Citibank: Local market insufficiently developed to attract significant resources

The local market is still insufficiently developed to attract significant resources over long periods, says Razvan Badalicescu, the head of the Coporate Banking division within Citibank Romania. “Banks should have greater involvement in project funding, although locating funding remains a problem. There are excess resources for short maturities, but for longer periods it is difficult to receive funding,” explains Razvan Badalicescu. The division he heads handles relations with 150 clients, including big local companies (with an over 50 million-dollar turnover) and with some multinationals, as well, from a potential market of 250 companies. According to him, the lack of long-term resources also generated the increasingly obvious appetite of local banks to access international markets, and he is expecting the number of bond issues in RON, released on foreign markets, to continue to grow. He also says that the local capital market does not allow for significant resources to be raised, with the maximum upper limit standing at around 20 million euros.