Max Boegl's business halves following project delays

German construction company Max Boegl, which is building the Lia Manoliu stadium in Bucharest, posted total turnover worth around 50 million euros last year, less than half the turnover recorded in 2007, when its business amounted to 395 million RON (118.3 million euros). Max Boegl's business was affected by the reduction in the number of new infrastructure projects, as well as by late payments from local administrations. The overall volume of ongoing contracts in 2008 amounted to 520 million euros, projects that will be conducted over the next two or three years, according to data presented by Max Boegl. "2008 was a much weaker year for us than the previous one, with our overall turnover in Romania cut in half compared with 2007. The main factors behind this are the postponement of projects we were counting on, the fact that ongoing projects advanced too slowly and payments were very late," Romeo Botocan, chief executive of Max Boegl in Romania, told ZF. However, the company is not considering personnel or salary cuts. In fact, it will continue investments, after last year it invested 2 million euros in building a campus for workers and repair facilities for the company's 100-150 pieces of equipment and trucks.