The man who built Cotroceni Park leaves Romania

Israeli-born Reuven Havar, 61, who supervised the development of the biggest mall on the Romanian market – Bucharest’s Cotroceni Park – will step down as country manager of AFI Europe after spending four years in Romania. Havar worked for ten years in Prague and Bucharest, for AFI Europe, a company controlled by Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev. On the Romanian market he supervised both the Cotroceni Park project, worth 300 million euros, and the aggressive land acquisition campaign, of plots worth over 100 million euros, where no projects are currently developed.

“My mission ends here. I am looking for a more serious one, and moving on to a higher position. I will be coordinating operations in several countries in the region, which will probably include Romania. AFI will start one or two projects at the most this year, but I don’t think there is enough ‘meat’ for me here,” said Havar, who also worked in Romania in the ’90s for Prigat company.