EBRD Invests 80 Mln EUR in Romanian Real Estate Market

Romania"s regional cities will benefit from new employment and retail opportunities at brand new commercial centres built with the help of an 80 million EUR EBRD loan. The 12-year loan to regional property developers GTC and Aura Investments will be used to finance the development, construction, letting and management of retail outlets in Romanian regional cities, helping to bridge the gap in real estate development between Bucharest and the regions. The total euro80 million senior loan will consist of 35 million EUR loan for the EBRD"s own account and 45 million EUR loan which will be fully syndicated to Raiffeisen Zentralbank Osterreich.

The first three commercial centres will be built in Buzau, Piatra Neamt and Suceva, to the north and north-east of Bucharest, adding to the very few retail chains of international quality that exist outside of the Romanian capital.

Hildegard Gacek, EBRD Director for Romania, said this project reflects the EBRD"s strong emphasis on supporting the development of the Romanian regions and promoting competition in the regional property sector. By encouraging the expansion of private investment outside of the capital, the Bank is helping attract quality new investments to the local market and introducing international standards of retail development. Supporting regional development is a core part of the EBRD"s strategy for Romania, aimed at redressing continuing imbalances in economic progress between the capital and regional centres.

GTC has been active as a developer in the Central Eastern European real estate markets since 1994, operating in 9 countries, including Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro. GTC has positioned itself as one of the leading developers in CEE with over 1,500,000 sqm of office, retail and residential space under different stages of development.

Aura has been active in Romania since 2005 and is currently involved in developing over 3,500 residential units in Romania and Hungary. Aura is listed in the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange since its incorporation in 1992.

To date EBRD has invested 280 million EUR in the real estate and retail sectors with the aim of supporting regional development in over 40 cities with a total population of more than six million. The EBRD is one of the largest investors in Romania, having invested 3.5 billion EUR in 230 projects so far and helped mobilise additional 6.4 billion EUR from other sources.