Israeli-born Maor Zinger (34) is one of Brasov's wealthiest individuals, after he started his business in Romania in the early nineties and later entered the real estate market in 1997. "If I were to sell everything I own in Brasov tomorrow, I would collect 350 million euros. I also have similar sized businesses in Israel, as well as in other countries where the real estate industry is currently experiencing a high growth rate," Zinger told BUSINESS Magazin.
Maor Zinger's short and medium term plans include Brasov's first five-star hotel, which will contain 100 rooms and is scheduled to open at the end of this year, the construction of a 20-pension chain (also in Brasov) scheduled for completion at the end of 2008, and a theme park, which will stretch over 5-6 hectares and will require an 15 to 20 million-euro investment, with construction works due to start in 2008.
Apart from these projects, Maor Zinger also owns Eliana Mall and Brintex shopping centre in the Bartolomeu area. Maor Zinger had a clear strategy for the Bartolomeu area, "I bought most of the land in the area, I had it cleaned up and built the infrastructure four years ago. Then, I opened Brintex first (a wholesale store) and Eliana Mall; everyone else came and will continue to come after me."
Last year, the Real supermarket chain, a division of the Metro group, opened a store near Eliana Mall, and recently, Ori Zinger sold two plots of land to another two stores. "I sold land to Dan Ostahie, in order for him to build a Media Galaxy store here, and next month a DIY store will open, for which I sold the land and a facility."
The network involved is a Turkish-based DIY company, Tekzen, which invested 1.5 million euros to arrange the area purchased from Zinger and intends to open its first store on the Romanian market next month in Brasov.
The new store is the first out
