If everything goes to plan, the European Union (EU) will have two additional members in a few months, Romania and Bulgaria. Romania, with a population of 22 million compared with Bulgaria’s seven and a half million, is by far the more attractive of the two markets with the potential for huge returns on investment. Real estate activity in Bucharest is currently very high, as western retailers and pre-accession speculators look to enter the market; foreign banks are buying stakes in local banks (most notably Austria’s Erste Bank’s €3.7bn (£2.6bn) acquisition of BCR) and the country is gearing up to give its infrastructure a much-needed overhaul: the classic indicators of a country about to enter the EU.
Naturally, foreign law firms are following their clients to Bucharest, with a raft of Austrian firms making their Romanian debut in the past year or so. Austrian independent Wolf Theiss, which already has a sizeable network of offices in eastern Europe, launched its Romania offering last autumn with 12 lawyers; that number now stands at 17. “Romania stands out among the emerging markets of eastern Europe,” Wolf Theiss partner Horst Ebhardt enthuses. “Almost every industry is trying to get a foothold there, especially real estate clients.” The firm plans to grow its office to 25-30 lawyers by next year, signalling the firm’s confidence in the market’s potential.
