Introduction: Real in Romania…

Happy New Year for everyone! Welcome to my blog, the place where I will try really hard to share with you in daily basis my thoughts, my opinions about various different things and my predictions for the future, always for Romania. Mostly for Real Estate, my field of expertise, but also for many other topics, starting with the market in general, the problem of hiring personnel, the social life in Bucharest and many more.

“Ok, and why is this interesting for me?” you may think. Correct question. Maybe yes, maybe no. Checking my background, you may find some reasons why. If not, you may discover them through time. If for any reason you won’t be satisfied, I am open to suggestions and proposals. I would be VERY happy to transform this blog in time as the “voice” of many foreigners who are active in business here in Romania. This means that I would also be really happy to receive your comments, your critics and opinions about what I write.

Mainly all that I write will be the result of some different factors that have influenced me.

• My experience in life and business the last 21 years, in several different domains and especially the last 10 years in positions with quite big profile and very big responsibilities.
• My deep knowledge of Romanian society, life and basically psychology. Psychology is one of my hobbies, I try to understand the world through it and to search for the “why” of everything wearing the “psychology” glasses.
• My will to learn more, as I constantly ask every day an endless number of Romanian citizens about all aspects of life here. Especially I have a “pool” of around 300 people, from ministers to… gypsies, men and women, all ages and social positions, all backgrounds of education and financial statuses, who I ask about everything, trying to see Romania through THEIR eyes.
• My personal experience while living and working here in Bucharest and Romania, facing more or less the same problems that you (as foreigners) have faced, face, will face every day.

I welcome you again and I wish you all in 2008 Health, Happiness and Power to achieve all your professional targets. (and a selfish wish, I wish this blog to become part of your daily or weekly use of internet).

Have a Great Day and…. See you around!

PS. Today, my first day of creating this blog, I would like to make the first statement. I have succeeded a lot in Bucharest, in Romania in general, but this I didn’t achieve on my own. There are many people who helped me on the way, people that I will be acknowledging their help forever. During the time I want to mention all of them.

I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart:

• Mr Dimitris Kontomanolis, today the managing director of Olympus Foods, one of the leading exporting greek food companies. It was October of 2002… An international food exhibition was about to start (Sial) and we didn’t manage to deliver on time some advertising leaflets to the premises of our client then, Olympus Foods. Being always professional and responsible towards my clients, I decided to go to Paris, so as to personally deliver them. There mr Kontomanolis, famous in my country among the food industrialists, didn’t let me leave fast. Respecting my gesture, he “kept” me there for another 3 days, showed me all about this international exhibition and showed me a different view to see the world. After this experience, I started traveling, going to various exhibitions, approaching the international business environment with a different point of view. This “exploration” led me to all Balkan countries in 2003 and in Romania on Januray 21^st, 2004. Exactly 4 years after, this blog is launched…
• Mr Stylianos Sofianos, today the President of Marfin Popular Bank (former Egnatia Bank) in Romania. Mr Sofianos, Stelios for his friends, is the person who helped me more than anyone else in the beginning of my “Romanian adventure”, back in January of 2004 and throughout that year. His valuable experience and very deep knowledge of Romanian business environment, combined with his very strong connections, have helped me advancing fast. Back then he was vice president of Emporiki Bank. Today he is the President of one of the most promising banks of southeastern Europe.
• Mr Christos Pozidis, today ranking in the top administration of Alpha Bank in FYROM (Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia). Mr Pozidis was a really big help for me back in 2004, while being in Bucharest, working for Alpha Bank in “Libertatii” branch of the bank. He has helped hundreds of people, as far as I know and I am really happy I was one of them. He knows business and he tries to promote it by solving all the smaller or bigger bureaucratical banking problems of the businessmen, especially the foreigners. I wish one day him to return back to Romania, he is a really valuable person for Alpha Bank.
• Mr Polydoros Zekos, managing director of his own consulting company, OMAS, covering many different fields, project management, construction etc. Mr Zekos has a really impressive background in Real Estate, having worked in many countries for various different projects. He knows construction and Real Estate and one of his last achievements was to create from “0” the company “EFG Properties” covering all Romania for Bancpost Bank. Today he mainly works in Romania and Ukraine. He taught me a lot in 2005, especially in the technical part of our business and let me have the right basis so as to build on it my knowledge for my work.
• Mr Antonios Kapraras, managing director of several companies, one of them is mostly known, KAPPA Project, one of the country’s leaders in Project Management today, having in its portfolio (between others) the famous “Baneasa Project” that you all know. I met mr Kapraras in 2006, while we were competing in purchasing the same building in the center of Bucharest, but I think we have become friends and I have learned a lot from him. His way of working, his organization and, the most important, his values in work are almost unique, thus he is considered one of the most serious businessmen in Romania today.
• Mr Jean Bethanis, last but not least, managing director of several companies, mainly of AIMS, a company that creates and sells software for airline companies. Mr Bethanis is one of the most important private investors in Romania, having invested since 2005 several tens of millions of euros. We started collaborating together since the second half of 2005 and I have to admit that I have learned a lot from him. He sees business in different way comparing to most of people, he has different priorities and targets.
  

There are more people who have helped me and taught me a lot all this time and actually I keep learning every day from many different sources. Please, don’t be fast in thinking “so, you didn’t know anything and you learned the basics just some years ago”. Its different to know and its something else to upgrade in other levels of knowledge and capability. I am VERY proud that I have friends who helped me, people who opened new horizons for me and have helped me see things in different way.