Business Review - 04/2016

INTERVIEW: Andrei Pogonaru, board member of Prodplast Imobiliare, the company developing the Veranda shopping center in the Obor area of Bucharest, talks to BR about the developer’s expectations for the project and its real estate investment plans » page 8

BREXIT ROMANIAN FIRMS AND THE OVERALL ECONOMY WILL TAKE A HIT IF THE UK LEAVES THE EU. PUNDITS GAVE BR THEIR VIEWS ON THE POTENTIAL LOCAL IMPACT OF BREXIT >> PAGE 28

ROMANIA’S PREMIER BUSINESS MAGAZINE

JUNE, 2016 / VOLUME 20, ISSUE 5

Smart living Be it in our homes, offices, shops or cities, new technologies are changing life as we know it. They promise to make things better by saving us time, making us more comfortable and even healthier, reducing our bills and overall enabling a more sustainable and greener lifestyle » page 10

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EDitorial anda sebesi EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

EDitorial 3 Contents 3 6

EDITORIAL COMPANIES

8

REAL ESTATE

get smart for the future

10 COVER STORY

Our daily lives are now dominated by technology – this is a reality where we live and raise our children. Of course there is nothing new in this: we all know that we are surrounded by a wide range of gadgets. Although it is probably not the best thing for them, from childhood, our kids are exposed to a wealth of devices that sooner or later will become a significant part of their lives. As they are in ours.

From the smartphones we use every day to cars that park themselves at our command and the residential and office buildings we live and work in, our environments are embedded with a gamut of technology meant to ease our daily life. Perceived by most of us as a major step for the future, sooner or later smart technologies will shape our lives, proving that innovation has no limit and can evolve dramatically from one year to another.

This technology could also change the future of the traditional economy, as workers will be more and more often replaced with robots that will probably be able to do our jobs more efficiently than we can.

High-end technology will also shape our skills in different fields. Drivers may no longer need to learn how to park a car (to the joy of driving test candidates!), as vehicles will be able to do this by themselves. Our role will be to press the button to give the command and wait for the car to finish the job.

Already we are finding we no longer have to buy books or dictionaries – or maybe just for the sake of our personal library – as we can find everything we can think of on the internet. Smart technologies will make our lives more comfortable, as the Internet of Things and smart appliances will completely change users’ way of life.

Let’s go outside our micro universe and imagine living in a city where we don’t waste time and energy looking for a parking space, the traffic glides along swiftly, power consumption is optimally managed and the air is fresh and clean.

Sadly, this is not quite the case in Bucharest yet.

By contrast, pundits say that other European cities’ approach to the smart cities concept is different: those in the West have constantly made investments which are now in the amortization stage and paying off. By contrast, cities in Eastern Europe could not afford to make investments over the last 50-60 years, and as a result, the public infrastructure, such as lighting, is worn out.

Last but not least, smart technologies will also change our way of seeing our lives and will make us think more seriously about the future we’re leaving for the next generations. Many of the products that come with smart technologies also promote responsible behavior towards the environment, lowering their footprint and increasing their positive influence on society as a whole. So, it will soon be time to sit back and enjoy smart and responsible living!

24 BR EVENTS

anda.sebesi@business-review.ro

14 16 20 22

28 INVESTMENT 29 30 DIGITAL 33 HEALTHCARE 34 LOCAL ELECTIONS 36 LEADERSHIP 40 FOOD

Get smart for the future American dream: local firms need more support to make the most of TTIP Veranda developer ponders further real estate investments Smart homes shape a new way of life Smart technologies can change citizen-city interaction Developers innovate to create smart buildings Carmakers embrace high-end technologies Municipalities take timid steps towards smart technologies Young firms looking for “holy grail” of financing and scalability Brexit to hit local economy To leave or not to leave: Brexit vote comes down to identity politics Digital projecrs help communities cross digital divide New corruption scandal rocks healthcare system Money talk: breaking down city hall’s spending Unorthodox leadership techniques gaining ground Meals on wheels: how much mileage do local food trucks have?

issn no.

1453 - 729X FounDing EDitor Bill Avery EDitor-in-chiEF Anda Sebesi DEputY EDitor-in-chiEF Simona Bazavan Journalists Otilia Haraga, Romanita Oprea, Ovidiu Posirca, Natalia Martian, Oana Vasiliu hEaD copY EDitor Debbie Stowe copY EDitor Eugenia Pupeza photo EDitor Mihai Constantineanu laYout Raluca Piscu

ExEcutivE DirEctor George Moise businEss DEvElopmEnt DirEctor Oana Molodoi salEs DirEctor Ana-Maria Nedelcu salEs consultant Valeria Cornean EvEnts DirEctor Oana Albu markEting Adina Cretu, Marius Andronic, Patricia Neamtu proDuction Dan Mitroi

publishEr Bloc Notes Media

Distribution Eugen Musat

aDDrEss No. 10 Italiana St., 2nd floor, ap. 3 Bucharest, Romania

Emails editorial@business-review.ro sales@business-review.ro events@business-review.ro

lanDlinE Office: 031.040.09.31

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4 nEWs

nEWsin brief art adrian ghenie painting sold for usD 2.6 million by sotheby’s Another painting by Romanian artist Adrian Ghenie has been sold by Sotheby’s, for a price that smashed all initial estimates. The auction house said that Yusaku Maezawa, a Japanese businessman and collector, had paid USD 2.59 million for Ghenie’s 2012 self-portrait as Vincent Van Gogh. Sotheby’s added that the final bid price was more than eight times the high estimate. Three months earlier, another Ghenie work was sold for the record sum of USD 4.5 million. This was the Van Gogh-inspired Sunflowers in 1937 (2014).

banking controversial debt discharge law comes into force Individual borrowers with mortgages of up to EUR 250,000 who cannot pay their debts can now transfer their property to the bank, and the lender will have to waive their debt. The controversial new law, which came into effect on May 13, has angered the banking system. Some of the biggest lenders, including French BRD-Groupe Societe Generale and Austrian BCR, have subsequently increased the minimum down payment for mortgages in a bid to reduce risk. Nine out of the ten largest banks in Romania have changed their lending policy for homes. The law has been heavily criticized by business associations in Romania and also by the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, and the IMF.

DEFEnsE Deveselu missile shield base becomes operational The US has activated the missile defense station at Deveselu, in southern Romania.

The base is part of the Aegis Ballistic Missile System, which has also been tested on warships. Poland will host a similar base. The US is believed to have spent USD 800 million on radar and SM-2 missile interceptors since 2013. The station will have a battery of SM-2 missile interceptors, according to the BBC.

EnErgY renewable capacities reach 5,163mW in march Total renewable capacities in Romania

reached 5,163MW at the end of March, according to data from grid operator Transelectrica. Total wind capacities amounted to 3,129MW, while solar reached 1,343MW. Small hydro plants had 588MW, while biomass had a combined capacity of 103MW. In 2016, the mandatory quota of electricity from renewable sources that benefits from green certificates accounts for 12.15 percent of the total gross electricity production. Last year, the quota was 11.9 percent. Renewable producers say they are already struggling to make money in Romania, after the government cut the incentives in order to stop electricity prices from spiraling out of control.

Large industrial investors are exempted from acquiring a large share of the certificates. According to players, the renewable sector has attracted investments of over EUR 7 billion in the past few years.

invEstmEnts government boosts state aid scheme budget by close to 50 percent The government has decided to increase the budget for a state aid scheme that supports large-scale investments in Romania. The annual financing for the scheme under Government Decision 807/2014 will go from EUR 100 million to EUR 145 million, under the amended version of the legislation. The government said it had changed the law due to growing interest from large companies in making high-tech investments in the country. The scheme does not have to be vetted by the European Commission.

However, the executive arm of the EU must know what companies in Romania receive this kind of aid. GD 807/2014 applies to investments of at least EUR 10 million. Companies that have received state aid under this program include German car parts maker Bosch and French carmaker Dacia.

it romania is world’s 50th ‘most connected’ digital country Romania has climbed three places to 50th in this year’s GFK ranking of the countries that have the most highly connected consumers. CEE countries come in the lower half of the list. The highest position is taken by the Czech Republic, followed by Slovenia and Poland. The less connected states are Romania, Serbia and Ukraine. The new GfK Connected Consumer Index takes into account eleven different device types including

lower economic growth stemming from the controversial debt discharge bill. The law is already making waves across Romania’s banking sector, with all ten largest banks having adjusted their mortgage terms to fit the new lending conditions.

smartphones and video games consoles.

monEY macroEconomics Economy posts 4.3 pct hike in Q1, says ins The Romanian economy grew by 4.3 percent in the first quarter of this year against the same period of last year, according to a flash estimate by the National Institute of Statistics (INS).

According to the INS, GDP moved up by 1.6 percent against Q4 2015. Analysts at ING Romania said that in the first quarter, consumption accelerated while industrial production had its worst quarter since 2009. All ingredients of excess demand were in place, they said. Job creation over the last twelve months stayed close to the all time high and nominal wage growth for March increased by 12.1 percent yo-y. Negative inflation (-3.0 percent y-o-y) pushed real wage expansion above 15 percent, leading to retail sales advancing by 18.4 percent y-o-y in Mar-16, added ING analysts.

nomura: romania was ‘stand out success story’ in Q1 for growth Analysts at Nomura investment bank said Romania was the only major economy in Central and Eastern Europe that registered a significant growth rate in the first three months, on the back of looser policy. The local economy increased by 4.3 percent of GDP in the first quarter against the same period of last year, according to a flash estimate by National Institute of Statistics (INS). The bank has upgraded the annual growth rate for Romania to 4.5 percent from 4.2 percent. For next year, the lender forecasts a further increase of 3.8 percent in GDP. Nomura added that interest rates will probably have to be hiked in the second half of this year as inflation rebounds. Romania had the biggest growth rate out of all EU member states in Q1, according to Eurostat, the statistics office of the EU.

central bank slashes 2016 inflation forecast by half Romania’s central bank has cut its inflation forecast for this year by 0.8 percentage points from the February estimates, placing it at 0.6 percent, according to its quarterly inflation report.

The National Bank of Romania (BNR) had previously placed inflation for this year at 1.4 percent, and the dramatic drop was based on a cut in household energy prices, a climate of low prices in Europe and potential

anaF publishes individual debtor list A list of over 187,000 individuals with debts to the state budget of over RON 1,500 has been published on the open government page data.gov.ro. The individuals have a total debt of RON 3.4 billion (EUR 757.7 million), of which ANAF stated it can recover RON 2.3 billion. Politician and businessman Robert Negoita tops the list with a debt of RON 232 million. Former King Michael I of Romania owes RON 4.1 million, according to hotnews.ro. Businessman Theodor Berna is also on the list with liabilities of RON 7.9 million.

George Becali has debts amounting to RON 3.9 million (which he contests), as does Silviu Prigoana. Other names include Daniel Guzu (RON 2 million), Cristian Tantareanu (RON 2.7 million), Marian Vanghelie (RON 87,559), Eugen Teodorovici (RON 73,000), Elena Udrea (RON 29,082), Elena Basescu (RON 24,393), Catalin Predoiu (RON 24,393) and Daciana Sarbu, Victor Ponta’s wife (RON 12,603).

rEal EstatE positive outlook for bucharest land market despite 2015 drop, says DtZ Echinox Over 15 large land transactions totaling an area of over 45 ha and a value of EUR 90 million were registered in Bucharest in 2015, according to data from DTZ Echinox. This was down by 55 percent y-o-y. The outlook for 2016, however, remains positive, says the real estate services firm. The year started with a major transaction, namely Swedish Vastint acquiring a 48 ha

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plot in the Baneasa-Sisesti area. In the first quarter alone the value of land transactions was twice as high y-o-y, totaling some EUR 35 million.

rEtail higher sales for food, tobacco and car fuel in Q1, says ins The retail turnover increased by 19 percent (gross terms) in the first three months of this year against the same period of last year, according to the National Statistics Institute (INS). The growth was backed by gains in the sales of food, beverages and tobacco, which went up by 26.2 percent, alongside nonfood products and retail sales of car fuels, which rose by 14.3 percent and 9.3 percent, respectively. The figures are seasonally adjusted. The VAT rate for food products fell last year from 24 percent to 9 percent. Starting this year, the overall VAT rate was cut by 4 percentage points to 20 percent. Analysts say that the lower tax on consumption coupled with the increase in the minimum wage will see Romanians buy more products in the next period.

tourism romania comes last in Eu for online travel bookings

nEWs 5 Only 23 percent of Romanian tourists bought their tickets online in 2014, placing the country last among EU members, according to Eurostat data. Other countries with fewer than half of flight tickets bought over the internet were Slovakia (27 percent), the Czech Republic (38 percent), Belgium (45 percent) and Greece (47 percent). When it comes to booking accommodation online, Romania is in last place again with 7 percent, barely surpassed by Bulgaria (8.9 percent).

Eu FunDs romania pays Eur 420 mln in financial corrections for Eufunded program The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, received EUR 420 million from Romania for financial corrections under the human resources operational program (POSDRU) that ran between 2007 and 2013, according to the minister of EU funds, Cristian Ghinea. The absorption rate of funds under POSDRU was the lowest out of all programs. It amounted to EUR 1.72 billion, meaning that the country used only 49.7 percent of the total funds.

For the current programming period, which runs through to 2020, the authorities are planning to roll out a new system for the management and control of projects. The Ministry of EU funds said this will also cut red tape.

Who’s nEWs br welcomes information for Who’s news. submissions may be edited for length and clarity. get in touch at simona.bazavan@business-review.ro

mihaela hoffman has taken on the role of marketing manager at Coca-Cola HBC Romania. She has worked for the company since 2011, when she joined as consumer activation manager. Two years later she was promoted to marketing manager for beverages, then made the transition to trade marketing manager. Prior to joining Coca-Cola HBC Romania, Hoffman held various management positions with L’Oreal. She is a graduate of the Academy of Economic Studies.

gil karni is the new CEO of Bank Leumi Romania as of this May, after receiving approval from the central bank.

Karni has worked for Bank Leumi Israel and its subsidiaries for over 20 years. He comes to Romania after serving as CEO of the Luxembourg branch for the past five years. Before that, he

was real estate and Israeli division director at the Romanian branch for three years.

aykut korkmaz has been appointed general director of Athenee Palace Hilton. He replaces Jan Thomsen, who after three years at Hilton Bucharest, leaves Romania to continue his career as area general manager for Hilton Nordics. Korkmaz has worked in the hospitality industry for 20 years and for the Hilton chain for more than 14 years.

Most recently he spent three years in Turkey as hotel manager at Hilton Istanbul Bomonti Hotel & Conference Center. Prior to Hilton Istanbul Bomonti, Korkmaz spent almost ten years in London as director of operations for London Tower Bridge and Hilton London Kensington, and as hotel manager for Hilton London Heathrow Airport.

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6 companiEs

american dream: local firms need more support to make the most of ttip The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will have a net positive impact on the Romanian economy, albeit beneath the EU average impact in the current conditions, predicts the European Commission.

However, adopting measures that would support the more than 1,000 local companies that export directly to the US will eventually prove beneficial to the country’s overall exporting performance, the institution believes.

Good news: taking measures like the ones proposed by the EC will make life easier for all exporters

∫ simona baZavan Out of the approximately 650,000 companies active in Romania, only an estimated 20,000, or a meager 3 percent, export, according to official data. Even fewer, about 6,000, are exporting outside the EU. Making sure that the local firms that sell their products and services in the US are ready to fully benefit from the opportunities brought about by the TTIP trade agreement currently being negotiated by the EU and the US should be a priority for local authorities, according to Lucian Cernat, chief-economist with the Directorate General for Trade of the European Commission

(EC).

This would help more companies expand their presence abroad, regardless of the TTIP’s fate, he argued during a round table organized by the Representation of the EC in Romania. Should such companies be local SMEs that would be even better as some 80 percent of the firms that export to the US are owned or controlled by foreign entities, official data show.

The EC has carried out a survey among EU exporters to the US which found that non-tariff barriers are indeed more cumbersome and costlier to comply with than actual custom taxes, said Cernat. “Many of these non-tariff measures such as pre-customs inspections,

the issuing of conformity certificates or packaging requirements, have to be complied within the country of origin.

In other words, many of these barriers are in Romania,” he added. Even though these are measures asked for by the US or other non-EU importing countries, the way they are handled could be reanalyzed and simplified, added the EC representative.

“Romanian exporters complain about certain procedures that involve local authorities. These can be excessively cumbersome, take too long, cost too much or there may not be predictability in the way things are handled. It is clear that every EU country should ask itself what procedures can be improved and made

more efficient without having to negotiate with any trade partner and thus give its exporters a competitive advantage,” said Cernat.

The TTIP will have a net positive impact on the Romanian economy, although this will be beneath the EU average in the current conditions, warned the EC representative. According to him, Romania has the highest level of export-generated jobs in the EU, namely 70,000 new jobs for every EUR 1 billion of exports. Higher exports would follow increased competitiveness and productivity levels. “Due to their higher productivity, exporting companies also manage to pay higher salaries. At EU level such firms pay their employees between five and 16 percent more than a company that doesn’t export,” said Cernat.

Several local industries would benefit considerably straightaway, he believes. “One example is the textile sector, where some 15 percent of the existing jobs are supported by transatlantic exports. These jobs will be positively influenced by the TTIP from day one,” he said. However, not all agree.

Wages in this sector remain very low and Romania would do better to promote higher value and more innovative products and services, argue other pundits.

This raises once again the need for a coherent national exporting strategy favoring the production and export of innovative products, pointed out representatives of local firms. “We as a country need to do our homework here, at home, to benefit from all the instruments that would become available through this partnership,” stressed Florin Jianu, president of the National Council for SMEs. To make sure that local companies can compete on an equal footing with foreign firms, Romania should also regulate financial instruments that are available elsewhere, he added. For example, Romania doesn’t yet have a crowd funding law and while a ‘business angels’ law has been passed it still lacks implementation norms, added former minister Jianu. There is also the issue of Romanians needing

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visas to travel to the US, which Jianu and other businesspeople said the government should raise and negotiate more dutifully.

This is only one of the concerns raised by representatives of the local business community. Commercial arbitration rules that would allow corporations to sue governments and a possible watering down of EU rules on food standards and the use of genetically modified organisms have also caused concern. But overall, the main objection raised by local businesspeople is that the TTIP will disproportionally favor large corporations while smaller companies may fall victim.

“Obviously there are aspects that could be negative for certain sectors. A single trade agreement that can benefit all companies doesn’t exist. Some will benefit while others will obviously be negatively affected. What matters is the net contribution to overall competitiveness,” said Cernat. Taking measures like the ones proposed by the EC will make life easier for all exporters and offer Romanian companies a competitive advantage regardless of TTIP’s faith, he stressed. “This would be good for the economy with or without the TTIP.”

Doubts rise over ttip’s fate All seemed to be moving forward with the TTIP at the end of April when US President Barack Obama met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Hanover. In a joint press conference the

companiEs 7 two painted a positive picture of the impact the TTIP would have on both sides of the Atlantic, of the progress made so far and the prospects of consensus in a not so distant future.

Talks on the TTIP began in the summer of 2013 with officials in Washington and Brussels confident they could agree on the general terms by the time Barack Obama’s successor was known in November this year. At the end of the negotiation process lay the creation of the world’s largest free-trade zone that would boost the EU economy by EUR 119 billion per year, or about EUR 500 for an average household, EU data indicate.

However, the agreement proved highly controversial from the off, and behind closed doors, the negotiation process has been slow and bumpy. Secrecy surrounding the whole process of regulatory harmonization has led to a plunge in public support for the deal in both the US and EU countries such as Germany, according to survey data quoted by Reuters. This has been fueled by fears that the deal would water down consumer and environmental standards in the EU and give corporations excessive power.

