The stock market in Bucharest to survive only if it goes regional, Romanian oil mogul deems
The Bucharest Stock Exchange (BSE) will survive “only if it is smart enough” to become a regional market by listing companies in the Balkan states and the Republic of Moldova, Romanian businessman Dinu Patriciu declared at the official opening of the trading session.
Patriciu said that the BSE should host the listing of companies in the region, which should not exclude the Republic of Moldova, Bulgaria, Albania, Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia and Bosnia.
“There is the need for an integration catalyst and the BSE can be the engine,” said Patriciu, adding that given the state in which the stock market is right now, it cannot survive.
The BSE management showed interest last year in setting up an alternative trading system dubbed MTF (Multilateral Trading Facility), which would allow the trading of other stocks in the region and in the EU and would offer new opportunities for investment to local brokers and investors.
Patriciu stressed that, besides the state which can support the stock market by listing, an initiative has to come from the BSE as well, as any commercial company needs to market itself to attract customers.
The BSE general director Anca Dumitru mentioned that at present some 15 companies listed on the Rasdaq over-the-counter market are ready to be transferred to BSE.
Patriciu thinks that the main problem on the BSE now is liquidity and this is why it supports a merger with the market in Sibiu.
Patriciu thinks that the main problem on the BSE now is liquidity and this is why it supports a merger with the market in Sibiu.
Patriciu estimates the capital market in Romania will not make a short-term recovery, but will face a period of fluctuations instead.
Dinu Patriciu is considered to be the richest man in Romania after he sold the oil group Rompetrol to Kazakhstan's KazMunaiGaz. His investments vary from the media, real-estate and IT to alternative energy.