Business Review

Iditex group, which owns brands such as Zara and Pull & Bear, has opening its fourth Bershka store in Bucharest in Unirea Shopping Center. The store consists of 1,200 sqm divided between two levels: the first floor and an 850-sqm space in the Calarasi section of the shopping facility.

The National Defense Ministry and the Bucharest District 2 City Hall plan to build 1,400 housing units on a plot located close to the Aviation Museum in Bucharest, the mayor of Bucharest’s District 2 Nicolae Ontanu said, quoted by Mediafax.

High street retail rents have fallen by between 30 and 60 percent since 2008, a study conducted by More Real Estate Services has found. On shopping streets Magheru Boulevard and Calea Victoriei rents are down by 60 percent while vacancy rates have grown from 5 to 25 percent.

real,- Hypermarket Romania has moved its headquarters to the upper levels of the real,-Palady store. The new premises have a total surface area of 6,500 sqm, and will accommodate the 350 employees working in the retailer’s head office.

Banca Comerciala Romana (BCR) has launched a real estate portal, the first one of this type administered by a financial institution. With this move, the bank says it wants to offer its customers an integrated solution for both financing and property.

Centru Medical Unirea, the operator of private medical services, plans to open a location in Sun Offices in Bucharest in the first trimester of next year. Sun Offices is the office part of the complex developed by Euro Mediterranee Consulting EMCT and Sparkassen Immobilien, which also includes the commercial center Sun Plaza.

Two new Bucharest subway stations – Pajura and Parc Bazilescu – will open in the first half of next year, Metrorex has announced.

After setting a deadline for the completion of the Cernavoda-Constanta highway last week, transport minister Radu Berceanu announced on Saturday that the Arad-Timisoara highway should be finished at approximately the same time, in 2011.

Construction company Holcim will invest EUR 14 million in a project aimed at increasing the energy efficiency of its cement plan in Alesd, Bihor County, Mediafax has reported. The plant will generate approximately 25 percent of the electrical energy required by the unit.

Construction and gardening retailer Hornbach has increased the social capital of the company operating its stores locally, Hornbach Centrala, by EUR 3 million (RON 12.6 million).