Doing business with other people's money

Money is something we are all interested in and other people’s money is at least just as interesting, Radu Catalin Mardare, Bacau County Prefect told the “Bacau – business funded by other people’s money: How to find the cheapest money on the market” seminar, organised by Ziarul Financiar and sponsored by ING Bank. The business people in the financial capital of Moldova, as its deputy mayor Benea Dragos Adrian called it, were shown three financing methods: the traditional one involving a banking loan, the funding provided by investment funds and, last but not least, European Union money.

“There’s money out there and other people’s money is cheaper than yours. To be able to get this money, you need to have a profitable business, be solvent, have liquidity, a positive cash flow and limited debts. We’re adding the last condition because no bank likes to put its money next to a debt to the State, because the State comes first in the priority of claim in case of bankruptcy” said Misu Negritoiu, ING Bank Romania deputy general manager.

How interactive this seminar really is could once more be verified in Bacau, where one of the most successful businessmen in the county, Dumitru Raducanu, Pambac’s chairman, allowed himself to get carried away and attacked the Romanian banking system: “I’m selling to 2,000 stores, I’ve got 35,000 contracts. I get my money 30 days later and I can’t seem to find a bank that is capable of understanding this.” Raducanu also complained that, most of the time, the banks’ money is very expensive for him, in spite of the fact that he is no stranger to profit and performance.

stelian.negrea@zf.ro