Soccer club Rapid takes out a loan of EUR 2.2 million from CEC to pay off its bills

• Taban chairman of Rapid: "We will not use the sports complex Pro Rapid as collateral"

Soccer club "Rapid Bucureşti" owned by businessman George Copos wants to take out a loan of 2.2 million Euros de la CEC Bank for the payment of its utilities, the wages of players and of arrears to the state budget.

The shareholders of the club located near the Grant bridge made this decision on April 9th, following an extraordinary shareholder meeting, according to the Official Gazette.

The chairman of Rapid Bucureşti, Ion Taban made the following statement for BURSA: "We want to take out this loan from CEC Bank in order to pay off our capital expenses. This includes the players" wages, the outstanding bills and other debts of the club".

The shareholders of Rapid Bucureşti have decided to use real estate properties as collateral for the loan.

However, chairman Ion Taban denied that the most important asset of the club was used as collateral for the loan: "We will not use the Pro Rapid sports complex as collateral. We will use a retail area in the center of Bucharest instead".

The decision of its shareholders to take out a bank loan to pay off its debts is the result of the worsening situation of Rapid Bucureşti (not unlike the situation of the other Romanian Premier League soccer clubs).

Due to its ranking in the domestic chart, Rapid Bucureşti may miss out on the European competitions again this year, even Europa League, competitions which provide clubs with millions of Euros in cash.

Besides, the financial woes of "Rapid Bucureşti" SA, which has been repeatedly threatened with bankruptcy due to its debts, have caused the shareholders of the club to prepare a safety net for the case where the company were to enter bankruptcy.

BURSA recently published, an exclusive announcing that the shareholders of "Rapid Bucureşti" have revised the articles of incorporation of the company, meaning that the team"s international and domestic playing rights would be transferred free of charge from the current joint stock company, to "Fotbal Club Rapid" Association, should the company enter bankruptcy.

Moreover, if the liquidation of the company were to happen outside of the decision of its shareholders, then the soccer team would be allowed to continue to play, by being transferred from the liquidated company to the association.

The "Fotbal Club Rapid Bucureşti" Association will have the pre-emption right when it comes to acquiring the right of exlusive and unlimited use of the logo and of any trademarks held by "Rapid Bucureşti" SA, if the latter were to enter voluntary dissolution.