Irrespective of the terms on which builders are selected by investors, the construction of most important buildings in Bucharest has in recent years been handled by Turkish companies, reads an article in this week''s issue of BUSINESS Magazin.
Despite there being more than 1,000 local construction companies in Romania, an ever smaller number of these is managing to "catch" jobs worth more than 10 million euros. Why? The reason is, say Romanian builders, because the larger projects require certain guarantees from the builder, who pledges to complete the works through a letter of guarantee from a bank to the tune of millions of euros. "A lot of Romanian firms don''t have the financial power to issue these guarantees," said Cristian Tudor, financial manager with Comnord, one of the larger Romanian construction firms.
Foreign builders are also aware of the fact that Romanian firms lack financial power.
They also know that the Romanian market is expanding rapidly, with there being many projects waiting for builders. This, as well as the fact that in other countries like Turkey or Western Europe most of the important building has been done, is causing foreign builders to turn to other markets.
As a result, the largest building to be erected in Romania after 1990, the Plaza Romania commercial complex, which opened last autumn in Bucharest''s Militari district, was handled by Summa Romania, a representative of Turkish construction company Summa International.
"When we researched the Romanian market, we found that it presented many opportunities, that it was practically a builder''s heaven," said Salih Saginda, general manager of Summa Romania.
Another Turkish company that is very active on the market is Ozer Construction Romania SRL, which was set up in 1997 as a branch of the Ozer Construction, Contracting and Trading Co. group.
The name Ozer is linked to the construction of the Bucuresti Mall commercial complex, the first of its kind in Romania. The complex has a built area of 60,000 square metres, was completed in 11 months and was Romania''s biggest such complex at the time of its opening in 1999.
"The problem is that these works are subcontracted to Romanian builders at half the price and the profits leave the country," complained Liviu Daschievici, who until last year was in charge of the Romanian Association of Construction Contractors.
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