Erste: The Government should speak less and do more

Werner Weihs-Raabl, head of the infrastructure and public
sector financing unit of Austria’s Erste group that owns the
biggest bank on the Romanian market, BCR, states he is likely to
earmark more than 1bn euros in the next 3-4 years to fund some
infrastructure projects carried out in a public-private partnership
and some regional projects for Romanian authorities. Erste official
states BCR will definitely be among the banks to fund the project
related to the construction of Comarnic-Brasov highway, the first
infrastructure project in a public-private partnership, with the
value of the loan likely to revolve around several hundred million
euros. Erste executive believes the state should render public work
acquisition processes more transparent and draw up multiannual
investment budgets so that foreign investors should have a clear
vision over the infrastructure development strategy. Five experts
are dealing with activities in Romania, out of the total 20 people
employed at the unit. “The government should speak less and prepare
projects more efficiently,” Weihs-Raabl says.