A serious blow to the negotiation process was dealt in early May, when Greenpeace leaked secret papers revealing that negotiations were stalling due to “irreconcilable” differences in several areas, including US demands that the EU compromise on environmental pro-

Priorities proposed by the EC • The more than 1,000 direct exporters to the US should be identified to find out about the non-tariff barriers that discourage exports. An electronic database should be set up to consult the 600 SMEs that export to the US after each TTIP negotiation round.

• More Romanian firms whose ranges are similar to products already exported to the US should be identified, especially in industries where there are only one or two local exporters to the US. • Similarly, the authorities should identify companies that export to markets such as Canada or Mexico and find out why they don’t also export to the US. • Romania should promote the development of local companies that offer international trade services such as freight. This would help boost overall export volumes, especially by facilitating the access of SMEs that don’t have in-house international marketing capacity to foreign markets.

• The authorities should identify and eliminate factors that lead to higher than average logistics costs for container shipping from Romania.

• The authorities should learn about factors in the success of existing exporters, especially SMEs that start off directly as exporters.

• The agency for export promotion should be relaunched with a new strategy based on clear objectives and closer ties to other institutions such as Exim Bank and chambers of commerce.

• Companies that export should be stimulated to create export clusters or production chains to generate more direct or indirect exporters.

• EU financing instruments should be used to cover more poorly performing elements of the local commercial infrastructure.

• Key performance indicators and clear objectives should be set for the public administration involved in export activities.

tection standards. In response to plunging public support for the TTIP, French president Francois Hollande said following the leaks, “At this stage France

says ‘no’” to the deal, casting doubt on its entire future. simona.bazavan@business-review.ro

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8 rEal EstatE

veranda developer ponders further real estate investments andrei pogonaru, member of the administration board of Prodplast Imobiliare, the company developing the Veranda shopping center in the Obor area of Bucharest, talks to BR about the developer’s expectations for the project and future real estate investment plans.

CV: He is a member of the administration board of Prodplast Imobiliare, the company behind the Veranda shopping center in Obor. Pogonaru has spent ten years in financial services and energy-related projects. He is also a partner of Central European Financial Services. Pogonaru graduated from the University of Cambridge with a major in applied mathematics.

Photo: Veranda

consumers go to the other end of the city for their shopping? Veranda is the version of a modern Obor which is adapted to the needs of the more than 430,000 inhabitants in the area.

∫ simona baZavan how advanced are works on the project and do you plan future extensions?

We have now completed more than 70 percent of the project. The concrete foundation and the supporting structure are done and in some parts we have reached the point where we are working on the finishings. Works are on schedule and the project will be opened in the last quarter of this year.

One of the building’s characteristics is that it is modular. This enables future expansion. Given that demand is higher than the gross leasable area (GLA) we have available, we are considering a future expansion. We are also considering building a cinema multiplex. how much of the shopping mall has already been leased?

The occupancy rate has surpassed 70 percent, which means over 20,000 sqm out of the available 30,000 sqm GLA. We are also negotiating with a series of potential tenants the lease of another 20 percent. Visitors will find a diverse tenant mix for both the shopping area and the food court.

how much have you invested in the project and how easy was it to secure financing?

Veranda will require a total investment of EUR 60 million. We have a financing agreement with Raiffeisen Bank and Raiffeisen Bank International for EUR 25 million which can be increased to EUR 28.5 million. The remainder of the investment, meaning almost 60 percent, is covered by our own capital.

Given the current economic climate, dealing with banks can be delicate and time consuming. However, a well thought out project that shows potential is of interest to them. At Veranda, we made sure as early as the design stage that the project integrates and adapts to what’s already on the market in the area, as well as its specifics, which contributes to a very large extent to the success of the shopping center.

Do you plan to sell the project after completion and what other real estate investments are you considering?

The project was meant from the planning and design stage as a family business and a long-term investment. We will certainly not give it up in the near future.

We are always looking at new opportunities in the market, especially on the industrial sector, but for now we are fo-

cusing on completing the Veranda commercial center.

You mentioned at the end of last year the possibility of also investing in a residential project. Do you think that the recent debt discharge law will lead to a slowdown of new developments on this segment?

We are always looking for new opportunities, including on the residential segment. The changing of the legislation in this field has already produced effects in the market, especially considering the reaction banks have had. The real estate sector will most likely react shortly as well.

What turnover do you expect veranda will post in the first year after opening and why did you decide on the ‘proximity mall’ concept?

We expect it will generate rent of approximately EUR 7.5 million. We are optimistic about the results given the high occupancy rate we have reached long before the official opening.

The particularities of the Obor area support this ‘proximity mall’ concept.

We see the proximity to the Obor market and its complementary offer of products as a key element for Veranda’s success. Moreover, this concept represents the future of commercial centers at an international level. Why should

how do you think the bucharest shopping center scene will evolve in the years to come?

Bucharest’s retail market is still in full development, studies show. The capital continues to hold room and potential for new commercial centers and there are parts of the city whose needs are not fully met, such as central and northwestern Bucharest. Moreover, compared to other European capitals, Bucharest still has about a third if not less of the average built commercial stock.

What do you think will be next for local shopping centers?

Beyond the city’s potential and increasing demand, competition is very high.

This brings about more changes and new approaches to the experience shoppers enjoy. Whether we are talking about diversifying the shopping or entertainment options, I think all shopping centers should focus their attention on improving the experience shoppers have in their projects.

Green buildings are a trend we have noticed and adopted in designing our project. We have therefore developed an energy-efficient building with a low impact on the surrounding environment for which we have applied for a BREEAM certification. simona.bazavan@business-review.ro

10 COVER STORY

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Smart homes shape a new way of life The global smart home market is expected to grow from USD 47.0 billion in 2015 to USD 122 billion by 2022, on the wave of increasing demand for lighting, entertainment control and home healthcare, according to Research and Markets. In Romania, adoption is at niche level, with the only category of products that shines being smart TV.

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COVER STORY 11

Market trend: we are witnessing the outline of the first generation of smart homes

∫ OTILIA HARAGA “If I were to play an imagination game, I would say one can recognize a smart home right from the entrance – with a surveillance camera connected to a mobile phone, daily set temperature that can be adjusted remotely, a smart lighting system which lights up even before you enter the room, and a sound system that greets you with your favorite music right from the door,” Cristian Neagu, product management director at Flanco Retail, tells BR. The living room would be equipped with a smart TV and a remote that can change channels and modify the color of the ambient lighting or control the outer gate, while in a corner of the TV screen, the user could see the images transmitted by surveillance camera.

While the smart home owner is away, the washing machine would do the laundry, the drying machine would dry the clothes and the fridge would cool the champagne to the ideal temperature with just a simple command from the smartphone.

For safety reasons, a smart home can have movement sensors but also water and gas sensors which can warn the owner in the event of flooding or gas leaks, according to Neagu.

The Internet of Things (IoT) and smart appliances will completely change users’ way of life, Ionut Petrica, division manager, white & small goods, at Altex Romania, tells BR. The management of these devices will be simplified and integrated, costs will be much lower, and consumers will save time and energy.

“Users will have access in real time to what is happening around them and at home, and appliances will be doing their job like they are programmed and controlled to do: the vacuum cleaner and washing machine will start when they are programmed, and when users come home, they will be able to find warm food in the microwave or the electric oven,” Neagu tells BR. “We are witnessing the outline of the first generation of smart homes, with smart devices in the living room, bedroom and kitchen. (...) However, we still cannot talk about an application or service that can integrate all the smart devices in the home into an ecosystem. I believe it’s only a matter of time until this happens, and that will be the zero moment for the global adoption of the smart home concept,” Lucian Radulescu, cluster head for Romania and Moldova at Sony Europe, tells BR. For the time being, electronic products and home appliances are

making it more and more often onto Romanians’ shopping lists, Petrica tells BR. “We at Altex and Media Galaxy believe that the five smart appliances that will top consumers’ preferences in the coming years will be air conditioning, washing machine, laundry drier, dishwasher and electric oven,” he predicts.

At the moment, he says that the smart appliances segment is a rather limited niche, with high growth potential. “Of course the weight in sales of these products will increase but we do not expect very high values, they will still remain niche. This trend is influenced by current consumption habits, which are more and more encouraged by digital progress and IoT,” Petrica tells BR. The ratio of smart appliance sales differs depending on the category of products. In the case of TVs, 50 percent of all sales are smart TVs, while for other categories of products, the technologies are just being implemented, and the rate is under 5 percent, says Neagu.

While Romanians are now more receptive to smart TVs, he estimates that in five years more attention will be paid to home appliances such as vacuum cleaners, air conditioning devices, fridges and washing machines.

For the top five devices that will set the trends over the coming years he

pinpoints smart TVs, with or without Android, audio-video systems, air conditioning, fridges, and smart watches.

Radulescu tells BR that portable projectors will turn walls into entertainment surfaces. Multifunctional devices such as LED light bulbs with audio functions or wireless speakers with illumination function will become more and more part of the modern living room. Last but not least, he expects the wearable gadgets and smart electronics in the house to communicate more easily and offer faster access to entertainment content.

However, with greater comfort come greater challenges in controlling the leak of personal information into the wrong hands.

“The more technologies are connected, the more information they will learn about the user. This is why it is extremely important that devices in smart homes have highly advanced security solutions. We are in an early stage of development of the smart home concept, but as this trend is developing, producers of smart devices for homes and companies specialized in security will be able to offer more complex security solutions to protect the data of the final user,” Radulescu tells BR. otilia.haraga@business-review.ro

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12 COVER STORY

Smart technology to fuel digital revolution in energy market Imagine that you could find everything you needed to know about your energy consumption in real time, on one of the digital screens in your home or elsewhere. This is what utility firms are planning to bring about in Romania, and although there is still a long way to go and major investments will be needed, firms know that future energy clients will want more autonomy in managing their own consumption.

Emil Constantinescu, Enel Distributie

∫ OVIDIU POSIRCA Pundits say that instead of consumers we will have prosumers, blurring the distinction between producer and consumer.

More electric cars on the roads and houses that can cover their own electricity needs are trends that are already starting to take shape in more mature economies. Locally, energy companies are planning key investments that would fit in the ecosystem of smart cities.

“The architecture of smart cities – featuring digital distribution networks, energy storage and smart management systems, high efficiency LED street lights and electric mobility – has a key element that is already present in the homes of millions of Enel customers in Europe and Latin America: the electronic meter,” Emil Constantinescu, project manager at Enel Distributie, the distribution arm of Italian utility Enel in Romania, told BR.

Taking the first step – smart meters In Italy, the utility firm has built smart metering infrastructure from scratch with the help of Telegestore, a groundbreaking remote management system

George Costache, Siemens Romania

project. Enel has installed 32 million smart meters in Italy, while in Spain it already has 7 million, accounting for 60 percent of the company’s customers, according to Constantinescu.

In Romania, Enel rolled out a pilot project last year and installed 30,000 smart meters in its areas of distribution.

“In the coming years, if ANRE (the energy regulator - e.n) approves it, we will have massive rollout of this technology.

Looking into the future, a fully consolidated smart metering system can improve competition in retail markets by allowing customers to switch suppliers easily as well as by enabling the introduction of flexible rate offers. In fact, the possibility of daily, weekly, monthly and seasonal tariffs together with flexible billing periods is due to expand the range of options from the current monthly or quarterly billing periods,” said the Enel official.

Another utility company that is carefully looking at the potential of smart technologies in the energy sector is Czech firm CEZ. Martin Zmelik, country manager of CEZ Group in Romania, says the company will invest in a system that will allow it both to manage consumers’ additional requirements and to be open to integrating its systems with other components of smart cities.

In a nutshell, smart meters will allow household consumers to manage their consumption efficiently and perform all kinds of operations that will save them time, like not having to transmit the meter reading anymore.

Utilities will also become more efficient as they will be able, for instance, to manage contract operations, like tariff changes, connections and disconnections, remotely.

Moving to smart grids Constantinescu of Enel said that smart grids include automation and remote controlling of various parts of the network. He added that the company has already taken the first steps in Romania for the integration of smart grids, by rolling out the network’s remote controlling system, called Telecontrol.

“Currently, Telecontrol technology is almost completed in the high voltage area, with just a couple of primary stations left to be completely refurbished by 2018. The remote controlling of the network is in progress in the medium voltage area and, with the introduction of the smart meter, it will start to show progress in the low voltage area as well,” said the Enel official.

Elsewhere, the CEO of Siemens Romania, George Costache, says that before thinking about complex smart grids,

Romania needs to have a clear energy strategy.

“Of course smart grids can be implemented in Romania; the question is when and how. The ideal scenario is to include smart grids in a national strategy in order to take the first step developing the cities of the future,” Costache told BR. However, the biggest challenge for the energy sector in Romania has been to maintain the trust of investors. Let’s take the case of the renewable sector, which has been grown in Romania literally from scratch with investments exceeding EUR 7 billion. The support scheme for these energy producers was cut and companies fear they will not be able to recover their investments.

Furthermore, Romania hasn’t been able to find any investors or financing for large-scale projects such as the two

30,000 the number of smart meters installed by Enel in Romania

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COVER STORY 13

Martin Zmelik, CEZ Group in Romania

Catalin Draguleanu, Ariston Thermo Group in Romania

ficiency, is evolving to prosumerism and I have noticed that the younger generations have a strong concern about the environment, are more aware of their own responsibility and are willing to actively participate in their ecosystem,” said Costache.

Constantinescu of Enel Distribute says the centralized production and distribution model is going through profound changes.

“Specifically for distribution, where the costs of operating and maintaining the network are not so sensitive to how much energy flows through the electrical lines, a different kind of cycle could emerge sooner than we think. While the solution of installing solar panels and batteries is currently rather expensive and not fully reliable, soon, these issues could find a solution through innovation. To the extent that some early adopters might think of giving up their connection to the grid and becoming independent,” said Constantinescu.

He added that going forward, the grid will develop new roles, aside from taking electricity from large generators Prosumers instead of con- to consumers.

“The presence of consumers that will sumers – going off the grid All the technology that surrounds us al- also become producers will most likely ready might actually help regular con- push to a new network model that will sumers to start producing their own achieve cost effectiveness and an increase in shared value by augmenting electricity more efficiently.

“The energy consumption of the fu- inter-dependence between people conture is perfectly connected to the envi- nected to the grid. In other words, beronment. The necessary technology fore it makes economic sense to store all exists; we only need the smart strategy of the energy we self-produce, it will and the smart consumer,” said Costache make sense to use the grid to distribute our overproduction and receive energy of Siemens Romania.

He added, “For example, in building when our self-production is not suffitechnology, we have the technical pos- cient,” said Constantinescu.

The Enel representative added that sibility to turn off the light automatically when it’s light outside, we can traditional electricity distributors will already control our entire house from a have to dramatically change in this scedistance, but we still lack the responsi- nario. These companies will continue to ble behavior towards energy consump- ensure network reliability but they will tion. I see more and more responsibility also make investments that can fit in from consumers’ side, but this requires this inter-dependent, decentralized ena mindset development that takes time.” ergy paradigm.

“Consumers will be more open to the The CEO added that we are now witidea of digitization in order to access nessing the birth of “prosumers”.

“Society globally, by all the techno- more and more information, which will logical breakthroughs in electrical give them an increased level of awaretransport, smart housing and energy ef- ness and orientation towards energy ef-

ficiency,” added Zmelik of CEZ. He commented that once the Romanian energy market is completely liberalized, the shareholder consumer will become increasingly mobile, being free to change supplier according to its needs.

Romanians already want smart equipment in their homes that can make their lives easier, according to Catalin Draguleanu, country manager of Aristo Thermo Romania. He said that people are getting more interested in more innovative solutions for their homes such as solar panels.

“Romanians have learned to pay

nuclear reactors at Cernavoda and the hydroelectric pumped-storage project in Tarnita.

According to Zmelik of CEZ Group, the cost of digitization and the implementation of new technology is still a high one.

“Currently, the feasibility of the development of smart grids is closely linked to the provision and engagement of European funds in this area, because most of our investment will concentrate on strengthening the network and ensuring a safe and continuous supply of energy. External funds are needed and will have to be the starting point in the development of this type of grid and their connection with the other components of smart cities,” said the head of CEZ Group in Romania.

Monica Maria Bucur, president of the directorate at Luxten Lightning Company, adds that smart grids will help utility firms integrate and automate public services in preparation for the next revolution of the Internet of Things (IoT).

more attention to the products they are buying, to find out more about the technology incorporated in these products, to conduct the cost-benefit analysis and to make choices that are carefully documented. The main acquisition criterion now is not price, but post-sale benefits or the efficiency of the product,” Draguleanu told BR. He added that the company will roll out a new app in Romania called Ariston Net, which will allow any owner of a wall-hung boiler to control the product online. ovidiu.posirca@business-review.ro

14 COVER STORY

www.business-review.eu Business Review | June 2016

Smart technologies can change citizen-city interaction Imagine living in a city where you don’t have to spend unnecessary time looking for a parking space, traffic jams are nonexistent, power consumption is optimally managed and air pollution is a thing of the past. Now, it is time to wake up. Smart technologies are still rarely being used to solve urban problems in Romania, pundits told BR. understanding of how technology can help the strategic development of cities can also be achieved thanks to technical workshops with specialized companies and through technical cooperation with international institutions; the enabling IT infrastructure (i.e. broadband, LTE, soon 5G networks as well) is already present in many cities and coming up soon in many more, and so is the prevalence of smartphone usage among the public,” he tells BR. Dorin Pena, general manager of Cisco Romania, mentions as an obstacle the lack of inter-departmental coordination and harmonization. “Smart cities projects tend to break the silo approach and thinking. Many leaders also realize that they do not have sufficient internal resources, people and knowledge to manage such projects,” he tells BR. BR asked for the input of Bucharest City Hall. However, no answer had Current stage: Romania is not very fast to introduce smart technologies into urbeen received by the time the magaban life zine went to press.

Among the main fields where Interand, in general, quality of life would net of Things (IoT) could optimize the ∫ OTILIA HARAGA be improved for citizens. All of this, in life of a city, Vodafone officials cite a very short period of time and with traffic management solutions accom“The introduction of IT technologies in immediately visible results,” he tells panied by video surveillance, parking space management through a system many fields in recent years has radi- BR. Romania is currently not very fast that includes automatization and cally changed the way people are living their lives,” Javier Ealo, business to introduce smart technologies into video surveillance, electricity mandevelopment manager at Bosch for urban life, and the scarcity of such ini- agement via light sensors and smart the CEE region, tells BR. “Nowadays, it tiatives is easy to see: cities are gener- supply management, public signaling, is common to share a car, or a private ally polluted, traffic is infernal, finding video surveillance for security, public parking lot or apartments, when they a parking space is a frustrating adven- transportation management including are vacant. (…) Current technology ture, energy consumption is rarely route optimization via GPS, and conalso facilitates citizens’ communica- controlled, and in general, the daily nectivity to public transportation.

“We are currently undergoing the tion and active participation in how life of urban-dwellers is complicated.

“The limited resources and local largest wave of urban growth in histheir cities are governed; savvy cities use these channels to better commu- budgets of potential beneficiary au- tory. More than half of the world’s nicate their action plans, and collect thorities are the main obstacles. We population now lives in towns and real time feedback on the effective- hope that calls for financing axes using cities, and by 2030 this number will inEuropean money are opened as soon crease to about 5 billion. It is no wonness of those actions.”

