“The year 2009 will be a difficult one, but the current portfolio of contracts leads us to believe that we will maintain the turnover of €140 million which we posted at the end of last year. We increased the number of employees and will continue investing in equipment in order to respect the deadlines of projects in which we are involved. The only problem which could delay deadlines is connected to the approval of budgets,” according to a declaration for Business Standard by Luca Canino, Astaldi’s Area Manager.
According to Canino, a possible solution for companies specialized in infrastructure, who are finding it difficult to access loans, is to establish joint ventures with the state that would give them greater credibility with banks to whom they applying for loans.
“While banks are very reticent to offer loans in this period, a partnership involving the state would offer greater credibility. Such a model has often been used in the United States and could also be applied in Romania, because, regardless of the name and strength of a company, a bank is much more open when the state guarantees a loan,” added Canino.
