The Austrian interim CEO of Banca Comerciala Romania (BCR) has enjoyed his stay in south-east Europe. Manfred Wimmer extols the virtues of the Carpathian mountains and the Transylvanian plateau, and concludes: “When I retire from banking, I’ll invest in the Romanian tourism sector.” In his enthusiasm, it seems he is not alone among the members of Austria’s Erste Bank who moved to Bucharest to manage the takeover of BCR in December 2005. Many have apparently opted to stay on and become permanent members of the bank’s staff. “This has certainly not been the case with all the banks Erste has bought in the region,” said Mr Wimmer, speaking to The Banker shortly before Dominic Bruynseels was confirmed as CEO in April 2008.
It was not just the scenery that attracted them. Mr Wimmer has been impressed with the way in which the bank’s existing personnel have handled the sometimes painful process of integrating BCR with Erste’s overall operations, which has proceeded apace since July 2007. “In the Romanian context, BCR is an elite organisation. Intellectually, it understands what needs to be done,” although nobody likes taking difficult measures such as staff reductions.