Quoting research carried out by a as possible. It is also very important der that today’s cities face tremendous leading consultancy company, he how open the authorities are to the challenges – from rising populations adds that approximately 30 percent of adoption of these types of projects, and shrinking budgets to the need to city traffic is generated by drivers but fortunately, the answer is gener- save on the use of resources,” said Ralf looking for a parking place. “If we ally positive in this respect,” Elena Nejedl, senior vice-president of B2B & could reduce just half of that useless Paun, business development manager ICT at Deutsche Telekom.

One such project using smart techdriving, we would cut the resulting of the ICT division of Telekom Romanologies was recently implemented by CO2 emissions, noise, and traffic jams. nia, tells BR. Other pundits agree. Ealo cites ac- Telekom Romania in partnership with Productivity would increase because of more available useful time for driv- cess to funding as “one main deterrent,” Cisco in Tineretului Park in ers and passengers; additionally, fuel which is being overcome through Eu- Bucharest’s sector four. The solution consumption and energy dependency ropean grants and soft credits. “A clear operates on a dedicated IoT platform,

and consists of four integrated components: Smart Parking, Wi-Fi connectivity, City Safety and Smart Lighting.

“In Romania, the problems are similar to those of other large cities around the world. In Bucharest, where we have already implemented the first smart city project in the Children’s Palace in sector four, we set up a parking solution, a security solution, and on top of this, we have helped towards the goal of cost reduction for the public authorities by installing a smart lighting solution. The fourth integrated component is Wi-Fi connectivity, which makes the experience of those in the park more pleasant because they have access to the service free of charge,” Paun tells BR. She adds that the local authorities should make it a priority to implement solutions that can help them reach their own performance indicators, such as reducing carbon dioxide emissions, or optimizing public transportation and lighting costs.

Secondly, public authorities should project these solutions according to a long-term urban development plan.

While in Romania it is hard to quantify results because smart technologies have been used only sporadically, other European cities are already feeling the advantages.

Pena, of Cisco Romania, tells BR that advantages range from direct cost savings to improved environmental indicators or citizen services.

Another advantage is the potential for job creation, especially when it comes to solution providers, or application developers who create the new services and applications for the city, he says.

Pena mentions Barcelona, where smart city projects have helped create 47,000 new jobs. The city also posted a USD 50 million annual increase in parking-fee revenue from smart parking. Hamburg, another European city that has adopted smart technologies, registered a 70 percent reduction in operational costs from intelligent bridge maintenance. Linz saw its carbon dioxide output fall by 85 tons in just nine months after investing in smart tram system. otilia.haraga@business-review.ro

www.business-review.eu Business Review | June 2016

PARTNER CONTENT 15

Reconnecting generations through digital transformation There is a lot of talk about the millennials. Their needs and wants, their options and prospects are being measured and met by every industry at the moment. Technology especially is spoiling them and catering to their every wish, shaping business models to what their anticipated decisions will be in the future. the comfort and social inclusion of senior generations, HEREiAM also focuses on serious healthcare and personal safety related issues.

Besides offering reminders for medication intake, the platform makes it possible for users to selfmonitor their health status by measuring their blood pressure, heart rate and body weight with the help of a network of integrated Bluetooth medical devices.

Through an integrated network of motion sensors monitoring their day-time and night-time mobility trends around the house, HEREiAM supports their personal safety.

Every other generation seems to be catching up to the millennials and the smart technologies surrounding them. This is not like any other generation in history. They are evolving fast due to the rise in technology and so a generation’s evolution has been coupled with the evolution of society as a whole.

Today, the most poignant gap between generations is the way that they perceive and use technology. If in earlier times, two or three generations lived in the same lifestyle and environments, today, the nearest past is very much outdated and the world is more advanced each day. Parents do not even know many of the modern technologies and equipment children use.

The "digital gap" expression no longer refers to the difference between the technological development of country or regions.

There is a gap now between the way different generations perceive and allow innovation to improve their lives. Just think about all of the changes in technology that have occurred in the past 20 years. Many individuals from older generations are having trouble keeping up with the modern, smart technologies that Millennials have become accustomed to.

which the gap spreads.

on the needs of every generation.”

In the past, senior citizens lived with their kids and grandkids in the same house, and then they lived in the same town, now we have families who are living across the world from each other. The rest of us adapted by staying in touch through technology, but they’ve been left behind and left out of that. As they get older, they can’t move around as much. The internet and related technologies help them to reconnect with family members that they don’t get to do that often.

The most visible gap in digital skills is between the Baby Boomers (55-65) and Digital Natives (up to the age of 18) or Millennials (18-34).

A clash of generations is particularly evident in the workplace where the intergenerational transfer of knowledge is a real challenge. With boomers retiring increasingly early, the younger generations are arriving on the labor market with new tools and new ways of doing things that no longer correspond to the traditional methods of business. This is just one example, a starting point from

According to Marius Popa, Innovation Manager at Teamnet, „the most significant potential of technology, that of improving our lives on a large scale, making it not only more comfortable, but also safer and healthier, remains untapped.

Nowadays, we depend on technology in everything that we do. We use technology to communicate, to make our lives easier, but also to support the evolution and transformation of the world around us. In a nutshell, technology inspires us to evolve and brings innovation in all aspects of our daily lives, so it is important to build

Believing that digital transformation can bridge this gap, Teamnet and other companies and institutions from Europe, got involved in HEREiAM, an R&D project that aims at developing ICT based services for elderly people. HEREiAM facilitates the coordination and provision of home-based care services to older adults, improving and prolonging their expectation of an autonomous and independent life. Practically, the product assists older adults in their daily life activities by offering a combination of health, social, comfort and safety services. Moreover, it allows the inclusion of additional services and modules, customized to the needs of the user.

Involving a television set, which is the device that the targeted generations use the most and the easiest, HEREiAM offers access to a series of services covering different aspects of their life. Video calls, appointments, grocery shopping services, the latest news and events are just a remote control button away.

And while these services all relate to

A prototype of HEREiAM is currently doing field trials in Italy, Belgium and The Netherlands. The first results are very encouraging and indicate that there is significant potential for the product to improve the quality of life, reduce loneliness and decrease the burden of care, impacting both older adults and their families. A team of international experts from Unica, Dedalus, Comune di Cagliari (Italy), Remedus, Snauwaert-Maes&co (Belgium), Teamnet Group (Romania), Smart-Homes and KempenLIFE (The Netherlands) work together to make this happen.

HEREiAM is supported by the AAL Programme, the funding activity that aims to create better conditions of life for the older adults and to strengthen the industrial opportunities in Europe through the use of information and communication technology.

Taking into consideration that the number of people aged from 65 to 80 will rise by nearly 40% by 2030, according to the EU studies, implementing already such pilot projects and adopting these technologies represents also an opportunity of preserving a better and healthier lifestyle for the next generations.

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16 COVER STORY

Developers innovate to create smart buildings Fiercer competition on both the office and residential segments is pushing developers to invest in technologies that meet the requirements of increasingly demanding tenants and potential homeowners. A rising challenge is to create buildings that offer a more comfortable and healthier indoor environment while reducing running costs and staying environmentally friendly, pundits told BR.

Photo: AFI Europe

technologies that promise both reduced energy and maintenance costs and a sustainable and modern office environment have become the winning solution for local developers. While a few years back green certification was seen as a quality and building performance differentiator, today it has become a must.

“There is a constant, visible shift towards energy efficiency on the local office sector, with developers understanding the benefits of providing modern, energy- and money-saving spaces. The adoption of innovative technologies in our day-to-day life, the constant growth of urban areas, the growing level of client awareness – these are all aspects which influence numerous fields, including real estate, and drive the market towards greener buildings,” Sorin Visoianu, country manager operations for Romania at Immofinanz, told BR. Go green: all the big developers present on the local market offer efficient buildings that embody green technologies

tional. “These new generations of employees need co-working spaces, the latest technologies, areas for socializing Low emitting glass facades, fully encap- and relaxation and they also pay attensulated floors and ‘chilled beam’ venti- tion to issues such as green practices lation solutions may sound arcane to an and environmental protection,” she told average employee in one of Bucharest’s BR. Moreover, investing in a class A many class A office buildings. Neverthe- modern office that boasts the latest less, such technologies are ever more building technologies and interior depresent and help upgrade the working sign solutions is not only a way to keep environment office projects offer, de- the employees happy, it is also a status velopers say. And this has become an statement for increasingly more compaimportant factor given that offices are nies.

And developers have been catering increasingly becoming a means to attract and retain employees, thereby to all these requirements in recent years making more and more firms focus on as they themselves compete to attract the quality of their working environ- and retain tenants. The Bucharest office ment. “I have seen cases where compa- market has become a mature one from nies chose a location that was inferior to the point of view of the quality and their previous one due to a lower rent technical specifications of existing but were later forced to increase HR buildings, argues Cetatoiu. “The feedspending in order to attract employees,” back we get from companies that have Claudia Cetatoiu, senior consultant in Romania on their shortlist for opening a office tenant representation at JLL Ro- new location is always above expectations,” she said. mania, told BR. Location and rent are still the main ‘Millennials’ and ‘generation Y’ employees in particular are changing the factors a company considers when way offices look and function, believes choosing a new office. So are future tenRamona Marusac, associate director in ants willing to splurge on features that the office agency at Colliers Interna- promise a higher quality office environ-

∫ SIMONA BAZAVAN

ment? There are firms for which costs remain the most important decision factor when choosing an office, but some tenants, especially large corporations, are willing to pay a higher rent for a building with better technical specifications, says Eduard Turcoman, senior broker in the office agency of DTZ Echinox.

All the big developers present on the local market offer efficient buildings that embody green technologies, but attracting a company that already has a leasing contract for an older project, which, despite being less efficient, has a more competitive rent, may prove difficult, says Mihai Paduroiu, head of the office agency at CBRE. “An 8 out of 10 performance is good enough for many companies and this makes the balance between investing in new technologies, furnishings and a high-end concept, and charging competitive rents, tricky to handle,” he told BR. The actual costs of building an office project represent only 20 percent of the total costs it will incur during its life cycle, with the rest being running costs, say Siemens Romania representatives.

For this reason, investments in green

Green technologies dominate the market Local real estate developers are increasingly familiar with technologies that ensure both a healthy working environment and resource-saving and cost-reducing benefits, says Marius Persinaru, president of Schneider Electric Romania and the Republic of Moldova.

“It is what we like to call the ‘green trend’ which local developers adopted very early. They were actually ‘early adopters’ of such solutions as well as promoters,” he told BR. This explains the constant growth that Schneider Electric, a provider of energy management and automatization services, has seen on both the office and residential segments in Romania, he believes. “Both companies and employees see the benefits of a space with a low impact on the environment and opt for such systems or choose companies that promote a healthy working environment,” he added.

Metroffice, the latest office development that Immofinanz is working on in Bucharest, highlights several technologies that promise such ‘greener buildings’. The developer says it focuses on providing the maximum natural lighting to functional areas, thereby ensuring both reduced energy costs, as well

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18 COVER STORY

Andreea Comsa, Premier Estate Management

Sorin Visoianu, Immofinanz

as a pleasant working environment. In Some technologies that will either be order to limit the amount of energy nec- introduced or whose use will be further essary for heating and cooling, the expanded in the years to come include building’s glass facade will have extra modern and efficient HVAC installainsulation. Other building features in- tions which are capable of accommoclude curtain walls made of aluminum dating a high employee density of about painted in an electrostatic field, glass one employee per 6 sqm GLA, the shadow boxes, a HVAC (e.n. heating, ‘chilled beam’ ventilation solutions ventilating, and air conditioning) sys- which are so far only sparingly visible in tem on four pipes and a floating techni- Romania but more common abroad, cal floor, among many more. and more advanced back-up systems An office that offers both a unique which can support not only life and atmosphere and practical features such safety systems but a building’s entire as energy-efficient equipment, a good energy consumption in the event of a quality of air and light and green areas power outage, outlines Paduroiu. Full has become part of a package that helps LED lighting is expected to become a a company differentiate itself on the norm and buildings will have an inlocal market, AFI Europe Romania rep- creased inner room height of 3 meters resentatives told BR. (between the coffered ceiling and the Features incorporated in the devel- floating floor), he adds. oper’s AFI Park office project include a Overall, the more extensive use of alfully encapsulated floor, an interior ternative energy solutions will become height level that enables maximum nat- the focus, predicts Cetatoiu. “On Euroural light and electricity and HVAC stan- pean markets there is a strong focus on dards designed to accommodate a floor unconventional energy solutions, such layout of one work station to 8 sqm. as solar panels. So far in Romania we see Also, to ensure an environmentally this system only in some retail and resfriendly and economical building, the idential projects,” she added. developer has introduced HVAC thermostats which can be programmed and Residential too goes green controlled by a building management Living in a ‘passive house’ that needs alsystem (BMS) that helps save energy, most no outside energy sources, being LED lighting systems for communal able to remotely control the indoor temareas and sensors to shut off unneces- perature in an apartment or to get live sary use of electricity and HVAC. Low footage of surrounding areas via a emitting glass facades give the interior smartphone may have sounded futurisisolation from outdoor temperatures. tic a few years back, but these are all now available on the local market. Potential homebuyers continue to place What will follow?

When it comes to construction and the highest importance on factors such technological novelties, the Romanian as a good location with access to public real estate market is very well con- transport and preferably green areas, a nected to new trends introduced on carpet area adapted to their needs and more mature markets in Western Eu- finally an affordable price tag. Neverrope, believes Cetatoiu. “Many tenants theless, Romanians are becoming more have offices across the continent and and more demanding about their future they expect the same working condi- home’s features and the quality of life it tions, be it in Romania, the UK, Ger- offers, driving demand for technologies many or Poland,” she said. The largest that increase living standards. The more office developers on the local market they can afford to splurge on their fuare also regional players, making the in- ture home, the more solutions are availtroduction of new technologies even able in the market.

On this segment too the desire to easier.

have a modern home with a healthy and comfortable living environment goes hand in hand with the requirement that it also has low running and maintenance costs, pundits say. This makes so-called ‘green technologies’ the most sought after solutions. “Developers have noticed this trend and have therefore started to invest more in durability and implicitly in innovative technologies. Several projects with a green energy component are presently in the pipeline, marking the beginning of a new trend,” Andreea Comsa, managing director of Premier Estate Management, told BR. Overall, residential projects being built today look very different from what was developed previously. “A few years back the available supply was homogeneous. All apartment blocks were built using similar materials and they all featured the same technologies. Demand was low and investments were infrequent. Now the competition has become fierce and differentiation matters very much,” Silviu Grigorescu, general director of Hanner Romania, told BR. While three years ago the only option for thermal insulation was polystyrene, things look very different now, he adds. “Green certifications or using renewable energy have become common concerns in the market,” he said. In order to reduce energy costs, the communal areas in the first block of the project that the Lithuanian developer is building near Tineretului Park in Bucharest use features such as LED lighting. Homeowners have round-theclock video surveillance of playgrounds and surrounding areas, which is also available via smartphone, the indoor heating systems can be controlled remotely and administrative bills can be paid online.

Even on the high-end segment of the market, green technologies are the most sought after solutions. “Compared to previous years, the market is now much more evolved and clients more demanding and informed. They are increasingly concerned about their qual-

ity of life, comfort and energy consumption. The number of those who look to the future and choose responsibly in the present has begun to rise significantly,” Leonidas Anastasopoulos, managing partner with Alesonor, told BR. The high-end Amber Gardens housing project that the developer is building in north Bucharest brands itself as the first large-scale green luxury project.

It is being built on passive house principles which the developer says go far beyond the use of photovoltaic or solar panels, as is commonly believed. Energy consumption that is 90 percent lower than that of a conventional house is ensured by high levels of insulation, the elimination of thermal bridges, heat pumps and a high level of airtightness.

Air quality is provided by a mechanical ventilation system with a high heat recovery.

The ‘green trend’ is here to stay and will develop even further in the years to come, pundits predict. On more mature and advanced markets elsewhere in Europe there is an increasing focus on developing sustainable residential projects that are good for both their inhabitants and the surrounding environment, says Comsa. “Most projects have rainwater collection systems, sod or green roofs in order to insure thermal insulation or they generate all the electrical energy they need by using solar panels. Other features include technologies that monitor and adapt the indoor environment.

All these technologies are meant to meet homeowners’ needs by considerably reducing running costs and increasing comfort,” she said. Local home developers are already adopting some ecofriendly technologies for their projects, but this market is still in its early stages, she stressed. The good news is that as such technologies become more widespread they will also become cheaper, making them more accessible to a wider public, concludes Grigorescu. simona.bazavan@business-review.ro

www.business-review.eu Business Review | June 2016

20 COVER STORY

Carmakers embrace high-end technologies While many drivers could not imagine life without their car, an eco-friendly vehicle that embeds high-end technology could improve living standards and prompt responsible behavior towards the environment and future generations.

Market approach: eco-friendly concern should go beyond user experience

∫ ANDA SEBESI Earlier this year, Kaufland Romania, in partnership with Renovatio, opened an electric car charging station in Bucharest in the Kaufland store parking lot on Barbu Vacarescu Boulevard. This will be the first of a network of ten such fast-charging electric stations that will cover the route from Arad, in western Romania, to Constanta on the Black Sea coast.

The retailer’s representatives announced at that time that the second such unit was scheduled to be opened by the end of April in the parking lot of another Kaufland store in Ploiesti and the others over the next nine months.

The stations can be used by all

types of electric and plug-in hybrid cars, are open non-stop and can be used free of charge. With the fastcharge option, 80 percent of the car’s battery capacity can be charged in about an hour.

Between EUR 20,000 and EUR 30,000 is invested in a charging station like the one opened in Bucharest and another EUR 5,000 to EUR 15,000 is required to connect the stations to the power grid, said Alexandru Teodorescu, one of the shareholders in Renovatio, a renewable energy company. Kaufland has also bought 18 electric Volkswagen Golf cars for an average price of EUR 30,000, 15 of which will be donated to local NGOs, the retailer has announced.

Romanians bought 495 electric and hybrid cars last year, twice as

many as in 2014. In the first two While eco-car manufacturmonths of this year, another 74 were ers ponder pulling into Roregistered, up by 90 percent against mania… the same period of last year, accord- The name of American Tesla Motors, ing to company data. Even though the developer of electric vehicles, was their market share barely reaches recently mentioned by the Romanian about 0.6 percent of the total local minister of economy, Costin Borc, market, according to www.automar- when he was asked if green car manuket.ro, Romanian drivers continue to facturers were interested in opening a be attracted by eco-cars, regardless of plant locally. The minister said that the whether they are 100 percent electric government was looking at ways to reduce taxes for companies doing R&D. or hybrid.

The local authorities encourage “There are some discussions in an early Romanians to buy such cars with stage, but of course we are going in bonuses offered through the national this direction. Furthermore, together Rabla program. Drivers that intend to with the Ministry of Finance, we are buy a hybrid car through the scheme looking at a scheme to reduce the get an eco-ticket of RON 5,000 (about taxes on research & development, not EUR 1,100), while those who intend to only in the auto sector, but in general,” buy an electric one get an eco-ticket said Borc, in an interview with HotNews.ro. Tesla was founded by serial of RON 20,000 (about EUR 4,400).

www.business-review.eu Business Review | June 2016

Last fall, BMW started to introduce plug-in hybrid models in its range. It is about hybrids that have a bigger battery that can be charged and can ensure electric autonomy of about 25-30 km,” says the BMW representative. He adds that plug-in hybrid models have the same price as gas models with similar power, which makes them very competitive for the first time in the brand’s history.

