danone has entered the local market of non-carbonated soft drinks by launching a fruit-based nectar produced at its Bucharest plant. “Danone Romania worked on this project for two and a half years and the brand is fully developed in Romania. If things go well, it will expand to neighboring countries and all over Europe,” said Anca Stroe, senior brand manager at Danone Romania. The idea of producing a functional drink came from the company's manager for the CEE region, said Jaques Ponty, general manager of Danone Romania. In addition to this launch, the firm has expanded the Activia brand with a new product that is expected to add 20 to 25 percent to the company's sales in Romania for this brand.
“Regarding the new functional drink added to Danone's product portfolio, we are not targeting any specific market share in Romania because we don't know the exact size of this market or how it will expand in the future. The market seems large but there are actually very few players on it and the consumption per capita is extremely low in comparison to other European markets,” said Ponty. He added that Danone Romania will not make a new investment in production capacities in Romania as the Bucharest plant is sufficient. “Our imports currently exceed exports but 90 percent of our products in Romania are Bucharest-produced,” said Ponty. The Bucharest plant exports 5 percent of output. According to company representatives, Danone Romania registered in 2007 a 20 percent increase in turnover on the previous year. This year, French milk products company Lactalis completed the takeover transaction, estimated at at least EUR 70 million, of the milk division of LaDorna group, the French group aiming at the consolidation of its market presence in South Eastern Europe. According to LaDorna officials, the group has been the acquisition target of three multinationals in the last two years and the negotiations with the French company started in December 2007. Following the transaction with Lactalis, LaDorna will keep the cereals brand which will be developed in partnership with the French company. According to Jean Valvis, president of LaDorna, the first contact with the French company was initiated in 2003, when Lactalis's president Emanuel Besnier was looking to expand operations through partnerships or takeovers in the Eastern European region.

Constructions and real estate tempt French investors
At the end of 2007, the French-American engineering consultancy group Louis Berger announced it had signed a 24-month project management contract with Spanish real estate developer Spadevel for the construction of a Bucharest residential complex worth EUR 8 million. Louis Berger will be in charge of the design review, procurement and supervision of works for this project, said the company. The compound will include a multi-use area of commercial space and apartments spread on 11,000 sqm, delivering 75 parking spaces, according to the developer. Elsewhere, a big investment plan worth EUR 500 million comes from the French company Flash Consult Invest, the developer of Euromall commercial centers in Pitesti and Galati. The company plans to develop a EUR 500 million real estate complex in Oradea, in partnership with Romanian company Bador. The local firm is the owner of the 93,000-sqm land plot where the real estate complex will be developed. The investment in this project comes from the French company's funds, according to the developer.
Recently, Romanian chemical products company Chimopar, a joint company with an entirely private capital, announced it had sold 7.2 hectares of land located in Bucharest to the French company Vinci Construction, anticipating a residential development of which Chimopar will own 50 percent, according to an official statement by the company. The land is estimated to cost around EUR 36 million as a sqm in the area is evaluated at EUR 500, according to market specialists. In July, the land sale transaction was rejected by Chimopar's board.
French group Vinci is also present through local subsidiary Vinci Energies which acquired 51 percent of Romanian company Trustul de Instalatii si Automatizari Bucuresti (TIAB) following a series of acquisitions and a capital increase, a transaction approved by the Competition Council in the last quarter of 2007. Vinci Energies was set up in 2007 and is active in the electrical installations field.
French companies with local construction operations are also looking into partnerships in the development segment. Hence, construction company Bouygues Romania will invest up to EUR 40 million in two buildings to provide 500 apartments in the Prelungirea Ghencea area of Bucharest. Construction works on the project could start by the end of this year and should take up to two years, according to Victor Stefanescu, general manager of the company. This is the firm's first investment in real estate development in Romania. The construction company hopes to achieve a EUR 65 million turnover this year, up 14 percent on the previous. Last year, Bouygues Romania had an EUR 80 million portfolio of projects, almost double the EUR 45 million in 2006. The company estimates it will reach a EUR 100 million portfolio this year. According to Stefanescu, Bouygues Romania provides private and institutional investors with the know-how for the construction of a real estate project. “Within the company's operations, the development segment is expected to constitute between 10 and 15 percent of the overall turnover of Bouygues Romania,” Stefanescu said. The company registered a turnover of EUR 56 million in 2007 and plans EUR 60 million for 2008 in Romania.
The firm started to work on the Romanian market in 1991 and has since had EUR 500 million of contracts, most of them from the real estate development segment. Residential project La Stejari, Baneasa Shopping City and Cefin Logistics Park are among its most recent projects in Romania.
Recently, French division Colas Rail, part of the Bouygues group, acquired the Bucharest Railway Signalling and Automation Company ISAF SA. Colas Rail started the takeover negotiations with ISAF in 2006, when the French company was called Amec Spie Rail. In May 2007, it changed its name to Colas Rail. “Indeed, Colas Rail has acquired ISAF but I cannot disclose the value of the transaction,” said Doru Secelanu, president of ISAF and shareholder with 10 percent within the company, previously.
In 2006, the Bucharest company reported a turnover of EUR 7.4 million in 2006 and a net profit of EUR 800,000. ISAF was established in 1951 as a company manufacturing and implementing telecommunication railway equipment. Several years ago, the company acquired a 9 percent share package in the former telecommunication operator Connex, now Vodafone, and 20 percent in the third largest Romanian insurer Asiban, but both participations have since been sold.
With construction being one of the most important engines of economic developments in Romania, the French are active on the segment with the already established players on the local market. The Romanian branch of the French group Saint-Gobain Isover is overseeing a EUR 35 million investment in a glass wool production facility in Ploiesti and seeking the purchase of a Romanian-based company or other investments in developing production facilities, according to company representatives. The plant will deliver 20,000 tons of production yearly, distributed equally between the Romanian market and South-East European countries.
“The investment in the new facility boosts production and meets the increasing demand on the market of insulation and sound absorption products,” said Razvan Stefanescu, general director of Saint-Gobain Isover Romania. For 2008, the company planned EUR 30 million of investment in the glass production plant in Calarasi, where it has so far invested EUR 130 million. The expansion of the production facilities owned by the company in Romania represents greenfield investments to start in 2009. In recent years, the French company was active in local acquisitions, after it purchased Brasov-based company MTI Impex, with activities in the wood industry, in 2007 and Rigips Romania, acquired in 2005. Locally, the company is represented by Weber Romania, Rompolimer, Glass Romania, Brodrene Dahl, Conducte and Abrazivi.
One of the three largest operators on the construction market, Lafarge Romania, the local subsidiary of French group Lafarge, reported 8 percent more sales in Q1 of 2008, compared to the same period of 2007, the company's financial report stated. The aggregate materials and concrete division of the French group Lafarge is negotiating the takeover of three local producers. One of them will be finalized this year, as announced by Bruno Roux, the president and general manager of the division. The acquisitions will be made with the budget of the development investment division, which amounts to EUR 25 million. The division comprises companies Lafarge Agregate Betoane, Lafarge Comnord, Lafarge Betoane and Cariere Plus. Recently, the Competition Council approved the takeover of the company GHM Mixbeton Cluj-Napoca, specialized in concrete production, by Cariere Plus.

