The banks will continue to "suffer", even though, we may see an improvement of the financial environment next year, because this will not be felt in the balance sheets of the lenders right away, said Paolo Mariani, the CEO of Banca Italo Romena, in an interview. Thus, in order for the deterioration of the loan portfolios to stop, banks need to "detoxify" from the accumulated non-performing loans, he thinks.

As for the opportunities of development of our country, Paolo Mariani said that agriculture and renewable energy are areas with a high potential for growth and which also are of interest for Italian investors.

The strategy of Banca Italo Romena for this year relies on the financing of small and medium enterprises (SME), which have a turnover ranging between 1 and 50 million Euros, the CEO said.

Reporter: What opportunities for growth does Romania have in the current context?

Paolo Mariani: Romania surprised me a lot and I think that this country could represent a big investment opportunity for Europe. It is important for Romania to believe that as well, by supporting those areas which are its main strong points. For example, the agricultural sector, where there are still a lot of plots of land which are uncultivated, whereas there are numerous international investors who are interested in buying them. If you succeed in increasing output per hectare, I think that could be extremely beneficial for Romania. Another sector which has a lot of potential for Romania, is that of renewable energy, which is backed by a support mechanism, but somebody needs to pay for that incentive. In Italy, the incentives are paid for by the consumers, through the bills they pay. From my point of view, agriculture is more structural, and renewable energy, is more circumstantial.

We want the Romanian market, after the moments it went through, of a bit ch