Elsewhere, in May last year, Re… other carmakers launch nault Romania launched on the local eco models According to Alexandru Seremet, cor- the electric car Renault Zoe, with batporate communications manager at tery autonomy of 210 kilometers maxBMW Group Romania, eco-friendly imum, depending on the style of concern should go beyond user expe- driving and weather. “Zoe embeds the rience. “A product is a real eco-friendly technological expertise of Renault one when it is produced consuming Zero Emissions in an accessible and fewer resources, generating fewer 100 percent electric series product. emissions and waste and using sus- Zoe is representative of a new electric tainable materials as much as possible,” mobility, very compatible with the ache said. The manager stresses that eco- tive city lifestyle. It completes coherfriendly cars can be split into three dif- ently the Z.E. Renault range in ferent categories: very efficient cars Romania, along with Kangoo Z.E. and with conventional propulsion systems, Twizy,” said representatives of Renault Romania at the launch. hybrid models and electric ones.

For example, BMW launched its “i” range on the local market, including in The benefits of an eco-car its offer the BMW i3 and BMW i8 mod- According to Seremet of BMW Group els. The concept is meant to offer sus- Romania, image is the main benefit, tainable mobility and include several and once the eco-car market increases, innovations that generate maximal ef- recognition will grow too. “From the ficiency and minimal real impact on business perspective, an eco-friendly the environment. “BMW considers car contributes to the diminishing of that conventional propulsion systems, the company’s impact on the environdiesel and gas engines, remain very ment, which is a significant factor, esimportant in its portfolio of models. pecially for multinationals. Usually, entrepreneur Elon Musk. The company currently sells several green car models.

Musk had said in June 2014 that Tesla would build an assembly plant in Europe once it sold 160,000 cars a year.

At that time, the billionaire said the carmaker was looking to open an R&D center in the UK. In 2013, Tesla opened an assembly plant in the Netherlands.

COVER STORY 21 Test drive: Pure technology on four wheels For the first time in the 12 years that I have had my driving license, cumulating about 300,000 kilometers, I stepped into a 100 percent electric car: a BMW i3. At first I thought it would be difficult to drive, but when I was sitting in its comfortable warm seat on a rainy and cold May day, this car proved exactly the opposite. Its essence is simple: it is pure technology on four wheels. From the sound system to the technical capabilities, the BMW i3 is a perfect example of the city car of the future. It was amazing to see how it was possible to command it to park alone, an action that it completed perfectly in about 20 seconds, about as long as it takes anyone to carry out such a maneuver. Looking at how its steering wheel moves in order to side park made me think and feel that slowly but surely, technology will replace the traditional driver. Its recuperation system is very effective as it makes the car stop at almost the moment you take your foot off the accelerator. Its battery has between 130-160 km autonomy but it depends on the way it is driven, the weather and if the air conditioner is on or off. The car can be charged anytime without affecting the lifetime of its battery and needs about two hours to be charged fully at special stations and between eight and ten hours at home. Its low mass compared to its category offers higher efficiency.

The interior is quite ergonomic and cozy and 25 percent of the materials used in the interior and exterior are thermoplastic and come from recycled or raw renewable material. Its stuffing is made of recycled fibers while all the interior plastic materials are made using sustainable processes. It is very noiseless and makes you feel like you can create your own environment, ignoring the outside turbulence. There is only one downside: it has a small luggage carrier. But after all, it is a city car! (Anda Sebesi). large companies that have stricter analysis and control of their costs and have the resources needed to invest in a car as an image tool, choose electric or hybrid cars,” says Seremet. But he says that an electric car could be a good solution for two-car households too, who can charge their vehicle

overnight. “This issue defines clearly the target for this kind of car – families with at least two cars that live in a house or a residential compound with parking where they could install a drain,” adds Seremet. anda.sebesi@business-review.ro

www.business-review.eu Business Review | June 2016

22 COVER STORY

Municipalities take timid steps towards smart technologies With aging physical infrastructure and limited space for new developments, cities in Romania are looking at smart technologies that can cut pollution and make public services more efficient, while improving the lives of citizens, according to pundits. we have had to deal with a very long implementation stage: from the moment of the first prefeasibility study until they become operational, on average we have to wait five years. In this period, the city, the demands and the technology advance rapidly, and the initial plan requires substantial amendments. But once the requests and the task book are finished, it takes a lot of effort to change them,” said UTI Group officials.

The company added that the feedback of the public is also very important for the economy of a smart project.

When smart goes wrong severed cables and prosecutors’ intervention

Smart management: Bucharest is finding out more about the latest technologies

the directorate, explained that the concept of smart cities improves energy efficiency, while enhancing urban “Smart cities projects are at the start line mobility and reducing the overall operin Romania. Although all of our local ational costs of public services.

Luxten has worked on smart lightprojects and solutions are efficient and oriented towards the future, for now ing projects in Bucharest and Drobeta we can’t speak about big, integrated Turnu Severin, which were financed by smart cities projects in Romania,” the European Bank for Reconstruction George Costache, CEO of Siemens Ro- and Development (EBRD), through the energy efficiency facility. mania, told BR. “The approach to the smart cities concept for European cities is different: Cities’ ‘smart’ steps With the budgets of large Romanian those in the West have constantly made cities already under pressure, the tech- investments and are at present in the nology could make public transport, amortization stage; for them investlighting or even the distribution of ments in the implementation of modern technologies and their water more efficient.

“This means the digitalization and transformation in smart cities are connection of systems, so that they can aligned to the amortization program of record, analyze and integrate the data previous investments. By contrast, the and respond in a smart way to the cities in Eastern Europe could not afneeds identified,” representatives of ford to make investments in the last 5060 years, and as a result, the public UTI Group told BR. The company has already devel- lighting infrastructure is worn out,” oped some projects in Romanian cities Bucur told BR. The Luxten executive said that under the banner of smart technologies.

For instance, UTI came up with the smart technologies are not cheap, but first adaptive traffic management sys- municipalities can take out special tem in Bucharest. Similar systems were loans from international banks or use rolled out in other cities nationwide, as EU funds.

Costache of Siemens Romania well as in Poland and Sofia. In the area of public transport, the company im- added that locally, the firm’s employees plemented the first contactless taxation are working on the research and develsystem based on cards. Another UTI opment of apps that can be used in the project was Netcity, which involved the field of data analytics and the internet development of an underground infra- of things for smart cities. structure for telecom networks.

Another firm that has implemented How hard is it to develop smart projects in several Romanian smart cities in Romania? cities is Luxten Lighting Company.

Although private companies have deMonica Maria Bucur, president of veloped their portfolios of smart solu-

∫ OVIDIU POSIRCA

tions that can be used by municipalities, there are still significant problems with the decision makers in the public sector.

“One of the challenges of the Romanian market is that a lot of services are outsourced by city halls in Romania – so an integrated approach is difficult. A smart city begins with a consistent policy defined by the authorities. Portugal is an excellent example of public policy regarding smart cities, where information is collected, communicated and analyzed holistically,” said Costache.

He cited the results of Technavio’s Global Smart Cities Market 2015-2019, which stated that smart industrial automation is predicted to represent 25 percent of the entire global smart cities market by 2019.

Smart power supply will represent 18.5 percent and smart security will generate 17.5 percent of the market.

Smart living and building will cover 9.5 percent of the global smart cities market, according to the same study.

Representatives of UTI Group added that local authorities are not yet ready to implement and run complex projects, because they lack the specialized structures and staff.

“In the projects we have developed,

The smart traffic management system in Bucharest was embroiled in a scandal at the end of last year, when the press reported that traffic lights had not been working properly for four months.

According to Digi24, the system was rendered useless after a cable was severed and the command center received no live images from busy intersections.

At the end of 2014, Bucharest City Hall had signed a three-year contract with UTI for the maintenance of the EUR 21 million system. UTI said the deal faltered after six months.

For the traffic management system that was rolled out in Iasi, prosecutors put on trial, last December, four individuals, including the city’s mayor Gheorghe Nichita and the founder of UTI Group, Tiberiu Urdareanu.

Anticorruption prosecutors said that a consortium comprising UTI and Information Business Consulting bribed the mayor to get their hands on the EUR 15.5 million contract, which was financed from EU funds.

The National Anticorruption Directorate said that Nichita had received a EUR 1.5 million bribe. ovidiu.posirca@business-review.ro

Global smart cities market by 2019* Smart industrial automation Smart power supply Smart security Smart living and building

25 percent 18.5 percent 17.5 percent 9.5 percent

*Technavio’s Global Smart Cities Market 2015-2019 report

www.business-review.eu Business Review | June 2016

ADVERTORIAL 23

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For 2 years the location has been hosting all types of events for the most important companies headquartered in Romania and proudly received positive feedbacks, which motive the team in charge with the success of each of them, to meet the clients with new attractive offers, that convince them to come back to the place where they often feel “at home”.

For the companies with a staff comprising minimum 50 employees, trickSHOT has developed a loyalty program based on which the company’s employees benefit from numerous discounts, whether they choose to have fun, or they plan

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Moreover, at trickSHOT, you can start every morning coosing one of the six tipes of breakfast and you have 50% OFF for any drink you choose. The deals are available every day of the week so you have all the reasons to enjoy every morning before go to work.

The terrace of the restaurant it is one of the mall’s most important attractions. It is located on the roof of Promenada Mall and represents the ideal place where you can spend a relaxing time with colleagues after work or you can come in the weekends together with your family or friends during the hot summer.

The football fans can also visit Trickshot and have a good time on the terrace. The place offers them the oportunity to watch the European Championship matches transmitted LIVE FULL HD.

Whether you go on holiday or not, if you visit this place you’ll feel just like you're away from everyday’s deadlines and stressful activities because we guarantee you the most relaxing atmosphere!

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https://www.facebook.com/TrickSh otRo/ @trickshotpromenada

www.business-review.eu Business Review | June 2016

24

Young firms looking for ‘holy grail’ of financing and scalability If you have just started your own company and your long-term plan includes an exit from the firm with millions of euros in your bank account, you should make sure that what you are selling is so good that it can reach a global audience. This, at least, is what venture capital veterans argued during the fourth SMEs How-to event, organized recently by Business Review.

Left to right: Adina Cretu, Business Review; Monica Cadogan, Vivre; Marius Bostan, Ministry of Communication and Information Society; Raluca Ene, Chapter 4; Carmen Punga, Google

∫ OVIDIU POSIRCA Few products from domestic IT scene This model of fast growth based on products that can be sold internationally works very well in the tech sector, venture capitalist Mihai Sfintescu explained.

“You need to have as standardized a product as possible, that you can sell to as many clients as possible,” said Sfintescu.

According to him, investment funds are attracted by a good plan to become bigger as a company.

So, you might have a good idea and be able to convince some friends to become your partners in the start-up.

Prepare yourself for the first big challenge, which is trying to stay afloat financially until you launch a product or service and you build a story around it that can attract new money.

Sfintescu suggested that this was where the particularities of the local market start to kick in. Romania might have a lot of good programmers, but it

lacks product specialists.

Then, there is the lack of earlystage financing. Sfintescu explained that Romania doesn’t have any institutional investors in seed funds. He is currently trying to build one.

He said the market is more developed at the moment for deals of over EUR 5 million. For transactions between EUR 1 and 5 million there are few options. “Right now, we – the community of IT and VC – are trying to build an ecosystem,” said Sfintescu.

But the tech sector is not the only area where one can build operations that can be developed at a fast pace due to the replicability model.

Cristian Nacu, partner at Enterprise Investors, the Polish investment fund, said that the retail chain Profit was set to reach 500 stores this year.

EI had taken over Profit in 2010, when the company operated a network of 67 stores. Shortly after the acquisition, the fund put EUR 10 million into the retailer to fuel its expansion.

EI has recently taken over Noriel Group, the biggest toys and games retailer in Romania, and is planning to

use the same aggressive expansion strategy that was deployed for Profi.

Changing the business model to get money...

Mircea Capatana, co-founder at Smart Bill, a Romanian provider of billing solutions and SaaS services, said the company had been able to attract fresh financing after changing its strategy.

“In 2013 we were trying to get financing. (…) We changed our business model from a bankrupt one, which wasn’t scalable.”

He said Smart Bill has reached 35,000 clients in total, in nine years of activity. “Our clients are SMEs,” said Capatana.

The company got EUR 1 million from GECAD Group and Catalyst Romania this spring for development.

Although it was launched in 2007, Smart Bill went through a dramatic technical upgrade of its platform and since 2014 it has improved its mobility capacities in the cloud.

“We want Smart Bill to be for SMEs what the internet was for computers,”

said Capatana. The company has even ventured abroad with mixed results.

For instance, it attempted to expand to the US, but Capatana said that in America there are large players that hold a firm grip on the market. However, the company is making money in India to the tune of USD 7,500 a month without much effort.

Another example of a company changing its business strategy to open new growth avenues comes from Ymens.

Sales director Alina Georgescu said that two years ago the firm brought in a management team that had extensive experience in the multinationals sector. Initially, the IT company had focused more on SMEs. “We promoted our own products more with our own Intellectual Property and got financing from the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) and World Bank,” said Georgescu.

…while trying to build products for the future mass market

www.business-review.eu Business Review | June 2016

ADVERTORIAl 25

OTP Bank Romania supports the development of SMEs through a comprehensive program Nowadays, the general tendency of demand for banking products and services in Romania can be characterized as slightly growing, comparing to the previous years.

This happens because of the increasing degree of financial education among potential customers, but also because of a better knowledge and usage of financing solutions offered by banks to the small and medium enterprises for their current activities and for co-financing and pre-financing mechanisms of EU funds and grants from state entities.

support SMEs, the pillars of the Romanian economy in terms of job availability and growth.

In regards to the digitalization process of the banking services, OTP Bank is the first and only bank in Romania which has introduced the chat assistance option for its clients, within OTPdirekt – internet banking service. Clients can ask real time support of a bank consultant, by simply accessing the online application. Taking this into account, customers have the opportunity to interact with OTP Bank’s consultants, not only through phone calls, but also through the internet.

We are confident that this trend will continue in the second half of this year, as well, according to the decisions of the National Bank of Romania to maintain the level of the key interest.

Regarding the SME segment, this is a priority area for OTP Bank Romania, the growth and diversification of this portfolio being carefully monitored.

Our continuous concern for these goals is reflected in our lending strategy for 2016. This policy is based on the major features of the SME segment: high dynamics and flexibility, substantial growth potential and affinity for structural funds (with special attention to agriculture), the need to cover some specific funding requirements for both working capital and investments, with a variable accounting depending on the economic sector where they operate.

We intend to capitalize the experience and best practices of funding dedicated specifically to SMEs, gained over the past 10 years.

This is why OTP Bank Romania has started, since 2014, a comprehensive approach of standardization of the lending products for SMEs and related internal flows. The main objectives of this program were reducing the processing period of loans, assuring a greater transparency to

our clients regarding the conditions for granting SMEs loans, improving the accessibility possibilities and a more efficient serving of our customers, in terms of keeping an adequate quality of the loan portfolio.

It is worth mentioning that all these aspects contribute to the improvement of the client-bank relationship and also to the maintenance of clients’ confidence when accessing a banking product or service. Following all these initiatives, the bank's SME clients portfolio has continuously expanded and we are confident that this positive trend will be maintained this year, as well. The results obtained until now confirm our expectations.

Moreover, this year, we have signed a strategic partnership with the European Investment Bank, in order to support the financing of small and medium enterprises and public sector entities, but also to facilitate youth employment in all sectors. Through this partnership, we confirm, once again, our commitment to provide flexible solutions that are very useful to business development and resources management, but also to the local economy growth. The financing leasing worth 25 million euro managed by OTP Bank, a stable financial partner of the European Investment Bank, can help increase Romania's competitiveness in this sector. The loan is designed to

The increasing number of OTPdirekt (internet and mobile banking, contact center and SMS alerts) users is part of the development strategy of OTP Bank Romania, for many years now. The award received this year for the usage rate of this service by our customers, confirms our efforts.

We were recognized as the bank with the highest percentage of transactions through the internet banking service, carried out by our customers, in 2015.

More specifically, approximately 80% of the transactions made by individual customers were carried out through the OTPdirekt service, while for the transactions made by legal entities, the percentage is over 90%.

Regarding the target for this year, our ambitious plan aims to further consolidate our strong, dedicated local bank that provides high quality financing and development services to SME clients.

www.business-review.eu Business Review | June 2016

26

Left to right: Sergiu Negut, Maastricht School of Management; Oana Craioveanu, Impact Hub; Victor Cotrutz, Greentek; Edouard Millot, Finexpert; Daniela Marin, EBRD; Rares Medrega, Allianz Tiriac

For Andrei Pitis, founder and CTO of Vector Watch, finding a blockbuster idea means looking carefully at the small things happening around you.

“To predict the future I look at what children are doing right now. (…) Most of the kids that are connected now will not want an unconnected watch when growing up,” said Pitis, whose start-up is competing in the smartwatch market with tech giants such as Apple, Samsung and LG. Vector is currently selling a smartwatch that boasts a 30-day battery life.

The start-up was founded in 2013 and started selling products in October 2015. Its big backer is GECAD Group, which has put USD 4 million into the company to date. The firm has so far invested some EUR 7 million.

The question on everyone’s lips during the BR event was whether Vector was looking to build a smartphone that could offer a better battery life.

“Short answer, no Vector Phone.

Our focus is on wearables,” said Pitis.

He then tried to explain the trend in this market.

“It seems that phones are getting bigger and full of colors, while the watch remains on the wrist. It is not impossible. At the moment, work is underway on new screen technologies that could enter into production in the next year or two. The screen is the biggest consumer of the battery,” said Pitis.

Finding the best insurance, banking and communication strategy Owners of SMEs have to constantly look for the right consultants that can help them find the insurance and financing services that best fit them.

Another challenge is making sure that you are communicating the things you are doing in the most efficient way possible, be it a service or an actual product.

In the case of small businesses, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) offers consultancy services that cover a wide array of operations, including marketing and human resources.

Through its Advice for Small Businesses (ASB) program, the EBRD is able to co-finance up to 75 percent of

the net costs of a consultancy project.

The maximum grant stands at EUR 10,000.

Up to now, the lender has financed 550 projects, and more than 70 percent of the financing went to companies that had fewer than 50 employees.

Grants offered under the ASB amount to EUR 7 million in total.

Then, there is the option of EU funds. Ramona Ivan, director of the external relations and structural funds branch at CEC Bank, said that Romania has over EUR 43 billion of EU funds available for the 2014-2020 period.

She offered some pieces of advice for companies looking to implement projects using EU money.

A company should start working with the bank right from the idea stage so that the project can have a realistic financing structure. Moving to the implementation stage, the firm should continue to work with a bank or consultant so as to avoid mistakes that could lead to penalties or delays in the process of getting the funds.

CEC bank granted over 30,000 loans for EU-funded projects between 2008 and 2015. These loans have mobilized EU grants worth around EUR 2.6 billion.

Aside from getting financing, SMEs should also carefully plan their risk policy, and this is where insurers come in.

Rares Medrega, senior trainer at Allianz Tiriac, said, “Entrepreneurs feel the impact of risk more.” He added that Romania has the second lowest rate for insurance penetration in the EU. Medrega noted that Allianz Tiriac offers integrated solutions for the protection of businesses, including the insurance of assets, vehicles, and products for health and life.

Moving on to communication needs, business owners should decide when they need a consultant or an agency.

Raluca Ene, managing director at Chapter 4 agency, said that companies need PR and this activity generates awareness for businesses. ovidiu.posirca@business-review.ro

Mircea Capatina, Smart Bill

Alina Georgescu, Ymens

Mihai Sfintescu, venture capitalist

Cristian Nacu, Enterprise Investors

Marius Stefan, Autonom Rent-a-car

Andrei Pitis, Vector Watch

Catalin Rusu, Rusu+Bortun Brand Growers

Ramona Ivan, CEC Bank

www.business-review.eu Business Review | June 2016

28 InVESTMEnT

Brexit to hit local economy Romanian companies and the overall economy will take a hit if Great Britain leaves the European Union, but the long-term implications of such a move are hard to assess at this stage, pundits told BR. ∫ OVIDIU POSIRCA Trade relations between Romania and Britain continued to grow last year, and there were over 150,000 Romanians working in the country in 2015, according to British media reports.

