"For the first time in my career as a banker, January is as good as December was, which is usually a record month," says Marinel Burduja, first vice-president of Raiffeisen Bank, who is in charge of the corporate division.
What are the reasons for this? The good weather allowed continued financing to real estate projects, which have come to account for more than 12% of Raiffeisen's portfolio, the third biggest bank on the market.
"It was possible for work on projects to be done at full capacity throughout January. We have more than 50 projects in various stages of development, worth over half a billion euros. The next 10 to 15 years will clearly be the years of investments in infrastructure."
Burduja, 53, says that although still unfriendly, the business environment has reached a consolidation stage that allows banks to conduct their corporate operations without significant seasonal influences.
Companies are constantly contracting bigger and bigger loans, so that transactions of over 30-40 million euros are no longer regarded as something out of the ordinary, Burduja says. He adds that the bank is discussing more and more often about syndicated loans with its clients, as well as about corporate bond issues and mergers and acquisitions.
"2007 will be the year of more complex products and services for corporate customers. I am positive we will see such transactions in the first half of the year," Marinel Burduja told ZIARUL FINANCIAR.
The bank has also received more than 60 projects and project ideas since January 1 that are eligible for EU funding, mainly from Cluj and Arges. "They are predominantly ideas from public authorities or ideas that target the food or consumer goods industry."
At the same time, domestic banks will experience a difficult time, as they will feel the full pressure of the foreign competition that can grant funding from the EU directly at costs that are visibly lower than can be offered domestically.
"They can offer prices 30-40% lower than ours. This is a major problem because many banks from abroad are already deriving turnover in Romania through individual projects, thanks to the clear competitive edge they have in terms of pricing," Burduja says.
On the other hand, the head of the corporate division of Raiffeisen says that there is "no chance" of a decline in the amount of interest on loans this year in the absence of a decision from the NBR on the relaxation of the minimal mandatory reserves.
"The restrictive framework imposed by the NBR has repercussions on the market in that it makes the red tape involved in lending excessive and the loans themselves more expensive, as they unavoidably reflect the costs incurred with reserves."
What are the solutions to offset the foreign competition?
"We have the capability to cut interests, too, for certain industries and for certain customers, but not for all of them. We are trying to develop extensive and permanent relationships with customers, and also service packages in order to redistribute costs and solutions adjusted to individual profiles," Burduja says.
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