Max Boegl expects Lia Manoliu stadium and Sibiu orbital road to be its growth drivers

4 feb 2010 Autor: Catalin Lupoaie

German builder Max Boegl, one of the main companies carrying out infrastructure works on the Romanian market, posted 74 million-euro turnover last year, an increase of 50% on 2008, because of the revenues from the project to build the new Lia Manoliu stadium in Bucharest, as well as from the infrastructure works conducted in 2009.

"This year we are also working on the orbital road of Sibiu city, on the Medgidia Constanta highway section and on the Lia Manoliu stadium, which should go well. Yet I no longer want to make any optimistic forecasts considering that last year we had trouble getting our money from the National Highway and National Road Company," says Romeo Botocan, chief executive of Max Boegl Romania.

The builder was faced with delays in the payment of the infrastructure works it had in 2009, especially of those financed by loans from the European Investment Bank (EIB).

"The infrastructure projects built with EIB funds were quite slow to progress because loans would have led to a higher budget deficit. There was also talk of paying for some of the EIB financed projects with money from the state budget. Last year we funded some of these projects ourselves," Botocan explains. Max Boegl contributed 8 million euros to the completion of rehabilitation works of a section of the DN 17 (Cluj-Bistrita) financed through the EIB IV loan, 5 million euros of which coming from banks and 3 million euros from the company's working capital.

Max Boegl's business picked up towards the end of the year, when it got money for the construction of the Lia Manoliu stadium on 31st of December 2009. The new Lia Manoliu stadium to host the Europa League final of 2012 will be an about 143 million euro investment, excluding VAT, which also includes building a retractable roof that will cover the entire field.

"Last year, the Max Boegl-Astaldi consortium that is building the stadium got 111 million RON for the works on the stadium, with payments made even on 31st of December. We have already ordered the cables that will hold the roof and believe this project will go well this year, too, because it has financing and a clear goal," Max Boegl's manager says. The stadium is scheduled for completion at the end of 2010-the beginning of 2011.