Business 3 min read By Bethany Hadley
Enter Air Opens First Romanian Branch in Charter Market Expansion
The largest charter airline in Poland has opened a branch in Romania, while Raiffeisen Bank has received the green light to take over Garanti Bank Romania.
Enter Air, the largest charter airline in Poland and one of the most important holiday operators in Europe, has expanded its activity in Romania by opening a branch in the country. The move brings to the local market a player with solid experience in charter flights, a segment in which Romanian tourists are increasingly numerous and operators are looking for new routes and packages.
The expansion comes in a week rich in transactions and decisions that have drawn the attention of the business community. Among them is the most important banking operation of the recent period: the transaction through which Raiffeisen Bank is taking over Garanti Bank Romania has received the green light from the National Bank of Romania. The approval removes one of the crucial steps of the process and brings the completion of the acquisition closer, which will change the configuration of the local banking sector.
Also in the office real estate sphere, EY Romania is negotiating with the Czech group PPF to lease a new headquarters, where it will move its more than 600 employees. The decision reflects the need of consulting and audit companies for spaces adapted to a large workforce, in an office market where demand for modern buildings remains a constant topic.
In the media and cultural industry, the Autonomous State Company for the Distribution and Exploitation of Films (RADEF) RomâniaFilm, established in the early 1950s after the nationalization of Romanian cinema, has gone bankrupt. The company, one of the oldest institutions in the Romanian film industry, is thus facing a difficult situation after decades during which it was part of the national cinematographic landscape.
In the same week, another subject of interest for the local market was the major transaction involving the owner of PRO TV, one of a series of operations that marked the activity of companies in media and retail. At the European level, the Dutch group Ahold Delhaize, which owns the Mega Image and Profi chains in Romania, has reached an agreement to take over the Tesco operations in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The transaction is valued at approximately 1.7 billion euros, including adjustments related to leasing contracts, and covers hundreds of stores, distribution centers and offices, namely more than 460 stores.
On the fiscal front, the National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF) is preparing changes to the procedure through which it cooperates with authorities in other states to recover tax debts. According to a draft order published on Thursday, October 29, the institution's central liaison office would be able to directly verify information about persons and companies with debts when foreign authorities request Romania's support. Until now, this information was obtained through territorial tax administrations, and the change could accelerate cross-border recovery procedures.
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