Brodetski, Lindab CEO: We don't expect local economy to rebound in 2010

David Brodetski, CEO of the Swedish group Lindab, which operates in the steel industry and posted about one billion euros in business in 2008, says that he has no intention of leaving the major markets the group is present on, such as Romania, which generates 5-10% of its revenues.

Brodetski, who took over as CEO of Lindab in the second half of last year at the onset of the financial crisis, says the Romanian economy will have a harder time recovering, both because of the financial difficulties in Central and Eastern Europe and because of the domestic problems of the country that drove it to take the loan from the International Monetary Fund.

The business of the Lindab group fell by about 55% in Central and Eastern Europe, with the most affected countries being Ukraine, Russia and Romania.

"The countries in Central and Eastern Europe were more affected than those in the West because banks had been too lenient in granting financing and now are too cautious and have frozen lending. High interests and depreciation of local currencies have led to a significant decline of the economies in the region," Brodetski explains.

Lindab posted 63 million-euro turnover last year, down 6% from 2007 and estimates the trend to maintain this year.

"Besides the problems CEE is experiencing, Romania also has internal problems that led it to take a loan from the IMF. I believe Romania will take longer to recover than Poland and 2010 will be a difficult year for the local economy. Still, Romania will remain a good market for us and we will keep our production facilities here," said Brodetski, who feels a long period of time will be needed to reach the 2008 level.

"The most important thing now is not to lose important resources. Even though the Romanian market has witnessed a significant decline, we will continue to keep our position so as to have an edge when the growth pace is resumed."

Lindab's executive believes that the current situation is good for the expansion of the Swedish group and says there are about 30 companies in Europe that he is looking at in view of an acquisition.