Challenges from the legal and trade perspective...

Neil McGregor, managing partner at law firm McGregor & Partners, says that if the out campaign prevails in the referendum on June 23, several legal challenges are set to emerge.

“It would be possible to overcome these, but the process would not be inexpensive or straightforward. It would be particularly tricky if a vote to leave the EU provoked a second referendum in Scotland to leave the UK. In that case and in the event of a separation of Scotland from the rest of the UK, Scotland would probably wish to remain in the EU and a considerable political mess would result. Business gets done despite the politics and although the mess which I have outlined would doubtless present some opportunities, the general sense of uncertainty would be prolonged and heightened,” McGregor told BR. A Brexit would also hit trade terms, and Romania might be forced to find new markets for its exports.

Great Britain is the fifth biggest destination for Romania and the 15th largest importer locally, according to Bogdan Belciu, partner, advisory services, at professional services firm PwC Romania.

“Of course, the impact on trade between Romania and Great Britain will depend on several factors, including the possible negotiation of a special external trade regime for Great Britain, if there is a Brexit,” Belciu told BR. According to a study by Citi, a Brexit would trigger a 10 percent reduction in trade between Great Britain and the rest of the EU, which is equivalent to a 0.05 percent fall in GDP. The industrial centers in Central and Eastern Europe and the EU members in the Mediterranean region that have a strong tourism sector would take the worst hit.

...but also for the local and EU economy The Euro zone economy would be impacted almost immediately if Great Britain relinquished its EU membership, according to Ciprian Dascalu, chief economist at ING Bank Romania.

Risk: Romanian exports could be hit if the Brexit takes place

The bank forecasts a negative impact of 0.3 percent on the economic growth of the bloc that used the common currency in such a scenario.

“The impact on economic growth in Romania would probably be marginal, but negative, given that the value added brought by Romanian exports to Great Britain accounts for 4 percent of the total. Foreign investments from the United Kingdom are, also, relatively limited, similar to the remittances of Romanians working in the country,” Dascalu told BR. Belciu of PwC Romania says that group might become vulnerable in the event of a Brexit.

“We have to take into account the fact that a significant number of Romanians are working in Great Britain and they are generating benefits for both British companies, given the lower labor costs, but also for Romania, because a share

of the money generated there comes to Romania and is used to fuel consumption and investments. Brexit would reduce the number of Romanians that can stay in Great Britain and would make it significantly harder for more Romanian citizens to work there,” said Belciu.

There would also be more uncertainty for companies with British capital that have operations locally.

The managing partner of McGregor & Partners says that Norway and Switzerland have no problem doing business in Romania, suggesting that the UK business position locally would not be hit that hard in the event of an exit.

“Again, the problem would be one of extended uncertainty – it would no doubt take a good deal of time to negotiate the precise terms of an exit and of the rights which the UK would have to

invest and do business in the rest of the EU – including Romania. Existing investments ought not to be affected – but ‘grandfathering’ has not been a strong point of Romanian legislation, as the changes to the renewable energy support scheme have demonstrated.

Expect more uncertainty – let's see who identifies the commercial opportunities in all of this,” said McGregor.

Then there are the unpredictable political developments that could be generated by an out vote. Dascalu of ING Bank says that if Great Britain leaves the EU, this could precipitate the rise of nationalism in countries close to Romania. He added that there is the risk that some Romanian politicians might take up the cries from neighboring states and challenge the unity of the EU project. ovidiu.posirca@business-review.ro

www.business-review.eu Business Review | June 2016

InVESTMEnT 29

To leave or not to leave: Brexit vote comes down to identity politics Brexit could allow war to break out again in Europe. The European Union is like Hitler. The claims emerging from both camps here in the UK as the clock ticks down to next month’s referendum are becoming ever more extreme. ∫ BY DEBBIE STOWE In lOnDOn In the Remain corner: the British prime minister, David Cameron, most of his cabinet, and the leaders of three other mainstream parties: Labour, the Lib Dems and the Greens. They are supported by major figures in international business and politics, from Barack Obama to the IMF’s Christine Lagarde.

In the Leave corner: Nigel Farage, the leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP); the charismatic former mayor of London, Bois Johnson; and a handful of senior Conservatives and Labourites.

Lately, the polls have generally been running neck and neck. The markets and the bookies seem slightly to favor a Remain victory.

And what of the public? Which side of the fence you’re on is tightly bound

up in the UK’s identity politics.

Are you old, poor or uneducated?

Do you live in a rural area? If so, you’re likely to vote for Brexit – especially if you’re male. Are you young, wealthy or a university graduate or student? Are you a businessperson or an urbandweller? Scottish? Then you’d probably rather the UK stayed in the EU. Plenty of arguments and assertions are flying about. EU membership is good/bad for British business/employment/security. But all of this is very hard to prove definitively. Nobody can really state much for sure. So voters are deciding based on associations, rather than assertions.

Bold patriots, longing to see this green and pleasant land restored to its former glory, no longer at the mercy of the tyrants and bureaucrats of Brussels!

(Or ignorant Little Englanders, terrified of anyone different, losers in the great game of globalization, desperately

harking back to long distant history and turning away from the modern world, depending on your viewpoint.)

Open-minded, outward-looking and modern Europeans, who embrace the togetherness and opportunities presented by the union, and love the travel and cultural exchange it supports! (Or treacherous cowards and supporters of the distrusted “elite”, happy to hand over the UK’s precious sovereignty and jobs to foreigners and take orders from outsiders, with scant regard for our island’s proud history, as some see it.)

This sort of thinking will likely decide how many Brits will vote – and that’s if they even get a say, which high numbers of those with the most to lose do not. Under UK law, expatriates are entitled to vote in general elections (and in the forthcoming referendum) – but only for the first 15 years after they depart the country.

However, many members of the diaspora across the EU – typically the retirees in Spain and France, but also some of those making a living here in Romania – have been gone longer, and are therefore denied a voice, to their outrage.

Brits in Bucharest and beyond worry about a return to the pre-2007 days, when some bosses organized minibus roundtrips to Ruse, over the Bulgarian border, every 90 days, just so their staff could get their passports stamped.

The UK has already had one costly and disruptive referendum recently, on Scottish independence, which after running very close towards the end of the campaign was finally decided in favor of the status quo by some margin.

Let’s hope the same happens in June. If not, I could be booking my place on the bus to Ruse. debbie.stowe@business-review.ro

Top 20 companies in Romania with capital from Great Britain and northern Ireland* Firm

Activity

Investment from UK

Turnover

Gross Profit/ loss Average

number of employees

OMV Petrom

Oil extraction

RON 114 mln

RON 16.5 bln

RON 2.8 bln

17.866

Interagro

Cereal production

RON 2.5 mln

RON 1.7 bln

(RON21.1 mln)

100

Ursus Breweries

Beer production

RON 26.2 mln

RON 1.4 bln

RON 7.6 mln

1.490

Provident Financial Romania

Non-bank financial institution

RON 16.6 mln

RON 1.1 bln

RON 100.8 mln

790

Sews Romania

Manufacturing of products from metal fibers

RON 99.6 mln

RON 963.6 mln

RON 30.7 mln

7.571

Europharm Holding

Pharmaceutical retail

RON 58.3 mln

RON 870.9 mln

RON 1.244

432

CRH Ciment (Romania)

Cement production

RON 16.9 mln

RON 691.1 mln

RON 121.8 mln

457

Bricostore Romania

DIY retailer

RON 23.5 mln

RON 572.4 mln

RON 102.7 mln

1.237

Emerson

Engineering consultancy

RON 10

RON 563.3 mln

RON 24.1 mln

2.160

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)

Pharmaceutical retail

RON 453 mln

RON 514.7 mln

RON 33.6 mln

225

Alcedo

Chemical product retail

RON 412,480

RON 504.1 mln

RON 24.6 mln

223

Lear Corporation Romania

Automotive electronics maker

RON 10

RON 475.7 mln

RON 20.8 mln

2.872

Europharm

Production of pharma ingredients

RON 125,328

RON 426.3 mln

(RON 8 mln)

213

Iveco Capital Leasing IFN

Financial leasing

RON 22.5 mln

RON 369 mln

(RON 51.5 mln)

31

Teamnet International

Software maker

RON 386,250

RON 338 mln

RON 15.2 mln

207

Energobit

Electrical installations works

RON 7,070

RON 307.3 mln

RON 4.2 mln

445

Faist Mekatronic

Production of metal constructions/components

RON 9.8 mln

RON 292.6 mln

RON 28.5 mln

868

Alison Hayes Romania

Production of lingerie

RON 14.2 mln

RON 268.2 mln

RON 7.3 mln

1.253

EFT Furnizare

Electricity trading

RON 1,500

RON 263.5 mln

RON 12.9 mln

5

Ipsos Interactive

Polling services

RON 15,000

RON 221.3 mln

RON 66.3 mln

711

*Data for 2014 from the National Trade Registry Office (ONRC)

www.business-review.eu Business Review | June 2016

30 DIGITAL

Digital projects help communities cross digital divide While Romania ranks as low as it gets in the EU Digital Index, some ongoing digital initiatives could have a positive impact on the community. An online workshop, the digital label, and the creation of a digital library for people with visual impairments are some of the more recent projects.

Digital initiatives are growing and some projects can give disadvantaged communities a real chance at social integration

and tools for entrepreneurs and businesses. We want, with the help of the Atelierul Digital project launched today, Romania ranked last of the 28 EU mem- to offer a tool that will help future workber states in the Digital Economy and ers and entrepreneurs acquire the digiSociety Index 2016, with an overall tal skills that are so important for the score of 0.35. While more people have economy. We hope this will help Romasubscribed to broadband networks nia take advantage of the opportunities since last year, low levels of digital skills offered by the digital economy,” said and trust seem to be holding back the Dan Bulucea, country director of Google development of the country’s digital Romania, at the launch.

The Atelierul Digital platform comeconomy.

However, Romania was placed in the prises 89 courses, split across 23 topics, group of “catching up countries,” such as how to build an online presence, namely those that score below the EU marketing campaigns in social media average but whose score grew faster and how to use the mobile environment to attract new customers. Users can go than that average over the last year.

The need for digital skills has never through the lessons and can even been greater across the EU and CEE, and choose to take a test. If they pass it, they it will only get bigger still. According to will receive a certificate from Google EC statistics, 90 percent of jobs in the and IAB Europe.

Another initiative, intended to help future will require digital skills. The EC estimates that there will be 825,000 un- Romanian consumers at large, is the filled positions by 2020, as a result of the digital label. A digital national aggregator of data on products was recently digital divide.

Google has launched Atelierul Digi- launched under the name “Cumpara Intal (the Digital Workshop), a free online format” (Informed Purchase). The projplatform which offers training in vari- ect is being implemented by GS1 ous fields, such as digital marketing and Romania, the national association for business development. The platform is standardization, along with the Romanintended to contribute to the spread of ian government, according to Agerpres newswire. digital skills in Romania.

Such digital data aggregators are “Internet is essential in today’s society, offering development opportunities nothing new in more developed states.

∫ OTILIA HARAGA

At the moment, there are 19 such aggregators of data on products worldwide.

In the European Union, they are successfully used in countries such as France, Italy and Germany.

A national catalogue is created with the contribution of the producers, distributors, importers and brand owners that are members of GS1.

It is a database of structured information about wholesale products sold to Romanian consumers, guaranteed by the brand owners. The information is printed on the digital label only after the producer gives an official statement that they respect norms.

Marius Dunca, president of the National Authority for Consumer Protection, said, “We must start from the idea that we are all consumers and the business environment must respect this.

Lifestyles have changed: we no longer have time to stand in front of shelves and compare product labels. The digital label is important; we are better informed, and we, as a control body, can better carry out our activity. If fake data is introduced on the digital label, the fine is the same as usual, since this is considered an attempt to deceive,” said Dunca, quoted by Agerpres newswire.

Currently, the catalogue can only be accessed by Android users. However, the app will soon be extended to other

operating systems.

A more targeted initiative is the Sunetul Paginilor (The Sound of the Pages) project from the Romanian National Library, which aims to create the largest digital library for people with visual impairments.

This project, which will gather all scanned digital documents across Romanian libraries into one single collection, was initiated by the National Library with financial support from the Orange Foundation, according to Agerpres newswire.

Sunetul Paginilor is approaching completion in June, having been started in May 2015.

The total cost of the project will reach RON 316,600, of which RON 221,800 was provided by the Orange Foundation.

“Users with visual impairments will have access to this digital library both offline, at our headquarters, as well as online from anywhere in the country, based on an ID and password, in order to comply with copyright law,” said Adriana Boruna, chief of tThe Service for Institutional Development, quoted

by Agerpres.

The digitalization of libraries is a European initiative. At European level, the cost of digitalizing libraries reaches somewhere around EUR 100 billion, which is split between the public and private sector, via specific partnerships.

However, the digitalization of products and services brings annual revenues of EUR 110 billion into Europe.

In Romania, libraries are starting to make efforts to cater for their digital consumers. The Central University Library in Bucharest (Biblioteca Centrala Universitara, BCU) has a multi-annual project under way to put over 750,000 pages on its digital platform, according to Agerpres.

“By 2020, we plan to have 750,000 digital pages (…) and offer open access to library data and support crowdsourcing initiatives,” said Voichița Dragomir, one of the coordinators of the project, quoted by Agerpres newswire.

The process of digitalization not only consists of displaying digital copies of documents from libraries’ online archive, but also of creating interactive maps indicating cultural consumption or cultural activities taking place within a country. otilia.haraga@business-review.ro

www.business-review.eu Business Review | June 2016

32 HEALTHCARE

First national cancer control plan due in June Romania’s first National Integrated Multiannual Plan for Cancer Control, something for which local patients have been waiting for many years, should be adopted in June. Nationwide, approximately 48,300 people die from the disease annually, and some sufferers face serious challenges in getting diagnosis and treatment.

Cancer patients have been waiting for a coherent solution for a decade

∫ OTILIA HARAGA The Ministry of Health recently announced that the National Integrated Multiannual Plan for Cancer Control for 2016-2020 will bring new strategies that are in line with European cancer care targets.

The prime minister, Dacian Ciolos, announced that the document could be adopted by June.

“The National Multiannual Integrated Plan for Cancer Control is a debt we have needed to settle for some time (..) I assure you that as soon as possible, I believe by June, we will be able to adopt this plan via a government decision,” said Ciolos.

The initiative was hailed by the Federation of Associations of Cancer Patients (FABC).

“We definitely believe this is a good initiative,” Cezar Irimia, president of the FABC, told BR. “It does not fulfill all standards as far as the European approach to cancer is concerned. However, it is a good start. Anything can be perfected.”

According to information from the

Ministry of Health provided to BR, the funds allocated to the national cancer program from the National Health Insurance House (CNAS) this year total just over RON 1.8 million.

Over 2016-2020, European funds will be attracted via the Human Capital Operational Programme. To increase the screening capacity in the case of cervical cancer, breast cancer and colon-rectal cancer, the estimated budget is EUR 10 million for each of these areas. To train up medical staff, the ministry plans to tap into a pool of EUR 50 million.

From the World Bank program for the reform of the health system, four radiotherapy accelerators will be acquired this year, for which EUR 12.5 million has been earmarked. In 2017, another eight such devices will be acquired at an estimated cost of EUR 25 million.

For the Cancer Screening program, the total allocated budget will be EUR 15 million, until the final deadline of December 2017, according to the Ministry of Health.

According to World Health Organization (WHO) statistics, Europe has

more than 3 million new cancer cases and 1.7 million deaths from the disease each year. Cancer is the second biggest cause of death and morbidity in Europe.

While Europe comprises only one eighth of the world population, it has around one quarter of the global total of cancer cases, says the WHO. In Romania, approximately 48,300 people die from cancer every year, which puts the country high above the average European mortality rate, according to the Ministry of Health. The illness is often diagnosed in its advanced stages, when not much can be done to save the patient. In the case of lung cancer, which is the most prevalent type of cancer in Romania, seven out of ten patients are diagnosed as late as stage four. Likewise with breast cancer, where one in five cases is diagnosed as late as the second or third stage.

However, in spite of the high death rate, cancer patients have been waiting in vain for such a national plan for years on end.

“We have been demanding a real oncology plan for over ten years. Right now, we only have a chemotherapy plan, to which oncology surgery, radiotherapy and palliative care are ‘glued’,” Irimia told BR. The national plan will include a series of programs that aim to reduce both the death toll and overall cancer prevalence, and to improve the health of those at risk of developing cancer as well as the quality of life of diagnosed patients, according to the ministry.

It will also include new regional pilot projects for breast cancer and colonrectal cancer, new strategies for improving the current National Cervical Cancer Screening Program and regional screening for the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV).

Two important components of the plan are promoting a healthy lifestyle that can help protect individuals from risk factors as well as vaccination policies against chronic hepatitis and HPV virus infections.

But is this enough? Cancer patients in Romania have struggled with multiple challenges.

“We have been suffering for years from the disappearance of drugs from the Romanian market, for various reasons: parallel exports, the low price of the drugs hence no profit for producers, and lack of responsibility from the Ministry of Health, which should have clear

strategies so that we no longer face these problems. Maybe they are working hand-in-hand with those doing the parallel exports and that is why they are not taking the necessary measures,” Irimia suggested.

Ten drugs that are used for treating various types of cancer are completely absent from the Romanian market, and Irimia submitted a notification at the Ministry of Health, according to Agerpres newswire.

“There are six drugs missing which are used in the treatment of hematological conditions, and they are cheap. Another four drugs for treating solid tumors are also missing. In total, ten drugs are lacking. To these, we can add the treatment necessary for women who have been through a mastectomy, the hormonal drug Tamoxifen. There are over 150,000 women in Romania who need this drug for follow-up treatments that last up to ten years. They risk the disease returning, when the costs will increase threefold. Patients’ survival odds decrease if they don’t take this follow-up treatment,” said the FABC president at the time, quoted by Agerpres newswire.

In fact, Romania may be facing a shortage of various drugs, and not only those for cancer treatment. Signals from pharmaceutical producers are not good, with the Romanian Association of International Drug Producers (ARPIM) warning that 800,000 patients may not be able to benefit from innovating treatments from July, following the disappearance of 123 drugs from the market.

According to ARPIM, this situation was brought about by the publication in the Official Registry of Minister Order 307/2015, article 81, which lowers the price of original drugs in line with the value of generics.

“This stipulation will have extremely serious consequences for Romanian patients – not just immediate, by limiting their access to treatment, but also long term. The price of drugs will decrease by 35 percent below the European minimum threshold, which is totally unsustainable, and compels drug producers not only to reconsider their product portfolio but also to reassess the opportunity of bringing new drugs to Romania,” said Dan Zaharescu, executive director of ARPIM. otilia.haraga@business-review.ro

www.business-review.eu Business Review | June 2016

HEALTHCARE 33

New corruption scandal rocks healthcare system The Romanian public healthcare system is embroiled in an unprecedented corruption scandal after a journalistic investigation revealed that disinfectants used in many hospitals across the country were significantly diluted, putting millions of patients at risk of hospital-acquired infections. Hexi Pharma, the company that was providing the disinfectants, won more than 9,300 contracts with the state between 2012 and 2015. ∫ OTILIA HARAGA The issue of hospital-acquired infections came to public attention after the devastating fire in Colectiv Club at the end of October, which had a death toll of 64 people. The way in which the Romanian authorities handled the case was strongly criticized by journalists and families of the victims, especially after it emerged that some of these patients had been infected with dangerous bacteria in local hospitals.

