"Twenty years from now all current players will still be building shopping-centers in Romania".

Jorge Morgadinho

Sonae Sierra, a renowned shopping-centers specialist with operations not only in Europe, but also in Brazil, currently has one completed retail property and two development projects in Romania, and is conducting the property management of Arena Mall in Bacau, which became operational last week.

Is sustainable development already being paid enough attention to in SEE? Why did the Portuguese company decide to start its expansion into the region with Romania, and with River Plaza, in particular? Why is the shopping-centers specialist developing themed projects? What is Sonae Sierra’s objective when stepping into a new market? Is it going to develop retail parks in CEE? Why is Romania’s shopping-centers market set to offer longer-term opportunities than those of Bulgaria and Portugal? Is the Bulgarian market already saturated with retail product, or there are potential opportunities for implementing many new shopping-centers and becoming a market leader available in the country?

Jorge Morgadinho, Expansion Manager, New Markets at Sonae Sierra, talks about all these intriguing issues in this must-read interview. He also reflects on questions such as: Why is the Serbian retail property market similar to the Bulgarian one? Why isn’t Bulgaria an easy market for the company to enter? Why isn’t Sonae Sierra planning an expansion into Ukraine in the near future? Will the company sell some of its core assets in order to fund its expansion eastwards? Are there many Southern European property investors and developers eyeing Central and Southeastern Europe? Why are real estate funds creating a negative impact on the shopping-centers market? Go for the answers.



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