Half a billion euros, buried in Bucharest plots of land for over three years

Spanish, Israeli or Greek investors have been buying, for more than 3 years, plots of land with a total area of over 100 hectares in Bucharest, planning to build houses, offices or malls, but the real estate crisis turned their bet into a wrong one, leaving them with their money placed in a frozen market. A ZF survey shows that only ten of the biggest plots traded during 2006-2007 period have an area of almost 80 hectares and cost almost half a billion euros, but nothing has been built on them. These plots have generated no income so far, but on the contrary, taxes, and in some cases banking interests, have been paid. More importantly, prices have halved and initial business plans have been completely upset. Most investors wanted their projects already developed and possibly sold in three years. Instead, they have just managed to demolish, in most cases, existing buildings, get part of permits required and draw up projects after projects. Some developers maintain they might start work on these plots this year. Nevertheless, losses generated by the plots not having been used at the right time may exceed 50%.