* Pârvan: "Any bank would function under the same rules when it comes to lending"
The electronic and electrotechnical industry are requesting the creation of a bank with Romanian capital that would finance competitive activities of applied research, innovation and production.
This sector is currently faced with major difficulties in accessing loans, according to Ph D Gheorghe Ion Gheorghe, the president of the Professional Association of for Precision Machining, Optics and Mechatronics.
He said: "We are seeing major difficulties, banks aren't helping us in any way. The National Institute which I am leading, which is self-financed, is forced to put up its own money, to continue the projects which are conducted using European funds. We are being obstructed by the governmental institutions, that don't reimburse the expenses for those projects. Even though we should receive the money for the reimbursement requests within a maximum of 45 days, we've had delays of up to 300 days under the POSDRU program. Because, under these circumstances, we are unable to implement our projects, we have tried to raise funding from banks. We talked to BCR, to Banca Transilvania, but every bank asked for the contracts signed for the European grants, and we couldn't give them those, because there is a clause that says they can't be assigned. We have tried to use our assets as collateral, but the banks don't accept that. That is why a bank dedicated to financing applied research projects would be a breath of fresh air for us. We are in a desperate situation".
But Cristian Pârvan, the secretary general of the Association of Romanian Businessmen (AOAR) thinks that any other bank would work according to the same financing rules currently in effect.
"In order to set up a new bank we would need at least a year. And where the money for its creation come from? The state
