Greek Investments Awards 2006
Bold and beautiful
Over 120 leading figures in business and politics attended the first ever Greek Investment Awards Gala last month, celebrating the dynamic partnership of Greek investors in Romania
President Traian Basescu has already
admired Greek business people for their “boldness” in coming to Romania when
few other investors were taking the
gamble.
And celebrating the commitment that
the Greeks have shown to Romanian
economy and social development, at
the first Greek Investment Awards
Gala, were guests such as Minister of
Economy and Commerce Ioan Codrut
Seres, Secretary of State in the Ministry
of Public Finance Jakab Istvan and president
of the Romanian Agency for Foreign
Investments Ana Maria Cristina, who
paid tribute to the strong will of Greek
business in the positive appreciation of
the local economy in the past 16 years.
“From a year’s experience that I have
had in this country, I have a good justification
why this happens,” Ambassador
of Greece to Romania Thanos Dendoulis
told over 100 top executives of Greek
companies active in Romania.
“Except our boldness in general,
as a people,
we have one
specific advantage:
we are
fearless. We
make a social
contribution
to the community
where
we establish
and we are
not merely
profit-oriented. This is why there is an
increasing wave of Greek businessmen
wishing to establish here and invest in
Romania.”
Presenting the award for ‘Commitment
to the Romanian economy’, Minister
Ioan Codrut Seres added: “I have to
confess that I am a little bit sad that this
investment is not in the
energy field. The good
news is that [Greeks]
still have time to be
present with investments
in this sector.”
Sofronis Strinopoulos,
general manager of
Piraeus Bank, reminded
that, “the first time
Greek investments were
flowing out of our country
was thousands of years ago, when in
ancient Greece we were expanding the
limited boundaries of our country. Now, the countries in this region are going
through experiences which are not far
from what Greece went through ten, 20
and 30 years ago. The Greeks have the
privilege of having lived through what
is about to come in the future of these
countries.”
In the banking sector, Strinopoulos
pointed out the strong local representation
of six banks. In total, the Greek
banking community has exceeded four
billion Euro in total assets, around 13
per cent of the market. “All six banks, with the rest of the activities,
in investment banking, leasing,
brokerage services and insurance are all
successful and growing every day,” he
added.
Held at the JW Marriott Bucharest
Grand Hotel by The Diplomat -
Bucharest, the event was co-organised
by the Embassy of Greece in Romania,
with partners including Piraeus Bank,
Bancpost, Alpha Bank, Alexandrion
Group, Cosmote and Tomini Trading
and supporting partners Neoset and
PayNet.
Best Success Story - Romtelecom
For successful privatisation of a state company and its development
One company that has made a
significant impact on the Romanian
business environment is landline operator
Romtelecom, which is majority-owned
by Greek company OTE. This firm has
managed to turn around a state owned
company and now, after years of losses,
registers a healthy profit. Romtelecom’s
turnover for 2005 approached one billion
Euro with the profit at 237 million Euro.
“Romtelecom is changing and we
receive a good feedback from people,”
said general manager marketing Paul
Renaud. “It is a success story as seen
by the amount of people that want to
sign up. Romtelecom is the organisation
of the future, our success in financial
results speaks for itself, in the very
vibrant telecom industry.”
Now the company aims to implement
changes to compete with new players
on the landline market and provide
new applications such as rapid Internet
access and video services.
The firm will also go public with a
listing on the stock exchange this year
as the Government sells its remaining
46 per cent stake.
Romtelecom general manager James
Hubley added that Romtelecom will
this year invest to modernise its access
network, including installing fibre optic
rings in all cities and installing optical
network units in the streets. Investments
for 2006 alone will cost the company
more than 100 million Euro.
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Commitment to Romania’s economy - Bancpost
For combining continuous innovation in the banking sector with social commitment to Romania
Committing to Romania for the long
term and keeping an eye on bringing
social benefits to a country, while
running a competitive business at the
same time, is a tricky balancing act. In
the midst of a restructuring process,
Bancpost, now owned by one of the
biggest financial groups in Greece,
EFG Eurobank, has assets that grew
last year by almost 50 per cent and it is
now launching new services, including
two mutual funds, an insurance arm and
involvement in the privatisation of state
savings bank CEC.
Presenting the award, Minister of
Economy and Commerce Ioan Codrut
Seres said that Romania feels “lucky”
to have so many investments from the
Greek community in the banking sector,
because this means they can bring better
services.
General manager Giorgios Michelis
said: “At Bancpost we try to organise
the bank to meet the increasing
needs of today. We have proceeded to
sizeable financial investments in IT,
branch development, HR and training.
Bancpost is a Romanian bank, operating
in Romania.
We feel we are on the right track and
we’ll try to deliver what’s expected from
us.” Bancpost posted a growth of total
assets by 46 per cent last year, as well
as growing its activity in lending and
attracting resources, investing a total of
22 million Euro.
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Most impressive expansion - Loulis
For consistent development in Romania
Some of the biggest Greek companies
seized the opportunities offered by an
open market and established operations
that have expanded rapidly to become
leaders in their area of business.
