UniCredit Group head: We're targeting a top 3 position in Romania

Italy’s UniCredit group boosted the volume of loans released in Romania by 10% in the first half of this year and wants to become a top-three bank on the Romanian market by 2015, states Alessandro Profumo, UniCredit Group CEO. “Reaching the top 3 in Romania is a target we can assume around 2015. In the first six months we increased lending by 10%, which means a significant funding volume and I believe this is the best answer as regards the focus of our medium-term strategy,” Profumo told ZF in an interview. He says boosting lending was not an easy task, the more so as economic conditions are still difficult. The powerful Italian banker at the helm of UniCredit since 1997 has not come to Bucharest for an acquisition, as the group’s main option is organic growth in Romania, or to sign a major funding contract. “I’ve paid this visit as Romanian operations are highly important for us. The conclusion is that we have a strong bank here and I’m even more confident than before about the soundness of operations and of the domestic team. (…)”.