378m euros in bank leasing contracts

The activity of leasing companies affiliated to banks increased on the domestic market in the first nine months of the year. The eight companies of the Banking Leasing Association, known in Romanian as Asociatia de Leasing Bancar (ALB), announced they had concluded contracts worth 378 million euros for the first nine months of this year. According to ALB, the figures exceed the results for the whole of 2003, when the members of the association concluded contracts to a value of 286 million euros. Set up this year by eight leasing companies affiliated to banking groups (Alpha Leasing, BRD Sogelease, Finans Leasing, HVB Leasing, Piraeus Leasing, Raiffeisen Leasing, UniCredit Leasing and Volksbank Leasing), ALB is not the only association of leasing companies operating on the domestic market. The Association of Leasing Companies of Romania, known as Asociatia Companiilor de Leasing din Romania (ASLR), has over 30 members (independent companies affiliated to banks, to some importers or car dealers), which in the first eight months of the year sealed contracts to the tune of almost 600 million euros. ZF