Rapotan, Arabesque: Construction market cannot recover without state investments

The biggest distributor of construction materials in Romania, Arabesque in Galati, controlled by businessman Cezar Rapotan, recorded a similar turnover in the first half of this year to that recorded in the first half of last year, despite an around 20% contraction of the construction market in the same period. The company did not specify the value of its sales.

Rapotan believes the rebound of construction materials consumption depends on an adequate Government economic policy, based on minimal budget expenditures and on allocating significant amount to investments, a stable exchange rate, and on creating attractive conditions for private investments.

Arabesque posted a 1.6 billion-RON (378 million-euro) overall turnover last year, down 20% on the previous year, with the figure including sales recorded on foreign markets - Bulgaria, Serbia, the Republic of Moldova, and Ukraine.