The new owner of Astra insurance company and owner of the Unirea Shopping Center, Dan Adamescu stepped into the spotlight on Wednesday for the first time since 1990. He announced the investment plans for Astra and the appointment of Ian Harrocks, former AIG Life general manager as VP of the company.
Although the businesses owned by Adamescu have been widely covered in the past few years, no photo of him has ever been printed by the press. "I did not avoid (public appearances), but I am just not the man to see his face in the press. The appointment of Mr. Harrocks in the management of the company is an important moment, though. I believe he is the professional the company needed," Dan Adamescu explained.
"Our goal is to see Astra among the top three insurers in Romania over the next few years," Harrocks said. Astra came fourth among the top ten insurers in 2001, with 7% in market share.
Dan Adamescu holds the Nova Trade Group which controls Astra, the construction company Mega-Construct, Unirea Shopping Center, the International Business Center building and the building where Connex is based. "The group last year posted 3,800bn ROL ($130 million) turnover and we estimate it to make more than 4,000bn ROL this year," Adamescu added.
He specified that Astra's share capital (53.5bn ROL at the moment) would soon be increased by 1,200bn ROL "by cash and buildings." "This capital increase, however, is up to certain conditions in the privatisation contract that APAPS has to meet," Adamescu explained. However, the Ordinance 6/July 28, 2002 of the Insurance Supervision Commission stipulates that the increase in the share capital of an insurance company may be done only by cash.
Astra's privatisation contract was signed on July 23, this year, eighteen months after the actual tender, due to certain pending lawsuits.
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