Eventually, the authorities admitted that some of the fire victims had died from this cause.

Hospital-acquired infections are not uncommon, even in countries with a more developed healthcare system, and in fact some European states post a 5-7 percent incidence rate. However, the Romanian authorities were in denial for years, only reporting an incidence rate of 0.22 percent in 2014.

Moreover, Romanians take four times more antibiotics without prescription than their European peers, which makes bacteria more resistant.

As journalists started to dig deeper, serious allegations emerged that the state had paid overinflated prices for diluted disinfectants to be used in hospitals across the country.

A series of investigations conducted by journalists Mirela Neag, Razvan Lutac and Catalin Tolontan of Gazeta Sporturilor revealed that at the center of the scandal was a company called Hexi Pharma. The company was owned by businessman Dan Alexandru Condrea (with a 93.75 percent share package) and his girlfriend Uliana Ochinciuc (6.25 percent), a doctor at the Military Hospital.

Condrea was buying the active substances from large German suppliers such as BASF Chem Trade and Evonik Industries at the fair market price, via his offshore company in Cyprus, called CPS Chemical & Pharmaceutical Solutions Ltd. He then proceeded to sell the active substances for up to ten times their value to his Romania-based company Hexi Pharma, according to Gazeta Sporturilor.

The active substances were being processed in the Hexi Pharma plant in

Corruption kills: the active substance in the disinfectants was diluted to just a tenth of its proper strength

Mogosoaia, after which Hexi Pharma would sell them on to hospitals at overinflated prices. Worth mentioning is that until recently, state institutions were compelled by law to buy products at the lowest price, irrespective of their quality. According to research carried out by Miscarea Civica Initiativa Romania, between 2012 and 2015, Hexi Pharma won 9,339 contracts with Romanian hospitals, 90 percent of these without a public tender.

However, the substances that reached hospitals were not only much more expensive but also fell way short of official standards. In a development reminiscent of the classic Orson Welles film noir The Third Man, tests revealed that the products were diluted far below the concentration stipulated on the label, which could significantly impair their efficiency.

The certifications that the product respected current medical standards were issued by a laboratory called Unilab, which was also controlled by Condrea through his offshore in Cyprus.

The lab had even received non-reimbursable financing from the Romanian state.

According to Gazeta Sporturilor, the active substance in the disinfectants was diluted to just a tenth of its proper strength, and was being used in 300 hospitals and 2,000 surgeries across

Romania.

The Bucharest Hospital for Plastic Surgery and Treatment of Burns, where many of the Colectiv victims were treated, was among them. The Romanian Oncology Institute was another public institution where Hexi Pharma products were used.

“We have been ringing alarm bells about this for years but no one paid any attention to us,” Cezar Irimia, president of the Romanian Federation of Cancer Patients Associations, told BR. “Personally, I have accused these people of murder, but… in Romania, no one answers for these crimes! They should impose very harsh penalties so that no one will have the nerve to commit such crimes ever again. There is no such thing as an educated people, there can only be a penalized people,” he added.

In another twist uncovered by the Gazeta Sporturilor investigation, the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) stated that it knew about the situation and had even warned about it.

“In the notification documentation sent to legal beneficiaries regarding the issue of hospital-acquired infections, there were also notifications regarding the poor quality of the disinfectants used in hospitals across the country.

Among the legal recipients of our notifications about this issue were county

council presidents, prefects, ministers, the prime minister and the Romanian president,” said SRI officials.

The Colectiv Association called on the Romanian president to de-classify the SRI information.

The scandal has cost health minister Patriciu Achimas Cadariu his job.

Cadariu told the media that out of 3,526 samples taken from the disinfectant provided by Hexi Pharma, only 4.25 percent did not comply with standards.

However, an independent analysis carried out by state laboratory ICECHIM revealed a totally different picture. None of the ten products tested in the lab conformed to the label.

“All 14 analysis samples of Hexi Pharma products fell short of the norms,” announced health state secretary Victor Eugen Strambu during a press conference.

Cadariu was forced to step down amid accusations that he had lied in a press conference when he said he could not publish the list of hospitals where tests had revealed failures, because the case was under investigation.

Following public pressure, the list was soon published and revealed that tests had found problems in 50 hospitals, of which nine are in Bucharest. otilia.haraga@business-review.ro

www.business-review.eu Business Review | June 2016

34 LOCAL ELECTIONS

Money talk: breaking down city hall’s spending Local elections are coming and the fight to spend Romania’s biggest local budget has started. BR talked to Elena Calistru, co-founder of Funky Citizens, one of the few specialists in public administration, in order to decipher where our taxes go. ∫ OANA VASILIU Where has spending most increased this year?

When you look over Bucharest’s local budget, you can definitely see some domains that receive more money every year: transportation, general public services and environmental protection. The biggest problem is that, every year, when you look at the evolution of spending, from what is forecast at the beginning of the year and what is reported at the end of the fiscal year, there are major differences.

Also, the culture, education and recreation chapter has a recently increased budget, as a few weeks ago they amended the budget to give money to the Salvation Cathedral. The new multifunctional sports center, which will be constructed near the National Arena, is also included here, as well as the reconstruction of the national ice rink, in the same area.

One good example for Bucharest is the investment in transportation and infrastructure which most of the time has significant differences. This year, we’re also confronted with a specific situation regarding investment: all EU-funded projects that weren’t completed by the end of December 2015 are currently being financially supported by the local budget, at over RON 200 million, so they can be finished by June 30 when Romania was given the final deadline.

Who is the biggest contributor to the local budget?

Fortunately or unfortunately, the citizens. Some 71 percent of individual income tax goes to the local budget, out of which 45 percent goes to the City Hall budget. The budget is 60-70 percent represented by citizens’ contribution, followed by subsidies, especially those for hospitals, paid by the Ministry of Health, and quotas deducted from VAT. Basically, there is a very high dependence on the local budget compared to the state budget, and the situation of the last quarter of 2015 confirms it, at 92.5 percent. Although it is the city with the biggest budget of the country, Bucharest fails to generate economic revenues, such

Bucharest’s budget for 2016 Total revenues: RON 3.9 billion Total expenditure: RON 4.1 billion argue more powerfully as their contribution to the city is very significant.

What does the city hall subsidize? At what value?

The subsidies go to the Autonomous Administration of Heat Distribution Bucharest (RADET) and the Autonomous Transportation Enterprise of Bucharest (RATB) and the amount of money is incredibly high, over RON 1 billion.

Are there differences in budgeting for the institutions subordinate to city hall this year compared to 2015?

Some significant costs were cut for cemetery and crematorium administration, the Metropolis Theatre and Brancoveanu palaces. Otherwise, we hope that this year the offices of the city hall will return to their official building, the one on Elisabeta Boulevard, which has been undergoing restoration for several years now, and then the money spent on the current rent will be reinvested. as concessions and rentals or EU funding.

Who are the participants in the public debates regarding Bucharest’s budget?

Some are simply citizens who come there to talk about a specific problem; some are citizens from initiative groups keen to change something in

their neighborhood; NGOs, mostly those active in the environment and patrimony field and the supporters of bicycle transportation. What I find strange is that none of the companies doing business here are present at these debates, trying to negotiate better living conditions for their employees, especially because they could

Top 7 budget expenses Sector

Amount

Share

Transport Culture, leisure and religion Fuels and energy General public services Environment protection Buildings, services and public development Healthcare

RON 1.1 bln RON 648 mln RON 627 mln RON 475 mln RON 364 mln RON 356 mln RON 267 mln

28% 16% 15% 11% 9% 9% 6.4%

Source: Funky Citizens association

What are city hall’s most interesting investment goals this year?

Probably the most interesting is the wastewater treatment plant at Glina along with rehabilitation of the Dambovita collecting channel, an EUfunded investment (estimated at over RON 1 billion) which wasn’t finished on time, but still needs to be done.

Only RON 40 million had been reimbursed by the end of 2015. What’s really interesting is that they budgeted consultancy for this project, at over RON 1 million, meaning that they are trying to find alternative solutions and funding for the project – international loans from EBRD or the European Investment Bank may be an option. Another objective, as I said, is to finally move back to the old building. editorial@business-review.ro

www.business-review.eu Business Review | June 2016

LOCAL ELECTIONS 35

Battered politicians and civil society stars vying for Bucharest driver’s seat With less than one month until the local elections on June 5, BR presents the runners and riders for mayor of Bucharest. Alongside career politicians are leaders from civil society, and even fresh faces running as independents. ∫ OVIDIU POSIRCA Daniel Barbu (ALDE) Barbu made the headlines three years ago, when as minister of culture, he said he was “shocked” that the budget for the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS patients was half the public funds for cultural activities. He resigned shortly after that statement and left the liberal party PNL for ALDE, a new party that was created by former PNL head Calin Popescu-Tariceanu.

candidates for mayor in all the Bucharest districts. Although he is not the only civil society candidate, Dan says that Bucharest no longer needs politicians. Dan, who holds a PhD in mathematics, became famous through the work of his association, which is trying to block illegal construction projects in Bucharest and has ongoing battles in court. Some of his critics says he is posing as an NGO worker although he has a party, which technically makes him a politician. Dan’s response is that the political system needs quality people and that his association can’t cope with all the issues facing the city.

Bogdan Diaconu (PRU)

The former French foreign legionnaire says he is fighting to keep Romania a Christian country.

He first came into the public eye after burying frozen pigs on a piece of land in Bucharest, where a mosque may be constructed. He went further and planted 500 Christian crosses throughout Bucharest. Berenghi is already warning that the elections could be rigged, suggesting that he should be the winner.

Although he is running for mayor of Bucharest, Diaconu looks like he is planning to rule Romania if he gets elected. As head of the extremist party Romania United, Diaconu said he would block the construction of a mosque in Bucharest and that his party would prevent the “islamization” of Romania. His party has gone even one step further and founded its own militia, called the Patrol of Vlad the Impaler. Its mission is to “protect citizens”, and members wearing special uniforms have been spotted in Bucharest.

Nicusor Dan (USB)

Gabriela Firea (PSD)

Since 2012, when he won 8.5 percent of the vote as an independent, Dan has expanded his political clout and launched his own party, called the Union to Save Bucharest. This time, his party will have

The Social Democrats are betting on Gabriela Firea, a former journalist and newspaper boss who has worked in the past for media mogul Dan Voiculescu, who is currently in jail. Firea has come

Catalin Berenghi (independent)

under fire in the past two years for controversial comments she has made during election campaigns. For instance, in 2014 she suggested that Klaus Iohannis shouldn’t be elected president because he doesn’t have kids.

At that time, she was the spokesperson of Victor Ponta, who ultimately lost. She later apologized for this statement, which continues to haunt her. But Firea is back on the scene, saying that “her idea of force is for a woman to clean up daily after many men”. The PSD candidate is married to Florentin Pandele, who is the mayor of Voluntari, a small town near Bucharest. Firea says she should be mayor because she has both political and corporate experience.

Catalin Predoiu (PNL) Although he was preparing at some point to try and become prime minister, if his party got into power, Predoiu had to fill the vacuum after three consecutive PNL candidates for Bucharest mayor retired from the campaign. The liberal, who was previously minister of justice, has said that if he is elected mayor, he will finish projects in the same manner as he did when he was in government.

Predoiu is replacing Marian Munteanu, who was dubbed a representative of civil society.

for influence peddling and bribery following an investigation carried out by journalists from the British publication The Sunday Times. The Romanian politician had agreed to cooperate with two undercover journalists posing as businesspeople, who told him he would he would be paid EUR 100,000 annually to amend bills in the EU Parliament and to vote against measures that would have hurt the interests of the company the two journalists purported to be representing. Severin said he was running for mayor because Bucharest has become a “show-window of neoliberalism”.

Robert Turcescu (PMP) After working for close to two decades as a journalist, Turcescu shocked the media world in late 2014, when he admitted that he had worked as an undercover intelligence officer. At that time he said he was lieutenant colonel. In his current political campaign, he has claimed that he never took orders from anybody.

The ex-journalist is a candidate of the Popular Movement Party (PMP), which is led by former president Traian Basescu. The PMP head said he was not running for mayor because he is being prosecuted for money laundering. ovidiu.posirca@business-review.ro

Adrian Severin (PDS) The former MEP, who has received a jail sentence of three years and three months that can be appealed, has also thrown his hat into the ring.

Severin was tried

Other candidates for mayor of Bucharest: Mirel Amaritei (ProDemo); Iulia Gorea-Costin (PNTCD); Petrica Dima (PSR); Niculae Neamtu (Republican Party)

Who’s running in the districts District 1: Clotilde Armand (USB); Ionut Chermenschi (PER); Laura Chiriac (ALDE); Maria Chirtoaca (PDS); Alexandru Nazare (PNL); Doina Petrosel (PSR); Gheorghe Padure (independent); Laurentiu Piticas (PRU); Eugen Tomac (PMP); Dan Tudorache (PSD+UNPR) District 2: Gigel Andrabulea (PDS); Antoaneta Bugner (USB); Radu Cristescu (PMP); Augustin Hagiu (PRU); Catalin Marin (PPU-SL); Dumitru Pelican (PER); Dan Cristian Popescu (PNL); Dorina Roman (PSR); Mihai Toader (PSD+UNPR) District 3: Robert Negoita (PSD+UNPR); Cristian Petrescu (PMP); Cristina Pocora (PNL); Constantin Panait (independent); Elena Petrescu (ALDE); Stefan Vasile (PDS); Gabriel Turiceanu (PPU-SL); Sanda Wring (USB) District 4: Daniel Baluta (PSD); Stefanel Dan Marin (PMP); Dumitru Dobrev (USB); Cristian Popescu Piedone (independent); Razvan Sava (PNL); Ovidiu Zara (PML) District 5: Daniel Florea (PSD); Marian Vanghelie (PDS); Ovidiu Raetchi (PNL) District 6: Mihai Danes (USB); Ioan Dinuta (PRU); Stefan Florescu (independent); Alexandru Magherescu (PDS); Razvan Mironescu (PNL); Gabriel Mutu (PSD+UNPR); Stan Robert (ALDE); Enache Stefan (PMP)

www.business-review.eu Business Review | June 2016

36 LEADERSHIP

Unorthodox leadership techniques gaining ground Professionals these days are more and more interested in developing their personal skills and becoming better versions of themselves. With this shift, new trends and expectations are coming to light. BR found out more. ∫ ROMANITA OPREA Engagement will remain a number one concern, as 87 percent of companies consider “culture and engagement” top priorities, according to employee engagement platform TINYpulse, based on some 400,000 management and employee survey responses over the past few years and quoted by Forbes.

This focus is unlikely to change, given that engaged, committed employees are “the core of so many vital components of workplace success”. Given, also, that vast numbers of employees remain disengaged – around 70 percent – there’s no shortage of substantial management work to be done here.

Moreover, professional development opportunities will be a key factor in turnover rates, “opportunities for growth being vital,” the report states, “and lack of them will pop up frequently in exit interviews”.

In this context, it’s interesting to see what new forms of leadership are emerging locally and showing a different side of the routes to potential growth, both personal and professional.

George Leca, “Appreciate inquirer” leadership explorer at Horse Eye, told us about the approach taken by his business, which uses horses to bring out participants’ personal qualities.

“We have a great passion for horses and a great passion for people. As a corporate person, involved in large-scale transformations and strategies, I realize the importance of leadership behavior and I have a natural penchant for teaching, developing and leading people,” he told BR. “In this, I am very well complemented by my partner in Horse Eye, who is an entrepreneur to the bone, having run her own business for the last 13 years. At the same time, I can say that I have learned many things from horses, things I never learned in school.

So if you put together dedication to people, passion for horses, business experience and values, you will get the picture of our company.”

The inspiration for taking passion further and transforming it into a business came to him via several people over the years. One of them is Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, a horse enthusiast and someone that Leca believes takes responsibility for her role

Corina Leca, Horse Eye

with wisdom and balance. Another is the now elderly Monty Roberts, who has been a horse person all his life and is now a top adviser for businesspeople, and even heads of states, in the field of education using non-violence, no constraints and free will as guiding principles. “The third one is Gerhard Krebs, who does the same thing I do for busi-

nesses around the world, the founder of the European Association for Horse Assisted Education, who impressed me with his authenticity and values. One way or another, I met all three of them and learned from them all,” said Leca.

Still, Horse Eye was not started with a business model in mind and this is how the partners want it to feel still. “It is

about changing the world the way we can and there is great return in that.

Having said that, the seminars were so successful and the word of mouth was such a good promotion channel, that while we initially planned to have 10 seminars per year, even from the first year we had 15 to 20. This year we will probably have more – the only limitation is our availability,” added the owner.

The first course was launched in 2013 and attended by 700 people, from 50 companies in Romania, both local and international. It is meant to teach people things that they might know about themselves, but have never had the opportunity to look at objectively, “through the horse’s eyes”. Courses help participants understand communication and leadership: how to get creatures that are more powerful than you to follow you through what you do and communicate with them. They teach attendees that it doesn’t matter if you have power if you don’t know what to do with it; it is about how to channel it.

The courses invite introspection and self-consciousness, but in the arena, not on the couch.

Horse Eye seminars use many techniques valued by today’s leaders: emotional intelligence, mindfulness (the capacity of living consciously in the present) and the change model, Appreciative Inquiry.

“The traditional approach to changing a company is to look for the problems, analyze them and find the solutions. That means that the focus is on what is wrong or doesn’t function in the company. But when we look for problems, we will surely find them. By giving attention to problems we only amplify and highlight them,” said Leca.

“Appreciative Inquiry is a method of change and transformation for companies that are looking towards what works and what is best for companies and people. The tangible result of the process is the building of a future for the organization based on the experiences that brought success in the past.”

Appreciative Inquiry is a methodology designed by David Cooperrider 20 years ago, which has since been applied

by American firms, large and small. It was designed to involve search and discovery of the past and present the positive core of a company, with its

www.business-review.eu Business Review | June 2016

strengths, high points, living values, traditions, strategic competencies and stories, everything that “gives life” to a company. By then applying methods that engage all people in the company, it encourages them to dream, design and implement a future based on this positive core. Proponents say the main difference from most of the other change management methods is that it does not focus on solving problems to bring you back to “normality”. It focuses on discovering your strengths and dreaming of a future that will get you ahead. It is not about ignoring problems; it is about focusing on growth. And the change starts with the way you ask the questions. Instead of “why is this so wrong?” you can ask “what will it take to make it better?” AI is deeply rooted in psychology, sociology and business studies and it is currently applied on a large scale in organizations from NASA and the US Navy to Verizon and British Airways.

“A company is not just a bunch of assets and procedures, it is a collective of people and their stories – AI works with the latter for emotional attachment, engagement and supporting change,” said Leca.

The practical learning methods used are exclusively exercises directly with the horses, inspired by real situations in the business field. Therefore, the skills achieved can be applied in participants’ organizations to real situations. Horse Eye courses are meant to create authentic leaders and develop self-consciousness, the capacity to take efficient decisions and to allocate the correct roles in a team.

Recently, following the seminar “Transformational Leadership”, the first leadership seminar in Romania whose facilitators are horses, Horse Eye launched three new seminars dedicated to leaders and their teams. The seminars are based exclusively on experiential learning and direct interaction with the horses and are focused on adapting organizations to change, project management and personal development. Easy Organizational Change is a change management course, meant to deal with the fear of change and help people accept organizational change.

