Valentin Ionescu, BSE: The listing of the Proprietatea Fund has attracted the interest of many major funds

The listing of the Proprietatea Fund has attracted the interest of many major funds, which are watching the stock market a lot more carefully than they used to, the managing director of the BSE, Valentin Ionescu, said for Financial Times, adding that the wants the Bucharest Stock Exchange to become the second largest in the region in terms of volume.

"Many major funds are asking about the Proprietatea Fund and are paying more attention to the Proprietatea Fund than they used to. Compared to last year, there will be a lot of money in the market. And this is just the first step, because we have big plans", Ionescu said in an interview granted to the British publication, quoted by Mediafax.

Ionescu considers that increasing liquidity is the main challenge.

He also wants to attract foreign investors, who currently account for about 40% of the total turnover of the BSE.

FT mentions that so far the BSE has successfully avoided the regional consolidation of the exchanges, following which the Warsaw Exchange became the leader of emerging Europe and the Vienna Stock Exchange bought shares in the exchanges of Prague, Ljubljana and Budapest.

"I think that for now, thanks to our potential, we can grow by ourselves (...) to increase the worth of the Romanian stock market, and maybe, in the future, we can talk to other partners. For now we have room to grow by ourselves", Valentin Ionescu said.

The head of the BSE said he wants the Bucharest Stock Exchange to become the second largest in the region, after the Warsaw Exchange.

"Romania is the second largest country in the region, after Poland, in terms of population, but we don"t have the second largest stock market. If we implement our plan, I think we will find ourselves somewhere between Prague and Warsaw in terms of volume ", said Ionescu, who added that this objective could be met in two to three years.

He also noted that, aside from the possible listing of new blocks of shares of Petrom (SNP), Transelectrica (TEL) and Transgaz (TGN), the BSE is also negotiating with several private companies concerning potential new listings on the BSE.

The first such operation could take place in March, or in the beginning of April, said the head of the BSE, without providing any names of companies.