Showing posts with label sheet piles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sheet piles. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Interview BURSA CONSTRUCTIILOR- Alexandros Ignatiadis: Our anchor during the crisis was the Iraqi market



Alexandros Ignatiadis
Octagon will end 2014 with a 16 million euro turnover, a decline on the turnover reported last year, according to the estimates of Alexandros Ignatiadis, co- founder and shareholder of the company. The anchor of Octagon during the crisis was the Iraqi market, he told us during an interview, stressing that the company wants to consolidate its position in this country, where it already has two ongoing projects. Alexandros Ignatiadis believes that the Romanian construction market needs restructuring, as it operates on 900 million euro annual losses and as in the past 20 years it has been negatively affected by political instability. Mr. Ignatiadis told us that the beginning of the year was characterized by effervescence in the private real estate sector, but, after the end of the first semester, many projects have slowed down.


Hermes Business Campus- building B
Reporter: How did the company’s activity evolve in the first year half and what is your forecast for the second half of the year?

Alexandros Ignatiadis: The first half of the year evolved positively for Octagon. We finished the construction of the first building within the office complex Hermes Business Campus, where we were general contractor and we contracted new civil, geotechnical and infrastructure works. The turnover for H1 of 2014- 6.6 million euro, is similar to the one of H 1 2013, so the financial perspectives for 2014 are optimistic.

Green Court Bucharest- building B 1
Reporter: Will 2014 be a better year than 2013 for Octagon?

Alexandros Ignatiadis: Even if it included number 13- that allegedly brings bad luck, 2013 was one of the best years OCTAGON has had so far. Two of our remarkable successes were the fact that we became general contractor for Hermes Business Campus and also having delivered the first building of the complex Green Court Bucharest, developed by Swedish real estate giant Skanska. We ended the year with a 19.6 million euro turnover, and we estimate a 16 million euro turnover for 2014.


Reporter: How do you see the short and medium term evolution of the construction market?
Green Court Bucharest- building B 2

Alexandros Ignatiadis: The construction market needs restructuring, because something is fundamentally wrong in this industry. A 4 billion euro market is operating on 900 million euro annual losses. It is an overcrowded market, which has been negatively influenced by political instability in the past 20 years. The short and medium term evolution will only be positive if this regulation occurs and if the state grants fiscal incentives for the sector consolidation. There is also a law draft initiated by the Romanian Association of Construction Entrepreneurs (ARACO), to eliminate from the competition, the companies set up overnight, that have access to public projects worth hundreds of millions of euro. Another solution would be to merge several Romanian companies in order to create companies with a superior financial power, able to access tenders for very high value projects. The construction sector is still a brake for economic growth, due to the fact that the political stabilization process has not ended yet

Reporter: How have the orders generated by public and private investments, evolved this year?

Alexandros Ignatiadis: Due to the fact that 2014 is an electoral year, most of the public funds have been directed towards areas able to attract voters. The construction sector is not a priority for the state this year, but we have been slightly affected, as we are not involved in major public projects. The private sector is dynamic this year. We participate in tenders for projects within all the segments of the construction market.

PC Business Center- superstructure 1
Reporter: Consultants say that the new real estate developments market, including the residential sector, has started to perform better this year. What is your perspective?

Alexandros Ignatiadis: The year started dynamically in the private sector and this gave new hopes, but after the first semester many announced projects have slowed down.   

Reporter: What will be the engine of the construction market in the next period?

Alexandros Ignatiadis: Inevitably, after 4 years of stagnation, infrastructure will be the engine of the construction market.

Reporter: What are the short and medium term development plans of Octagon?

Alexandros Ignatiadis: In a stagnating market, our priority is the consolidation of the economic position and keeping the existing clients. 

PC Business Center- superstructure 2
Reporter: How would you evaluate the tax level in our country?

Alexandros Ignatiadis: The tax level is acceptable against other EU member states, but the number of taxes must be reduced and wage inflexibility must also relax.

Reporter: What are your most important ongoing projects?

Alexandros Ignatiadis: We have ongoing projects in Romania and in Iraq. In Romania we are working on two office buildings and five infrastructure projects. We are working on building B of the Green Court Bucharest office complex, located on Herastrau St.- Bucharest, after having delivered building A, at the beginning of the year. The complex will have three office buildings in total.
A project started last autumn, on which we are currently working, is the office building PC Business Center, located on 7-9 A Bucharest- Ploiesti Road. We initially performed the special foundation and infrastructure works and we are now building the superstructure.
In terms of infrastructure projects, last summer we started the geotechnical works to “ Presei Libere Square Underground Passage” (Bucharest). We are also building bored piles and metal sheet pile retention systems in Craiova on a passage over the railway. Another project is the functional rehabilitation of Revolutiei Square in Slobozia, where we are building sheet pile retention systems and we are performing drilling for dewatering systems. We are also building bored piles for sections A, D and E, sector 2- Lugoj- Deva Highway, for Salini Impregilo.
At the same time we are continuing the retention works with columns and sheet piles at the project “Rehabilitation of Brasov- Simeria railway, Coslariu- Sighisoara section”, where FCC Construccion is the general contractor.
In Iraq we have two projects:  Electric Power Plant 1250 MW Shatt Al Basra in Basra (Iraq) and the residential project Iraq Gate Residential, for Iraqi developer Almco. In both projects we have been contracted for the execution of geotechnical works.