The Secret Anatomy of Projects is a technical course addressed to professionals from the department of strategy and project management or those who occasionally handle projects. Participants can find out fundamental aspects of project execution and optimize a project or a real program. Equine Constellation is a course of personal growth that presents the alternative therapy model by eliminating the tensions accumulated in inter-human relationships. The positive results of this method are attributed to empathy and the power of auto-suggestion.

Another example of an outside-thebox approach to leadership are the Wing Chun courses in Bucharest. They offer leadership through martial arts, in a vision that combines wing chun kung fu, personal growth, leadership and fi-

LEADERSHIP 37 teaches participants how to see the small details and how to connect with people on a deeper level. It's not all punches and kicks, but teaches people about themselves and about other people. And this helps you understand how you can better serve the person in front of you. “When you understand that your wellbeing is directly connected to your teammates' wellbeing, you will do everything you can so that your team, your clients, your boss or shareholders, and the rest of the world benefit and thrive in their lives. Leadership is about being the strongest version of yourself and helping others succeed,” concluded Rosu.

Target The main target of wing chun courses are described as people who want more from life and are not afraid to act, people who want a place to recharge, get back in touch with themselves and have some fun. They're usually corporate workers who feel they want the necessary tools and inspiration to rise to the next level in their careers, or even open their own business. In the case of Horse Eye, attendees are both entrepreneurs and corporate people.

They are CEOs and board members, top and middle management, people from talent pools or acceleration programs, project teams, supplier/client teams, and so on. Large corporations remain their main commercial target.

George Leca, Horse Eye

Openness and success

Bogdan Rosu, Wing Chun Warriors Club

nancial education. Wing chun is the style made famous by Bruce Lee and is formed of a set of concepts based on fluidity, efficiency and simplicity. One of the most important concepts is Maximum Effect with Minimum Effort – described by proponents as one of the best methods of building self-trust and accessing one’s true potential.

“Two of the most important characteristics of a leader are strength of character and love for the people around him or her. At Wing Chun Warriors Club, one learns how to become powerful from inside out and how one can contribute to the lives of other people in a significant way,” say company officials.

Wing Chun Bucharest is run by Bogdan Rosu, who started his training in the fighting art of wing chun kung fu under Sifu Evangelos, having been one of his private and indoor students for several years. He says he stood out, from the beginning, as one of Evangelos' most talented students, showing potential not only as a fighter but also as a teacher and soon began training for an

instructor's degree. Thanks to his previous experience in Shotokan Karate, he says he was able to compare wing chun with other fighting arts and see the logic and simplicity of the system.

This allowed him to better grasp the concepts and accept them as natural reactions in fighting and in everyday life.

In May 2010, he obtained his degree with outstanding results. Inspired by Anthony Robbins, Brendon Burchard, Frank Kern, and martial arts mentors Evangelos and Sensei Gheorghe Dundev, he says he wanted to repay them by helping as many people as possible, his goal being 1 million.

“The main ideas behind wing chun are simplicity, directness and efficiency.

What it teaches you ultimately is how to do more with less, how to focus, how to be 100 percent present in your relationships, in business, and in life. What you discover by practicing it is that you are ultimately becoming a better, deeper person on every level of your life,” said Rosu.

According to him, wing chun

Are Romanians open to this new approach? Do you see them changing their behavior? “Yes. Once we get in front of people and tell them about it, they want it. The world has changed a lot; everything is fluid, ever-changing, boundless, and the opportunities are countless. Businesses realize that and they understand that most management, HR, change and transformation practices are obsolete. I am a process guy, specialized in optimizing processes, but I realized that engaged people can beat any process (or lack thereof),” said the Horse Eye representative.

His words are echoed by Rosu of Wing Chun Bucharest, who adds that while at the beginning participants are a bit skeptical, which is to be expected, they're usually curious, enjoy themselves more than they expected and after the first month, feel so good from the training that they become dedicated to the practice.

Leca added, “I can see people changing behaviors. We are not telling our students anything new or unheard of, but we guide them towards making them feel and discover everything on their own. We attach people emotionally to the effects of their behavior on others. This is why it works, because it brings out the answers from within.

The people who attend our seminars never forget what they experience during them.” romanita.oprea@business-review.ro

www.business-review.eu Business Review | June 2016

38 FILM

Lights, camera, action: TIFF turns 15 The Transylvania International Film Festival (TIFF) celebrates its 15th anniversary this year with 248 movies from 64 countries, 20 locations and over 850 national and international guests. The impressive film festival colosseum is en detail organized by the president, Tudor Giurgiu, with whom Business Review went behind the scenes just days before ”action” was called on the country’s biggest film extravaganza. who have a film project in development: Pitch Stop Transylvania and The Pitch, made in collaboration with Shorts TV.

Photo: Nicu Cherciu

What would you expect if you were attending the festival for the first time this year?

If I were coming to TIFF for the first time, I think I would have high expectations and it would not be wrong to have them. With each year that has passed we have tried to push our limits and we have created somehow the habit of coming to TIFF for the latest movies, the most unusual performances and the hottest bands. The pressure for high expectations is huge this year, considering it is an anniversary edition, TIFF at 15 years. In any case, to someone coming to TIFF for the first time this year, I would say be prepared for ten days of good movies – and certainly some revelation cinema tant at TIFF. In these 15 years, we have developed a number of projects that have a real impact on the evoluHow has the festival changed since its tion of those participating. For instance, the film workshop for teens inception?

It has certainly become more complex Let's Go Digital, which has reached its and larger. The first time, we had 14th run. Many of those who attended around 40 films screened in two the- are now in the film industry and we aters, and this year we have almost even have a young director, Ana250 from 64 different countries and 20 Maria Comanescu, who has a film in the competition for short films, in the locations. Plus about 20 concerts.

The technology has also evolved. Romanian Film Days section. Visky At the beginning, the movies were Abel, after winning three awards in sent in rolls. This generated a series of the local competition, is now selected enormous transportation costs – each for the short film competition. Also, movie could reach 10 kg. Now, they for seven years now, children from come on a hard disk. Of course, this Cluj have been learning about cinema has increased the pressure on the at EducaTIFF, the country’s first protechnical department. Now, during a gram of media literacy and film, and I film festival, the IT department organ- believe that it can be a model for a ization is very important. Things strong and coherent curriculum in evolve and we must be prepared to this area in Romania.

Furthermore, this year, the Tranadapt and make new investments.

Also, in 15 years, TIFF has pushed sylvania Talent Lab workshop has things forward very much for the cul- faced a very pressing problem for Rotural infrastructure of Cluj. It's the manian cinema: the management of only city besides Bucharest where cinemas. A few years ago I started the there are several cinemas, given that campaign "Save the Silver Screen" nationwide, more than 70 percent of and now the Ministry of Culture is towns have no cinema. It is the most seeking solutions to modernize and important cultural brand of Cluj, with digitize cinemas. In this context, we important effects on the community decided to offer training that was and the economy – a study released by both cultural and with a business the Faculty of Business in Cluj says component. We want to bring foreign that the impact of TIFF on Cluj’s econ- experts and to select enthusiasts across the country, to learn how to efomy is about EUR 7.5 million. ficiently manage a cinema. We also have two projects that bring direct What does TIFF do for filmmakers?

The educational part is very impor- and tangible benefits for filmmakers

Source: TIFF & Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj

∫ OANA VASILIU

– and very special encounters with our guests, music and emotions. A bonus: we are inaugurating new spaces, including Urania Palace, Dacia Manastur and Gilau Castle, where we’re planning special events related to the Hungarian National Day. What would you say to those reading this who can’t come to TIFF? I would say to try, however, to come, even for one day. But if you cannot, then I would invite them to stay connected with us through social media – some of TIFF’s vibrations will be on our Facebook page, where we post daily photos, videos and stories about what is happening in Cluj, and on our website, where there is also the archive with all the 14 previous events, and so many of our memories from TIFF. editorial@business-review.ro

www.business-review.eu Business Review | June 2016

FILM 39

Must-see movies Business Review asked Mihai Chirilov, TIFF artistic director, for his must-see list from what’s going to be playing on the festival’s silver screens. We also share the director’s notes on the movies.

Remainder A sophisticated remix of Memento and Synecdoche, New York, the debut film of the Israeli visual artist Omer Fast is based on an English cult novel and requires multiple viewings in order to piece together a story broken into thousands of mysterious pieces – the story is nothing more than the memory of the protagonist perforated.

Photo: Nicu Cherciu

The Show of Shows

∫ OANA VASILIU 6.9 on the Richter Scale/ 6.9 pe scara Richter Each new film directed by Nae Caranfil is an event. This one is even more so, combining a surprisingly large national obsession – fear of imminent earthquake – with one of the director’s great obsessions: the musical. Caranfil has composed the music to this sophisticated comedy, but the biggest tremors will be caused by the laughter. Although the movie will be released later, the opportunity to see it on the giant screen as a world premiere in Unirii Square is not to be missed.

lantly in the garden of the New Wave.

Probably the best Romanian debut since 12:08 East of Bucharest/ A fost sau n-a fost?.

Interrogation Forget about the Indian movies where it’s all about singing and dancing.

Awarded in Venice, this sociopolitical thriller inspired by the true story of four innocent youngsters mistreated in police custody reaches levels of unbearable violence – but what fuels the viewer's outrage is that the corruption extends to the stratosphere of power that needs scapegoats to cover up crimes.

Mr Gaga Dogs / Caini

Source: TIFF & Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj

Immediately after its premiere in Cannes, Bogdan Mirica brings his latest production to TIFF, where a few years ago he won the award for best short film with Bora Bora. Dogs is a rural police movie and an existential thriller, but also an anti-Western from the Balkans – a Molotov cocktail of genres, original and unpredictable, exploding noncha-

No connection with Lady Gaga. Real name Ohad Naharin, he is the true hero of this fascinating documentary, one of the most renowned choreographers in the world. If you liked Wim Wenders’s Pina, you have every reason to plunge into the universe of this unclassifiable Israeli genius artist, who redefined the language of modern dance.

Everything's possible, and the music of Sigur Ros will no longer seem from another planet when you see this anthology of the circus world for which the Icelandic band composed the soundtrack. What is seen in the archival footage – from the mother who throws knives into her son to a baboon playing the violin – is really from another planet.

Sieranevada The latest film from Cristi Puiu deserves its place in the Cannes Film Festival competition. The filmmaker convenes a family meeting at a requiem in an apartment, brilliantly choreographing a dozen or so characters in a maze of feel-

ings and resentment, and does the impossible: tells his story from the perspective of the deceased. Robert Altman (Shortcuts) would be proud of the result.

Truman This bittersweet comedy from Cesc Gay put the competition’s nose out of joint at the Spanish Oscars this year, taking home the most wanted Goya awards: film, director, screenplay and actors (primary and secondary). For a film about a terminally ill patient who wants to leave his dog in good hands, Truman is unexpectedly tender and bright.

United States of Love His previous film (Floating Skyscrapers) brought young Polish director Tom Wasilewski a directing prize at TIFF, and his latest one, a well-deserved screenplay award at the Berlinale this year. Despite a title suggesting romantic love, it’s a losing bet for the four heroines of this tragic story, brilliantly filmed by Moldavian operator Oleg Mutu. editorial@business-review.ro

www.business-review.eu Business Review | June 2016

40 FOOD

Meals on wheels: how much mileage do local food trucks have?

Photo: Burger Van

Photo: Mihai Constantineanu

Food trucks have been trundling around the capital for a while now, with the international phe-nomenon hungrily embraced by local diners. If your meal generally comes on wheels, then you probably know Sunday Bagels, Burger Van and Furgoneta. Business Review donned its napkin and sampled the fare at these food trucks to find out if the business is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Burger Van

∫ OANA VASILIU Maybe you have seen the Jon Favreau movie Chef, starring the director, Robert Downey Jr. and Scarlett Johansson, or perhaps you’ve read articles about people who’ve given up their old formal jobs to prepare food in a van. Either way, it’s happening.

Some say it’s a hipster street food trend, others say it’s all about the social media buzz, but either way, people want to eat affordable food made from known ingredients – the simpler, the better. And food trucks seem to be a good answer to this basic need.

Basically, the fare on sale in these vans is sandwiches in different forms – burgers, bagels or hot dogs, with sides, usually fries. While local diners are familiar with burgers or hot dogs, bagels are the new kid in town. They are ring-shaped bread, roughly handsized, served cut in two and usually filled with ham, cheese, salmon or a combination thereof. So how does one make a business of it?

Initial recipe In 2014, Alexandru Manole opened the first food truck in the country: The Burger Van. “It was a long process.

Being the first food truck in Romania and the first burger van, I wanted something that would convey this idea – that it's THE burger van. I had to

Furgoneta

come up with the design, the branding, the logo, then buy the actual truck, deal with the legal side of the business etc. In total, it took about five months from idea to reality,” said the founder.

Burger Van now has a fixed, indoor location on 4 George Vranca Street (near Cismigiu Gardens), and two vans, which can be tracked on their official website www.burgervan.ro to see where they pull up. The van is a former mobile shop from the chain Mic.ro and cost around EUR 20,000 with another EUR 5,000-6,000 spent on equipment.

“You know the song Easy (like Sunday morning) that Lionel Richie sings?

It was ringing in our heads when we came up with our philosophy. The brand is called Sunday, because we wanted our location and services to evoke that happy, easy, stress-free feeling you have on a Sunday morning at brunch time. Sunday morning, in our vision, is really the zenith of any weekend. We are not actually open during the weekends, but what we want to do is to offer our customers a little piece of the weekend during their workdays,” says Alex Petrescu, cofounder of Sunday Bagels. The van is located in Pipera, just across from the subway entrance/exit. The initial investment was around EUR 24,000, but since the launch in 2014, the company has invested in various fixer-uppers.

“Initially, we were thinking about inspired by the food trucks we met on opening a more traditional bistro by our journeys throughout Europe, but renting a larger space in an office mostly the USA. It was a little bit diffibuilding. However, the costs of doing cult at first to get everything done as that were very high, and so was the we imagined,” adds Cismigiu. risk, especially considering that we were about to start our very first busi- Taking a bite out of business ness. With this in mind, we decided to Since its launch, Burger Van has exdownsize our business model and panded, and now has two vans and an make it more lean and flexible. Even- indoor location. A typical customer tually we decided to use a trailer, be- usually buys one burger – the prices cause it would allow us to reduce our are from RON 15-24. “We try to buy the fixed costs significantly by paying a ingredients from local producers, but smaller rent, and it would also give us the industry is not that developed in more flexibility, since we could just Romania, so we end up buying mostly move it to another location if things from the big players,” says Manole. did not go well,” adds Petrescu.

A typical Sunday Bagels customer On Buzesti Street, near Victoriei has a bill of RON 15. The founders got Square, hungry passers-by can find a recipe for bagels from a Jewish culiFurgoneta, a recently opened food nary arts school in Brooklyn, New truck which serves burgers, hot dogs York, when they went there to do and fries. “Our story is quite simple: some research before launching the two friends going on a food adventure, business. Every morning, a local baker in a four-wheeled super kitchen. We makes the bagels according to this recjust want to cook and create beautiful ipe. “The other ingredients are from memories for anyone who is up for a various local distributors. We would burger or a hot dog – because our food like to buy as much as possible from is meant to fill up the soul/heart, not local producers, but some ingredients, only the stomach,” says co-founder such as the Italian prosciutto and the Razvan Cismigiu. “Besides, we are a Spanish chorizo, have to come from moving kitchen, we go to events, meet their respective countries in order to new people, make more friends. meet our standards of quality,” says Everything is actually a mix of good Petrescu. food, good atmosphere, good people Furgoneta sources its ingredients and good memories. Regarding our “from a really famous butcher’s shop image and branding concept, we were which brings us the freshest meat

www.business-review.eu Business Review | June 2016

FOOD 41

Food trucks: street food culture goes mobile To properly get its chops around the food truck trend, Business Review asked private chef and trainer at Taste Learners, Viorel Copolovici, to spill the beans and find out if this business is more than just pie in the sky.

Sunday Bagels & Coffee

every single morning, and the buns are from a small bakery that makes custom made buns. They deliver the fresh buns every single morning. The rest of the ingredients are from our local vegetable markets.”

Hungry for a challenge First and foremost, in Romania there is no law covering this type of business, so it’s rather difficult to get everything in order. Still, there are ways to negotiate with officials, who consider food trucks a restaurant.

Petrescu, of Sunday Bagels, reveals that the biggest challenge is finding employees. “This is a nationwide problem, particularly regarding lowlevel jobs. Because many unskilled Romanian work-ers went abroad after we entered the EU, the country is left with a very low supply of unskilled workers that does not match the growing demand. This creates a great hurdle when you wish to ex-pand a small business that relies on unskilled workers who must be very hospitable with clients, and at the same time flexible and involved in the rather chaotic organizational processes of a such a start-up.”

Meanwhile, Manole of Burger Van claims that “there are lots of challenges. The main ones would be providing the same quality all the time, regardless of employees or location, and the other one – strictly for food trucks – is finding private parking or events where you can go with the trucks and sell food, because in Romania a permit for street commerce doesn't yet exist.”

Cismigiu of Furgoneta offers further insight. “If you are really passionate about it and you are ready to commit to it 100 percent, then things get much easier.” Furthermore, he argues that the Romanian laws aren’t made for this kind of business, and adds that the people are a great asset.

“You spend most of your day in a really small place with three other people.

Cooking is not the only essential skill.

What also matters a lot is the personality of the person, the value that he or she can bring to the entire concept and basically to the mood of an entire day.” editorial@business-review.ro

∫ OANA VASILIU How would you explain this food truck trend?

I think it's still a bit early to talk about such a trend in Romania. There is a niche; in Bucharest there are a few businesses like this and I believe their number will grow. Food trucks are a mobile extension of street food culture, a formula used by both flagship culinary products, which already have a fan base, as well as businesses that are just starting out and testing an idea to cover a wider area and consumer base. The advantages are obvious – lower costs, the opportunity to distribute directly to a relevant public, dynamic communication and an interesting alternative for captive customers (those working in business parks that only have access to limited and static food options). Food trucks are attractive because one can stumble upon them anywhere, sparking the impulse to buy and eat and also because they usually offer food prepared on the spot, that is easy to eat on the street.

So it’s just a niche for now?

I think we're only seeing the first step in establishing a niche. We have the example of the food truck that paved the way for a static business (Sunday Bagels) but there are also a few food trucks based on the latest trend of offering natural, customized burgers.

Some of these businesses have given up the idea of mobility, keeping the truck in a fixed place, in a populated area. In my opinion, this is a sign that those operators are relying more on a public that brings them a constant stream of income rather than working at enlarging their consumer base and, consequently, consolidating the brand. In the other category – constantly moving trucks – we have at least one example of a popular brand, really well sought after in town, in places which the operator announces its presence in advance, through social media. These are beginnings, they’re trials. The first case studies are probably being built, which will help consolidate or, on the contrary, dilute businesses in this niche.

What are the challenges in running this sort of business in Romania?

Consumers expect fresh products

from such a business. They expect food cooked on the spot, moderate prices (adapted to regular working people's lunch budgets), a dynamic menu, creativity in execution and a friendly attitude to customers. This doesn't mean that customers don't also expect high quality and hygiene standards. It is my opinion that a good product and an intelligent logistical choice for the truck are the first problems that such a business has to figure out. After that come others, which clients don't want to and have no reason to know about – capacity for stocking fresh ingredients versus capacity for sale (a food truck has limited space for stocking and refrigeration), or access to running water, sewers and electricity. Given the fact that a food truck's sales peak happens around lunchtime (usually around an office building), I'm thinking about the importance of good organization and "miseen-place" – so that the truck is able to deliver many portions in a fast, reliable way, in a short time. If this latter aspect doesn't go well too often, it might be a sign that the people behind the business have little experience of running a food business of this sort.

