Romania

Vodafone’s $22 bln deal is worth financial strain

9 May 2018

The UK mobile group is buying Liberty Global’s German and eastern European assets. Boss Vittorio Colao is funding the deal with debt and funky convertible bonds. He can point to juicy cost savings to quell any concerns about Vodafone’s creaky balance sheet.

Romania can salvage positives from graft mess

6 February 2017

An attempted softening of laws against corruption sparked mass protests, a ministerial resignation and an eventual U-turn. Despite this, Romania has made progress on fighting graft. It now needs to put more effort into judicial protection – and ensure cases have credibility.

Erste’s eastern problems are partly self-inflicted

4 July 2014

The Austrian bank’s shares sank 14 pct after nasty surprises in Romania and Hungary led it to predict a 1.5 bln euro loss this year. The charges should be one-offs, and Erste doesn’t need capital. But the bank has to be more cautious about business in its riskier outposts.   

Letter to the Editor: IMF and Romania

10 February 2012

The International Monetary Fund takes issue with a Breakingviews article on its lending to Romania, arguing the fund helped the country return to growth and remains transparent and flexible in response to changing circumstances.

Harsh IMF approach courts disaster in Romania

8 February 2012

While the fund goes softly-softly in western Europe, it has imposed draconian conditions on Bucharest. Now the prime minister has resigned and anti-reform forces have been emboldened. Excessive IMF rigour threatens to harm the country’s economy and destabilize a weak democracy.