Shatt Al Basra Power Plant- Iraq
Reporter: Many construction companies, among which Octagon, have expended abroad as well. Octagon is developing in Iraq. Is this a good solution for survival during the crisis? 
Alexandros Ignatiadis: Our anchor during the crisis has been the Iraqi market. We have decided to try another market with long term growth perspectives and that has liquidities for infrastructure projects. The security issues have been an addition advantage for us, as they keep competition away. Right now we are building awareness and we are waiting for the political system to stabilize. The fact that we have two ongoing projects is a positive sign and comes as a confirmation of the fact that we had good intuition when we decided to expand there.  
Reporter: Do you plan to expand in other countries as well? If yes, where exactly?
Alexandros Ignatiadis: Right now we are focusing on consolidating our activity in Iraq, but should the opportunity of entering a market with high growth potential arise, we will certainly take it.  
For more information click HERE
OCTAGON CONTRACTING & ENGINEERING
Phone: (+4)021.232.39.20

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Bucharest, Pitesti and Slatina top the cities with most accessible apartment prices



Residential complex Maresal Averescu superstructure
One year from launching the financing version in lei of „Prima Casă“ programme, the accessibility of dwellings in Romania has visibly improved, while the prices have remained constant, Capital writes. The daily newspaper compiled a top of the cities with most accessible prices.

In determining the accessibility degree of a dwelling financed by loan, three variables must be analyzed:  value of the dwelling, loan cost (monthly installment) and level of revenues (to set the ratio of the installment within the revenues – the indebtedness).

Residential complex Maresal Averescu superstructure
In the first half of this year, the top of cities that provide access to the lowest indebtedness for the acquisition of a two room apartment has changed. At the moment, Piteşti, Bucharest, Slatina, Târgu-Jiu and Sfântu Gheorghe top the city ranking, while six months ago Alexandria, Sfântu Gheorghe, Slatina, Reşiţa and Bucharest ranked on the first five positions. 

The change was mainly triggered by the wage fluctuation and in some situations by the adjustment of the average transaction prices.  Piteşti and Bucharest have been the most dynamic cities in this period, climbing from the 6th and 5th positions to the top of the ranking. Today, the average Bucharest earner can easily realize that the 244 euro/month installment that he or she has to pay for an old two room apartment is under the level of rents demanded by owners for the same type of dwelling, the acquisition of an apartment being more advantageous.  

Residential complex Maresal Averescu
The dwelling price annual wage ratio is placing Bucharest on the 10th position, while Sfantu Gheorghe, where the index is 6.3, ranks first.

On the opposite side, Oradea, Suceava, Buzău, Focşani and Vaslui are the cities where indebtedness is the highest in the country. In these cities the prices have stabilized at a relatively high level and the income has not recovered the difference.  For instance, the average price per sqm of an old apartment in Oradea is 16% lower than in Bucharest, but the average wage is half of Bucharest average wage.

National priceshave dropped significantly from mid- 2008 until today. Old buildings have registered a decline of approximately 40% and the prices of new apartments have dropped 33%.

Residential complex Titeica
What is interesting is the fact that during the past year the share of new dwellings, built between 2008-2014, in the loans granted through „Prima Casă“ programme increased to 37%. Real estate consultants have noticed a visible bounce back of new apartment sales after the improvement of the access to real estate loans and price cuts applied by real estate developers in the past years. 
  
OCTAGON involved in the construction of residential projects

Residential projects have not had a major share in the portfolio of OCTAGON CONTRACTING & ENGINEERING, but the company was involved in the construction of several residential projects over the years, within which it performed civil and geotechnical works.

Residential complex Titeica
OCTAGON built the concrete structure of three residential buildings, diaphragm walls and bored piles D 600, for the residential complex Maresal Averescu 159.

Within the residential complex Tineretului Hills, located on Pajistei St. in Bucharest, OCTAGON executed diaphragm walls D 600 m, h = 13, top beam 60 X 100 m, bored piles and retaining walls.

For the residential complex Titeica, located in Bucharest, on 206- 208 Titeica Road, OCTAGON  built diaphragm walls D 600 mm, h = 14 m, micro piles D 178 mm- 125 ml and sheet piles.

 
 
 
OCTAGON CONTRACTING & ENGINEERING
For more information click HERE
Phone: (+4)021.232.39.20
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