In terms of fast food, what is the latest trend?

The burger might have two or three more years of glory ahead of it in Romania, so much so that I almost expect it to

turn up in flower shops or car washes.

I expect that next we'll embrace the roast pork sandwich as a substitute for the pulled pork burger. I'd be so happy to see more food markets in Romania – static or mobile – where small, local producers can test their products outside of their own kitchens, thus taking a real market test. Projects of this sort have died of boredom, saturated by the same more or less industrial products marketed as "home-made" and the eternal "sibieni" who sell hams injected with salt water and sausages with nitrites. I'd love to discover some hidden places in Bucharest where we can taste real muffins, contemporary charcuterie, pies, good sandwiches, creative juices made on the spot, savory little bites of all sorts – all really homemade. Fast food is going out of fashion and is no longer keeping pace with contemporary tastes. The parents of fast food are, in the meantime, called "quick service". Street food, on the other hand, seems a broader, much more attractive concept, which is worth exploring beyond the infamous "merdenele", pretzels and shaorma – that is, the current plenipotentiary masters of this niche in Romania at the moment. editorial@business-review.ro

www.business-review.eu Business Review | June 2016

42 ART

BB7 bounces onto billboards

Photo: Manu Nedila

With the curatorial concept “What are we building down there?”, this year’s Bucharest Biennale (BB7) highlights the themes of privatization, commercialization and corporatization of the post-socialist city, displacing the biennale onto 21 advertising billboards. Business Review talked to the two co-directors of the event, Gergo Horvath and Flavia Lupu, to find out about the planned artistic footnotes to the existing city infrastructure.

a large framework, and after that, you have to figure out the details. What I think is even harder here in Bucharest “What are we building down there?” is that everything is always moving What does that suggest we should ex- non-stop, and one of the main concerns is that constant movement may pect from BB7?

Gergo Horvath (GH): In keeping with become a Brownian motion and you our tradition, Bucharest Biennale 7 will are never really sure of anything, be distinct from what we’ve done be- which means that you have to check, fore. The curator, Niels Van Tomme, double check, and then recheck everycame up with a novel idea of displacing thing. Something that is outside the orthe entire biennial onto 20 billboards ganization’s plan and schedule can around the capital. This will create an always crop up – the head of an instituentirely new way to navigate the bien- tion is changed and you don't have nial and the city. Because the bill- people to work with because everyone boards are all over Bucharest, from is leaving, or you need a signature and Pipera to Piata Muncii and Colentina, no one can sign, or the financial supnot only the visitors interested in the port is delayed. So, you have to find the biennial, but everyone around best solution in the shortest time posBucharest will be able to learn about sible. the city and the works of art that tackle issues ranging from privatization to Given the number of biennales internaurban planning and our relationship tionally, what is it about the Bucharest with the places that we live in. Staging Biennale that sets it apart? an exhibition entirely in a public space GH: The Bucharest Biennale is differwill bring art and the ideas behind the ent in the sense that there is a bit more works closer to anyone and everyone openness to risk. Instead of going with living in or visiting the city, potentially the well-tested formats of large bienniattracting a lot of newcomers to the art als, we try something different each world who might not usually visit mu- time, for example having billboards inseums, galleries or art centers, allowing stead of exhibition spaces this time, or us to present the biennial to a much working with very young curators, like Felix Vogel for Bucharest Biennale 4. wider audience.

This is perhaps a bit less of a safe apWhat are the main challenges of the proach, instead of going with something that has worked before, so you Bucharest Biennale?

Flavia Lupu (FL): There are many chal- know it will work the next time as well. lenges with any biennale. A lot of effort I think this is also one of the things that goes into putting all the pieces in the have helped the biennial grow, on top right places in the puzzle. First, you of attracting people from all over Rohave to realize you are working within mania; there is also a lot of interna-

∫ OANA VASILIU

tional interest in the biennial.

How has Bucharest benefited culturally from the biennale?

FL: Bucharest is a strange city. One of the best results that I think we have had until now is to work with the mentality of the Romanian cultural world, which, in time, by having an international biennale, has put Bucharest on the contemporary cultural map. Because of the biennale, people from the local cultural scene have understood what cultural management means, how you can use communication strategies and a marketing approach in the cultural field, and that you have to really give something back to the community to get attention from your contributors. That is, let’s say, the narrow field of the art world.

In a broader field, the biennale is about the city, it creates awareness about the inner life of that city, the problems that the place is facing, or the problems that could appear in time.

Many critical eyes can glance upon that part of the world, and this is because people are coming to see art, or to make art. And last, but not least, is the economic aspect: culture can have an impact on increasing the economic growth of a city (in different ways; I am not thinking only about cultural tourism), but, like everyone here, we are still working hard on that.

How do you choose the curator of the event? Why Niels Van Tomme?

GH: The Bucharest Biennale has an advisory board composed of local and in-

ternational curators, artists and directors whom we consult and draw up a shortlist for the position. After all the discussions and brainstorming, the founders, Razvan Ion and Eugen Radescu, make the final decision and choose from the list. Also, the curator of the current event meets the next curator or curators in some cases during the opening days of the biennale to talk about how the process of curating the exhibition went and what happened.

The biennale will take place at the same time as the elections. How does the art displayed on the billboards go with the political messages?

FL: Well, if you put it simply, to use the billboards will be more expensive because we have taken some of them out of the market. What I can say is that because of the new law regarding the election, politicians cannot use billboards anymore. Also, it depends on how you regulate political campaigns: now you can only use banners, but, as I said earlier, things here always change. The political parties, with their NGOs, are transforming their political campaigns into so-called social campaigns. By using this strategy, you can see the politician, but you cannot see his or her party, and so billboards can be used.

Therefore, our message will be more visible with the assumed political message, sometimes as large as the politician’s social campaign. We will have to see if we come into conflict with that message or not. editorial@business-review.ro

www.business-review.eu Business Review | June 2016

CULTURE 43

Jazzing up the west If Take 6, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jacob Collier, Dhafer Youssef, BadBadNotGood and Imany ring a bell, then you probably know a thing or two about jazz. These artists, among others, will go on stage in Timisoara, western Romania, for the exciting fourth run of JazzTM.

From July 1-3, 21 artists and bands will appear on three stages, in Timisoara’s Victoriei Square, Civic Park and Justice Park. “JazzTM’s concept is a pretty simple one: the line-up must be appealing both to people that know and appreciate jazz and to people that don’t listen to this kind of music every day. The educational part is important for the organizers, especially because it’s an event with free access. Music is for everyone. Also, it’s an important stage for Romanian jazz bands and the festival’s audience can enjoy some of the country’s great talents, together with exceptional artists from all over the world. Romania is creative in jazz music too and this is a statement that JazzTM is making, by inviting young talented musicians to perform,” says Norbert Tako, the festival’s artistic director, of what makes JazzTM stand out.

This year, the event is moving to an-

Photo: JazzTM

∫ OANA VASILIU

Take 6 sings contemporary R&B style, integrating jazz influences with spiritual or inspirational lyrics other two locations, namely the Civic Park and Justice Park. “Jazz is about being relaxed and enjoying the moment, so the decision to widen the area of stages is based on the idea of offering a good place to relax and enjoy the sounds of jazz,” says Tako. “On a more

specific note, Jacob Collier – the boy wonder discovered by Quincy Jones – is an artist that nobody should miss. His ability to play multiple instruments and his beautiful voice are just two of the reasons for his show to be an outstanding one. Also, Take 6, the vocal jazz (a

capella) group, will be the most awarded group/artist that have ever performed on JazzTM’s stage.”

Romanian jazz singers will also have their place on the stage. Asked by BR if the organizers have noticed any changes to the local jazz scene since the beginning of the festival, Tako replies, “We sure have. Jazz musicians from Timisoara – who performed in earlier editions – are now among the newer bands across the country. Backstage at the festival artists got to know each other and we have noticed some great collaborations between them. This year, with no fewer than 13 Romanian jazz bands, the local scene will grow even more.” Romanian artists that will be performing include Petra Acker, A-C Leonte x Tavi Scurtu, Van Jam, Jazzybirds, Luiza Zan, The Twisters, Theatre Fleas Orchestra, Spanache x Pop, Brum and Paperjam. editorial@business-review.ro

Shows bring business lessons ∫ OANA VASILIU Business Review asked the organizers for a selection of performances from which spectators could gain insight into business, leadership and etiquette.

Wrapped, from Inbal Pinto & Avshalom Pollak Dance Company, acclaimed as one of the best in the world for perfection choreography, presents apparently chaotic movements by its dancers, but they are in perfect completion, and the result is always memorable. The condition for this perfection is teamwork – exercise and daily training, but especially trust in your team: a team based on trust will always have remarkable results.

ACM Gospel Choir was started as an extracurricular activity by two members of the Academy of Contemporary Music (UK) in 2005. The choir won public support in a national talent competition, and was later invited to play in front of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, form part of the artistic program for the Olympic Games in London, record with famous names such

Photo: Sibiu International Theater Festival

Sibiu is preparing to lift the curtain on the 23rd Sibiu International Theater Festival with over 450 cultural events scheduled for the ten days of the festival.

Inbal Pinto and Avshalom Pollak presents “Wrapped”, an urban legend

as Robbie Williams and Gabriella Cilmi and go on international tours. Their story shows how passion, coupled with a proper business strategy, can help one succeed internationally.

Common People (Romania, TNRS), directed by Gianina Carbunariu, talks about whistleblowers, ethics, honor and the will to tell the truth despite the risks, for a greater good. With the recently publicized problems in the Romanian health system, the show seems more relevant than ever. In

business, the risks of hiding the truth and hoping that it will not be found out and a lack of planning for crisis communication can become fatal.

Air Condition (Brenda Angiel Aerial Dance Company, Argentina) is a lesson about what it means to combine the traditional – in this case, the famous tango – with imagination and marketing. Angiel’s company dances tango, but high in the air, supported by elastic cords. The result: international acclaim, glowing articles in publications

like the New York Times and a new art: aerial dance.

A Hunger Artist (Meno Fortas Theater, Lithuania), directed by Eimuntas Nekrosius, is based on a Kafka story, in which the protagonist, an artist, starves for days in front of a public who pays to see him in this condition.

Praised, adored and applauded, the artist is quickly abandoned for a new amusement, as frivolous and fleeting.

In business, it's important to give the public what they want, but a lack of consistency, either from the product or communication, will usually be a recipe for bankruptcy.

It’s worth taking a few days away from work and meetings to enjoy a true celebration of theater and encounter the unexpected on the cobbled streets of Sibiu, where the whole citadel is a stage and we can be either spectators or protagonists.

The 23rd edition of the festival takes place between June 10 to June 19 in Sibiu. editorial@business-review.ro

www.business-review.eu Business Review | June 2016

44 CITY FILM REVIEW

Criminal

DEBBIE STOWE Director: Ariel Vromen Starring: Kevin Costner, Gary Oldman, Tommy Lee Jones, Alice Eve, Jordi Molla On at: Movieplex Cinema, Grand Cinema & More, Hollywood Multiplex, Cinema City Cotroceni, Cinema City Sun Plaza, Cinema City Mega Mall Imagine if science could implant a dead person’s knowledge in the brain of someone living. This is the premise of Criminal, a pacy action thriller with a dose of sci-fi and a touching core.

CIA agent Bill Pope (Ryan Reynolds) has vital information that could prevent a megalomaniac (Jordi Molla) starting a global nuclear war – or rather he did, before the aforesaid megalomaniac’s henchmen killed him. Desperate to retrieve the lost intel, Pope’s CIA handler Quaker Wells (Gary Oldman) turns to maverick neurologist Dr Franks (Tommy Lee Jones), who has spent years trying to transplant the memories of the deceased into the living, with limited success.

Still, worth a try, thinks the CIA, and soon Franks (like Frankenstein – geddit?) is rolling out his dubious science

on death-row sociopath Jericho Stewart (Kevin Costner), whose underdeveloped frontal lobe – the result of being chucked out of a moving car as a child – makes his brain ideal for the experimental procedure.

The titular criminal’s motto is “you hurt me, I’ll hurt you worse”, and his morals are as bad as his grammar. Unsurprisingly he isn’t keen to cooperate with the CIA’s plan, preferring to use his newfound skills to his own ends on the streets of London, where the film is set.

Meanwhile, the megalomaniac continues to pursue his nuclear ambitions, with the CIA hot on his heels.

Although some movies have used similar conceits – Face/Off also put a hardened con in a body-swap scenario – the story is fresh and fun. It’s also fairly ludicrous, but then a film whose main characters are called Jericho Stewart and Quaker Wells presumably doesn’t have much pretense of seriousness.

Proceedings do get a little confusing: it’s easy to forget exactly who or what the CIA is trying to find and why.

But this is merely the MacGuffin (the term used by Hitchcock and others for

the motivating plot device whose details matter little), so being hazy about it won’t spoil your enjoyment.

And there’s plenty of that, despite the silliness. Criminal is effective as an action thriller, with deft and tense scenes and set pieces. The London location works well, and there’s a touch of the Bourne films in the spooks-on-theloose-in-Europe theme, even if the movie overall lacks their gravitas.

There’s an impressive array of acting talent, with heavyweights Costner, Jones and Oldman, and Molla is entertainingly over the top as the villain.

The characters can be cartoonish at times, and there’s some Die Hard-style humor, usually involving the bad guys.

But director Ariel Vromen manages to balance this with an emotional (occasionally sentimental) subplot involving Pope’s family, which gives Costner a more complex role to get his teeth into, as Stewart evolves under the effect of his changed brain.

A cynic would say that his personal development is as preposterous as the plot, but once disbelief is suspended, this Criminal is certainly redeemable. debbie.stowe@business-review.ro

www.business-review.eu Business Review | June 2016

RESTAURANT REVIEW 45

All ego, no talent Cezanne by Cezar Munteanu 3, Pta Charles de Gaulle

In the 12 years I have been writing for this newspaper, I have never mentioned a chef by name, neither to praise nor criticize him – never. As a food critic I have extended the same compliment to both great chefs and complete idiots, as I only named the House, but never the chef.

But not now! This so-called ‘chef’ has put his name to his House as a self-created ‘celebrity chef’ and as a result he is now exposed to ridicule.

His social media self-posts would have you believe he is a restaurant star, but no – a simple search exposes him as having zero provenance as a chef with the exception of working in a failed, communist-style hotel cooking Romanian saramale, mici etc, rather than the French delicacies he boasts on his menu.

But his menu is sensational, the best in town! Maybe the House downloaded it from the net from real European restaurants because I cannot believe this chef has the knowledge and experience to design it – because he cannot cook it.

Nor can he train his staff, for after we sat down with our initial juice,

water and beer, our waiter took 20 evision and on the net. He is dreamminutes to reappear, resplendent ing if he thinks he is in their class.

My lamb sounded sexy on his with our expensive bottle of Chablis which was rendered worthless by menu, but beyond belief, it was utterly devoid of any flavor whatsoever. being warm rather than chilled.

So off I started with a ‘duck soup I am a chef, and I defy any real chef to with black truffle gnocchi’ (potato destroy the fabulous flavor of lamb. dumplings). Bullshit! It sounded sexy, Hey House, how the hell did you debut it was nothing more than dishwa- stroy it?

So away to a ‘duck leg confit with ter impersonating a consommé, containing the residue of the unwanted caramelized Armagnac sauce and duck from another House dish with- pommes duchesse’ (mashed potatoes). out any truffle whatsoever.

Restaurants love putting a confit Blondie got lucky with a ‘sea bass in fennel sauce’ which was good. It is on the menu, because all the kitchen a simple combo blasted all over the does is sloooow cook the duck leg in net as the dish of the age. And that is a swimming pool of its own fat and where the House probably got its in- chill it. Thereafter it will happily live spiration from, rather than being tal- in a fridge for three months before ented enough to create an original you re-heat it. That is until two fools dish. But after that, our meal spiraled like Blondie and I order it at Cezanne, because the main attraction of the into a disaster.

I started with a ‘rack of lamb with ‘caramelized Armagnac sauce’ was a walnut crust and veal demi glaze on non-existent.

It was now clearly apparent that an eggplant cake.’ What a load of rubbish. There were far too many items our strutting egotistical chef was in the description for the House to nothing more than a domestic cook count, so zero walnut crust. This ‘chef’ with no training in the sophisticated has designed his pretentious menu career he has embraced. And if you from watching real Euro chefs on tel- want proof, all the sins of a home

cook were there: zero seasoning in any of his dishes, and no evidence of any understanding of sauces and wine-based additives.

But I was still hungry, and although all my senses screamed at me to quit and leave, I stupidly subjected myself to more gastronomic punishment by ordering a dessert of a classic ‘Pavlova’, recognized the whole world over as a thick layered meringue gateau of cream and fruit. But no, not here. It was a flat slice of fruit and custard!

Dear God, I was still hungry having left the food I was served. So, surely they cannot screw up a simple cheese plate. Oh yes they could!

Their triple combo was an unamusing joke, with a miniature golf ball of rock hard gorgonzola in a round musket ball of frozen cheese, together with a tiny slither of brie, which the House had warmed in the microwave. Utterly inexplicably, the last culprit was a mushy cream of PURPLE colored paste which they claimed was Roquefort.

Enough, I cannot take any more of this pretentious rubbish. The only good thing about this House of gastronomic delusion is that they have a wonderful sous chef, who plates up all the House disasters into something resembling a work of art.

Michael Barclay Mab.media@dnt.ro

www.business-review.eu Business Review | June 2016

46 CITY

Cultural calendar a Romanian stage for the first time.

They first played together in 2009, since when Queen + Adam Lambert has become one of the most acclaimed collaborations on the international live music scene. Tickets are on sale in the Eventim network, with prices from RON 141 to RON 597.

∫ OANA VASILIU Maroon 5 June 5, Constitutiei Square Maroon 5 will perform for the first time in Romania, on their V Tour. The US pop rock band’s latest album, called V, debuted at number one on the Billboard Top 200. In June, their local fans will have the chance to listen live to some of the band’s most well-known hits, such as This Love, She Will Be Loved, and Wake Up Call.

Tickets for the Bucharest concert are available through the Eventim network, priced from RON 194 to RON 572.

Music lovers will flock to Cluj’s Central Park for a celebration of all things jazz. The organizers have yet to announce the lineup, but previous years have seen top jazz singers perform in the western city.

Andre Rieu June 11-12, Constitutiei Square

Airfield Festival June 30-July 3, Cisnadie (Sibiu county)

Dutch violinist Andre Rieu, the King of Waltz, returns to Romania for a new concert, after last’s year remarkable run: he performed no fewer than seven concerts in Bucharest last summer, attracting over 85,000 spectators.

Tickets, costing between RON 172 and RON 864, were on sale from the Eventim network, but the event is now sold out.

The eclectic menu runs from jazz to funk, via ska, techno, indie rock and hip-hop. Six different stages will host performances by Jamie Woon, Robag Wruhme, BlabberMouf, Portable, Gorje Hewek & Izhesvki, Subcarpați, Golan, CTC, Lucia, Byron and many others.

Jazz in the Park June 27-July 3, Cluj Napoca

Blaj aLive June 17-19, Blaj (Alba county)

music event.

Acts such as Kadebostany, Dub Inc., Queen + Adam Lambert Kiril Dzajkovski, BUG Mafia, Grasu June 21, Constitutiei Square XXL, Carla’s Dreams, ROA, CTC, The active members of British band Golan, When ‘Airy Met Fairy and Say Queen (in picture) will be joined by Yes Dog will grace this electronic American vocalist Adam Lambert on

editorial@business-review.ro