The smoldering conflict in the political system, focused around the upcoming presidential elections, the blockage in the justice system and the authorities' poor performance, are the main negative factors behind the high costs borne by the business world and by the financial & banking system in particular, says Rasvan Radu, chief executive of UniCredit Tiriac Bank, one of the top ten players in the Romanian banking system.

"In terms of public policies aimed at tackling the crisis, I don't expect anything major this year. It would be very good for the government's stability to be maintained, because a government crisis would throw us completely off balance. The blockage in the already overburdened justice system is not helping at all, quite the contrary, the economic environment is dealt a further blow."

The banker believes economic recovery can only start from exports, amid positive signals from the EU, and from the big public investment projects, which should get private companies involved. "However, the public sector has not helped in any way so far."

Radu says the banks' current priority is to provide backing to companies, so that they can restructure and adjust to the new market conditions, considering that this environment will extend further than this year. "The crisis is in full swing and by supporting companies and making them viable, which implicitly means stabilising jobs, we will ultimately reduce the impact the crisis has on the financial system through the non-performing loans."

He says bankers are now much more open towards supporting corporate clients, attaching more importance to weighing management's commitment and their ability to restructure than to analysing business plans - which are constantly adjusted.

The head of UniCredit estimates there will be some sectors where not all players will be able to make it, and that