Loulis Group, the winner of the ‘Most
impressive expansion’ award, has a
couple of hundreds of years’ history in
Greece, and is a leader in flour, bread
and bakery products. After launching
in Romania in 1999, Loulis saw a rapid
growth, incorporating two Romanian
companies and building a brand new
industrial complex in 2003. The total
investment in Romania reached 80
million Euro with almost 1,000 people
and 30 retailers. Ana Maria Cristina,
president of the Romanian Agency for
Foreign Investments (ARIS) paid tribute
to the success of Greek companies
in Romania, calling them the best
ambassadors for investing in Romania.
“A few years ago, I saw in Braila that
many buildings still have Greek names,
which means that the Greek tradition,
especially in the agricultural field, is
very old in Romania. I’m happy that this
company, the winner of this award, is
keeping this tradition alive.”
Accepting the award was president of
Loulis Romania, Nikolaos Voudouris.
“When a small enterprise based in a
small city in Greece concludes a 240
million Euro investment in five years,
it is really an achievement,” he said.
“However, it’s been much more difficult
to maintain, grow and expand on a daily
basis and this is what we are focusing
on today.”
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Best regional development - Dorna Group
For successful development and support of a region in Romania
Developing consistent growth across
a country in declining industrial areas
and in deprived rural zones is the sine
qua non of the European Union. Private
investment and long-term dedication to
a region can be a vital partner in this
process.
Presenting the award, State Secretary
in the Ministry of Finance Jakab Istvan
said: “The development of different
regions in Romania is very important
and it can help us have a balanced
development of the entire country.
The Romanian food and agriculture
sector has very much potential for the
future.” La Dorna Group has managed
to transform a Romanian region into
a brand name associated with healthy
and quality products now found on
the shelves of stores in Greece and
Germany. From mineral water to milk,
dairy products and now to wine, the
regional development of the Dorna area
has witnessed a massive restructuring
for the better.
La Dorna Group president and
CEO Jean Valvis said: “This award
consolidates our efforts to sell Romanian
values abroad. This gives us hope that
we can prove here what we are already
doing in Greece - selling quality organic
products, with added value, on markets
that can’t produce such products. I can
only express our joy, that in Greece, we
are the number one operator in organic
products and that Greeks prefer to pay for
organic milk produced in Romania. We
want to expand this tradition throughout
Europe.”
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Corporate Social Responsibility Award - Alexandrion Group Romania
For constant support and involvement in social projects through Fundatia Umanitara Alexandrion
As a company’s success increases it
is only fair that a measure of its profits
should go back to the community and
help ease the suffering of those less
fortunate.
Brandy producer and mixed interest
firm Alexandrion Group has offered
over 700,000 Euro to social support
programs last year alone. Economic and
commercial counsellor at the Embassy of
Greece, Lambis Kounalakis, paid tribute.
“In 1994 a group of Greek and Romanian
businessmen decided to set up a plant for
producing alcoholic beverages,” he said.
“Since then this company became a
leader in the brandy market in Romania
and has one of the highest local brand
awareness levels. At the same time,
this company has increased the cultural
relationship and friendship between
Greece and Romania.”
The firm established a humanitarian
foundation ten years ago to support social
development. Projects it has developed
or participated in include those for the
Romanian Olympic Committee, the
Ministry of Interior and the Government
of Romania.
Marketing director Konstantinos
Agaliotis said: “This award means a lot to us who have dedicated a lot last year
to promote our social activities and this
really encourages us and gives us more
power to do much more in the year to
come.”
Beneficiaries of the foundation
include projects for child development
and children with exceptional talents. It
financed educational programs in child
care centres and offered scholarships
nationwide. The foundation also took
part in rebuilding churches and helped
modernise hospitals in Bucharest and
Cluj-Napoca.
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Community Award - Catherine Sofianou, President - SofMedica
For personal involvement and support of social projects
Besides helping to run a company
with almost 200 employees, the
winner, Catherine Sofianou, president
of SofMedica, has contributed to the
Friends of the National Museum of Art,
the International Women’s Association,
the Greek Ladies Association, Friends
of the Minovici Museums and the
Renasterea Foundation.
Of Greek nationality, born in Cairo
but now living in Bucharest, Sofianou
was recently recognised as one of the
2006 nominees of the Leading Women
Entrepreneurs of the World.
“Her social contribution has been
remarkable so far and has been recognised
not only by Romanian society, but also at
an international level,” said Ambassador
Thanos Dendoulis.
Accepting the award, Sofianou chose
to point out those who had assisted her.
“I have to share the honour of this award
with other Greek companies as well, that
have helped me a lot, including Bancpost,
Alpha Bank, Piraeus Bank, Alumil and
Tomini Trading.” Sofianou was born in
Cairo, Egypt and moved back to Greece
in 1963, married and started her 40-
year career, with her husband Pandelis,
in establishing a trading company
importing luxury cars and designer
furniture from Germany and Denmark
to Greece and North Africa.
In the early 1990s, she saw the
opportunity in the healthcare field in
central and eastern Europe and launched
a company in Bucharest specialising in
the import and distribution of high-end
medical devices and biogenetic products
from the United States, which contribute
to Artificial Heart and Robotic Surgery.
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