Read more about

RetuRO opens its 5th counting and sorting center in Bacău County

read more

Power distributors and gas operators increase their local presence
French company Areva, a major electricity distributor worldwide, established a third company in Romania, in order to strengthen its presence on the local market, the company stated. Representatives said that the newly established entity, called Areva T&D Romania SRL, will increase the group's marketing and sales activities on the local market. The new company will run electrical engine production, generators and electric generators and electricity controlling and distribution equipment. The main competition on the local market is represented by the German group Siemens, Swedish-Swiss group ABB and the French company Schneider Electric.
Late last year, Gaz de France completed the acquisition of 59 percent of the Romanian company Depomures. The shares were bought from Azomures and Infochem. Romgaz is the other main shareholder of Depomures with 40 percent of the shares. Depomures is a company specialized in natural gas storage. Gaz de France also acquired this year 65 percent of Amgaz, another company specialized in natural gas storage. The French company also comprises Distrigaz Sud, for which it plans an investment budget of EUR 88 million for this year. According to Bernard Arnaud, GM of Distrigaz Sud, the company has received a license to supply both energy and gas on the local market and is working to come up with a specific commercial offer. “Besides providing natural gas, Gaz de France also sells energy in those countries where the company is present. On the energy market we noticed a tendency of big companies to supply both types of energy (gas and oil) and therefore we are in the process of devising a commercial offer regarding this issue. So far we have received the license,” said Arnaud. The French company Veolia Environment, part of Veolia Group, is the owner of Apa Nova, under which the French company manages the Bucharest water network. Veolia Environment, the owner of Apa Nova, reported an increased operational profit of 7.1 percent to EUR 701.2 million in Q1 of 2008, the company announced.
The French group plans to maintain an increase of at least 10 percent during 2008. Veolia Group is also locally represented by Dalkia company, a thermo energy producer. According to Pierre Mourgue, Dalkia country manager, the company plans to start works at the Grozavesti power plant station in 2009. The plant is a joint venture with Electrocentrale Bucharest, under an investment estimated at EUR 60 million. The company has businesses in three location in Romania, Alba-Iulia, Tulcea and Ploiesti. According to Mourgue, the company has invested EUR 12 million in Ploiesti since 2004 and it plans for the same amount to be spent on maintenance, equipment and a steam turbine equipment in the next three to four years.
The company's development plans involve partnerships with industrial clients. “Dalkia is already making one quarter of its revenues from industrial clients. We advise clients to focus on their core businesses while we manage the company's utilities, electricity or anything that requires energy to be produced,” said Mourgue

