Erste: The Government should speak less and do more

Werner Weihs-Raabl, head of the infrastructure and public sector financing unit of Austria's Erste group that owns the biggest bank on the Romanian market, BCR, states he is likely to earmark more than 1bn euros in the next 3-4 years to fund some infrastructure projects carried out in a public-private partnership and some regional projects for Romanian authorities. Erste official states BCR will definitely be among the banks to fund the project related to the construction of Comarnic-Brasov highway, the first infrastructure project in a public-private partnership, with the value of the loan likely to revolve around several hundred million euros. Erste executive believes the state should render public work acquisition processes more transparent and draw up multiannual investment budgets so that foreign investors should have a clear vision over the infrastructure development strategy. Five experts are dealing with activities in Romania, out of the total 20 people employed at the unit. "The government should speak less and prepare projects more efficiently," Weihs-Raabl says.