SIF Oltenia bought 5% of the Bucharest Stock Exchange

• Tudor Ciurezu: "We have made a long term investment"

• SIF Oltenia will review, in the future, an involvement in the development of the stock market

SIF5 Oltenia paid 7.66 million de lei (1.7 million Euros) for a block of 4.99% of the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB), joining the group of shareholders which own the maximum allowed stake in the market operator, according to the law.

Tiudor Ciurezu, the CEO of SIF5 Oltenia, said that the block of shares of 4.99% of the BSE represents a long-term investment, rather than a short-term speculation.

He said that in the future, together with other shareholders of the BSE, he would review getting involved in helping the stock market grow.

Tudor Ciurezu said: "Romania has a market economy, which can't exist without a stock market. But not one like the one we have now, but an institution which would truly be a barometer of the economy. At the moment, the liquidity of the Bucharest Stock Exchange leaves to be desired.

There are many opportunities for action, which do not depend exclusively on the market operator, but also on policy of the Government or that of the intermediaries, of regulations".

The CEO of SIF Oltenia considers that the BSE should be more incisive: "It's not always that the companies we want to see listed come on their own initiative. The market operator needs to intervene. We need to be aware that the Bucharest stock exchange represents a source of financing that is cheaper than bank loans".

Shareholders which hold more than 5% of the BSE also include the funds of Erste and Franklin Templeton, as well as SIF Moldova and SIF Transilvania.

The Bucharest Stock Exchange has seen its turnover drop 17% over the last three quarters, to almost 14 million lei (3.1 million Euros), and the net profit fell 40%, to 9.4 million lei (2.1 million Euros), mostly due to the drop in the volume of stock trades.