French telecom player to lose some, to gain some
In May this year, France Telecom CEO Didier Lombard was present in Romania to celebrate the company's 10 millionth local customer landmark. “We are very pleased with the results posted by Orange Romania which places the Romanian operator in sixth place in the France Telecom group for number of customers,” said Lombard. He added that Romanian customers were even more proactive in adopting new technologies than their counterparts in more developed countries. The CEO said Orange would not rule out possible acquisitions on the local market which could facilitate the expansion of the company's service portfolio. “We are trying to consolidate our activities and of course we are going to consider some acquisitions if necessary. The new policy is that if we are trying to do something new and we need abilities that we do not have, we try to purchase the company that has these abilities,” said Lombard. In his turn, Richard Moat, CEO of Orange Romania, said “We are open in this direction but currently we are not in discussions.”
In Romania, Orange will continue its program of investments both in developing the network and creating and launching new services, focusing both on attracting new customers and maintaining profitability, representatives of the company said. For 2008, the company plans to spend EUR 200 million on network development, improved products and services and new Orange shops.
Orange Romania and Vodafone Romania have also started site sharing, using common locations where their antennas are placed in order to cut down on investment expenses and increase the degree of coverage to various parts of the country. “Both Orange and Vodafone can place, depending on the architecture of the networks, equipment in the locations of the other operator. The process was initiated in 2007 and we already have several hundred locations (400) that we are using in common with Vodafone Romania,” said Moat. Orange and Vodafone started applying this method first in Great Britain and the collaboration expanded to Spain.
Regarding local partnerships, early this year, Orange signed a strategic partnership with MCS Communications, for distributing mobile phone equipment through Say network owned by MCS. Orange Romania officials explained that the strategic positioning of Say shops within malls and commercial centers would improve the company's distribution coverage in Romania. MCS Communications is part of Israeli group Milomor Trade & Communication, the owner of HAT Group Romania, the importer of Samsung mobile phones and DTH Television, the provider of satellite-based television operator Boom TV. Orange lost an important distributor recently, when its main competitor on the local market, Vodafone Romania, expanded its distribution network with the latest acquisition of Botosani-based GMS distributor Vegastel 2007, comprising 60 shops, most of them located in Suceava, Botosani, Vaslui and Bucharest.
Following the transaction, Vegastel became exclusive dealer for Vodafone and will undergo a rebranding process.
Another big player on the telecom retail market, French telecommunication group Avenir Telecom, the owner of Internity and GlobalNet telecom retailers in Romania, stated a turnover of EUR 73.4 million in the fiscal year ended in March 2008. Within the group's overall turnover, Romania generated 10 percent, a result triggered by the partnership with telecom operator Cosmote, the company's report stated. Regarding indirect sales results, the group registered a turnover of EUR 393.7 million in 2007, 54 percent of the entire turnover of Avenir Telecom. Direct sales stood for EUR 319.6 million within the total turnover, registering an increase of 10.8 percent.

Car makers speed up local investments
French group Renault opened a gearbox production facility on the Dacia platform in Mioveni, following an investment of EUR 146 million, the company announced. At the location, the company will produce gearboxes for eight Renault and seven Nissan models and all the production will be exported, according to the company. By the end of 2010, Renault will invest up to EUR 214 million at the plant in Mioveni. According to the group's reps, Renault has so far invested EUR 1.2 billion in Romania. The carmaker's investments make up 25 percent of the total EUR 5.5 billion amount invested by French companies and investors in Romania, according to Renault's reps.
The company also has big plans with the national-branded car Dacia. A contest between international Renault design centers will determine the design for the next generation of Dacia cars, according to Philippe Prevel, GM of Renault Technologie Roumanie (RTR). He explained that the competition is necessary as Dacia cars are sold in some countries under the Renault brand and the design has to satisfy the taste of as many clients as possible. Renault opened at the end of May its Central European design center in Bucharest, the sixth such center within the group. RTR is Renault's regional engineering center and has 2,000 employees. The center designed the back part of the Logan pick-up model and the cooling system for the Sandero and the pick-up. Recently, RTR opened a training center in Bucharest, formed of 22 classrooms for computer assisted design, foreign languages and management. “Abilities development is an important thing for RTR considering the growing number of projects and the large number of employees. We've adapted the Renault training system to complete university studies in three areas: base, common and technical abilities,” said Prevel. RTR will have three locations in Romania: the training center in Bucharest, the mechanical engineering center in Pitesti and the car test center in Titu. The projects will start in Q2 of next year. Another French car producer, Citroen, plans to double its number of leased service and sales centers in Romania within three years, from 15 centers currently operated to 30. The producer also plans to increase its market share from 1.5 percent to 6.5 percent, the same value reached by the company in other EU countries. In 2008, Citroen plans to open three centers, company officials announced. In France, the producer holds 14 percent of the market. For 2008, Citroen plans sales of 6,000 to 6,500 cars in Romania, after the producer sold 5,000 cars in 2007.

