Copos axes 600 jobs

One in four employees of the Ana Holding group has been fired this year, in the harshest restructuring process conducted by businessman George Copos.

Businessman George Copos, who controls the Ana Holding group, whose business is put at 100 million euros, has let 600 people go since last October, without managing to avoid an over 20% business decline though.
“I’m hurting really badly, but those who are running this country made me do it. We have reached the point where we are working blindly because of unpredictability,” the businessman stated, adding that the group’s budgets were revised downwards three times in January, April and August this year.
George Copos, who was a vice-premier from the Conservatory Party in the Tariceanu Government from 2004 through 2006 is one of the biggest hotel owners in Romania, with more than 25 million euros in revenues last year. The businessman owes money to the BRD after buying the Hilton Hotel and upgrading other hotels. Copos also owns a bakery business, an electrical engineering business and a real estate business. The hardest hit was Ana Imep (the factory that makes electric engines for home appliances), whose turnover stood at 37.8 million euros last year and where 300 people were made redundant.
“The recovery from this crisis will be slow and very difficult. A number of companies will go bankrupt, which will create very many unemployed people. For those that have not cut costs and resorted to layoffs until now, it is too late to begin.” Copos says he does not know how he will devise next year’s budgets in November, given the market’s unpredictability.
George Copos is not the only Romanian entrepreneur to have resorted to layoffs as a result of the decline in business. Florin Panea, owner of the footwear and leather goods retailer Leonardo, with 136 million euros in turnover last year, has laid off 600 people since the beginning of the year, which did not save the company from insolvency. Dan Ostahie, the most powerful entrepreneur in the electrical retail sector made 500 people redundant, too.