Ostahie and Pavăl brothers, the only Romanians still battling international retailers

Brothers Adrian and Dragoş Pavăl, and Dan Ostahie are the only Romanian entrepreneurs whose businesses - Dedeman and Altex - are among the top 20 retailers on the Romanian market, after food retail ended up almost entirely in the hands of German and French groups, reveals a ZF analysis.

The biggest food retail, home appliances, DIY and drugstore chains posted eight billion euros in turnover last year, accounting for almost one third of the entire retail market. The analysis does not take into account groups, only individual entities (joint stock companies and limited liability companies), according to data from the Trade Registry, and measures only retail. Other Romanians operating in trade, such as Dan Şucu (Mobexpert), Ioan Ciolan (Ambient) and Cezar Rapotan (Arabesque) either operate via several companies or in wholesale trade.