Interview Florence Dobelle, head of the Economic Mission at the French Embassy in Romania
Brave to invest in the early 90s, determined to stay for the long term

The 30 biggest French investors in Romania contribute with FDI exceeding EUR 6.5 billion, Florence Dobelle, head of the Economic Mission at the French Embassy in Romania, told BR. Currently, Renault is the biggest French investor here, but the country could see other major investments in energy, transportation, health and tourism, according to Dobelle. She underlined the courage of the French companies who came to invest, in the early 90s, on a market which presented a high investment risk at that time. France is the second largest investor of 10 strong economies present on the new EU member markets.

What was the bilateral economic exchange between Romania and France in 2007, and what is the forecast for 2008? What was the value of French direct investments in Romania last year and what are the estimates for this year?
France is Romania's third largest commercial partner with a total of imports and exports in 2007 in the order of EUR 4.5 billion. The evolution of the bilateral exchange in 2008 should confirm the exchange growth and this is in both directions: French exports to Romania, and Romanian exports to France. I would underline the strong growth in 2007 (+520 percent in comparison with 2006) regarding the sales of Dacia Renault-produced vehicles on the French market, their top export market, where the Romanian models enjoyed commercial success.
According to available data, France is fourth for FDI in stocks, behind the Netherlands, Austria and Germany, and in front of the United States. But as you know, the methodology always classifies the investments according to the last state of origin of the investment, and not according to the native state. To take an example, one of the investments by Orange in Romania is counted as a Dutch investment, while the head office – Orange France Telecommunications – is French. French FDI could be estimated at more than EUR 6.5 billion, counting only the top thirty French investors, including reinvestments. This figure does not take in account the realized investments directly on the spot by individual contractors, outside of all unification to a head office. There are numerous
French contractors who have directly created activity in Romania, of which some became “success stories.”

Who is the biggest French investor in Romania at this time? Which of the sectors – big investments or SMEs – could make a bigger impact on French direct investments in Romania in the future? With the latest greenfield investments in Romania coming from Saint-Gobain and Auchan, is this kind of development starting to attract more French investments and, if so, why?
Unquestionably, Renault Group is the biggest, with more than EUR 1.2 billion of realized investments, and Romania has Renault's second biggest industrial establishment, after France and before Spain. The group exports 70 percent of the Romania-based car production. I would stress also the establishment of Renault's research center in Titu and the design center in Bucharest. The anchorage of Renault Dacia in Romania has boosted the establishment of other industry-related developments, from big and smaller groups.
The consolidation of competitiveness in industries such as automobile, NTIC, and all other sectors demands the united presence of big firms and many associated SMEs for their projects.
The recent investments of Saint Gobain Gobain and Auchan are part of the continued strategic development of these groups in the region. The companies, having completed their first investments in Romania in 2006, are now expanding their investment policies, marking their renewed confidence in the economic and social development of the country.

Compared with neighbouring countries where France has investments, how does Romania compare?
France is, on average, the second biggest country investor in the ten new EU member states, and the top one in Poland. We expect the French presence in Romania to progress. It is however important to underline that numerous French investors came as early as the 90s, when the country's investment risk was pretty high. French businesses were established in Romania even earlier that in all the other Central and Eastern European countries. This explains also why counting their investments (at their historic value by the payment balance) underestimates their real current value. The courage of the French contractors of the beginning of the 90s is undeniably linked to the very real cultural, historic and linguistic affinities that unite the two countries in a special and fruitful West-East Europe relationship.

Which local industries are most appealing for French investments in 2008 and what will the future trend be?
French businesses will reinforce their presence in all domains: industry (with new automotive suppliers, new investments on the big existing industrial sites and reinforcements of capacity), construction and infrastructure (notably by acquisition of local corporations with provision of technologies), services with, for example, the acquisition of Asiban by Groupama (after that of BT Asigurari), and with the placement in service of the factory Soufflet in Buzau and the acquisition of Ladorna by the group Lactalis, a very important French family group. In the near future, the energy sector, transportation, health and tourism will attract the interest of big businesses, that wish to develop projects on the long term in Romania.

By Magda Purice