Romania has elected a new president in a landmark vote, with independent and pro-European candidate Nicușor Dan defeating far-right rival George Simion with 54% of the vote. The result marks a major political shift, as neither of Romania's traditional parties advanced to the final round. In Poland, the second round of the election is to take place amidst the fiscal clarity issues.
In a significant political shift for CEE, Romania elected Nicușor Dan as president on May 18, 2025, while Poland's pro-European candidate Rafał Trzaskowski narrowly led the first round of its presidential election. These outcomes suggest a regional move toward centrist, pro-EU leadership.
Service charges for modern office buildings in Romania have seen the most substantial increase in recent years, with approximately a 10% rise in the 2025 allocated budgets,
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has cut its 2025 growth forecast for its regions by 0.2 percentage points to 3.0%, with a moderate rebound to 3.4% expected in 2026. This follows a similar downgrade in February and reflects mounting global headwinds, including rising trade policy uncertainty, softening external demand, and newly imposed tariffs.
The EBRD has subscribed for PLN 140 million (€33 million) in the debut sustainability-linked bond issuance by Żabka Group, a Polish modern convenience retailer.
Recent market data by CBRE confirm the resilience of the industrial and retail sectors, which are seeing a sustained pace of construction this year.
Budapest-based Shopper Park Plus (SPP) is considering a range of financing options to further its corporate development, following the successful completion of a portfolio deal in Slovakia with a 9.5% yield.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing a regional loan of up to €120 million to AFI Europe to support its development pipeline in Serbia, Poland, Romania, and Czechia.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has allocated €50 million for the upgrading of key rail border crossing points in Ukraine.
Construction labour cost and availability have become the primary concerns for real estate developers in Central Europe, according to a new survey by Deloitte. This shift sees it surpassing project financing, which has been the dominant issue in recent years.
Productivity in Romania has increased from 26% in 2008 to 44% in 2024, with women making a notable contribution, according to an analysis of Alpha Bank.
The total volume of investments from six CEE countries reached €5 billion in the first three quarters of 2024, and next year the regional real estate investment market could exceed €10 billion, according to a Colliers report.
Real estate investment decisions in CEE are currently made considering various challenges, such as difficulty in predicting five-year exit strategies for investments, liquidity in the region, and concerns about the impact of ESG regulations on building compliance and financing, to name a few. CEE Property Forum 2024 in Vienna has taken a closer look at European investment trends in the panel chaired by Tim Wilkinson, MRICS, Head of European Acquisitions at Indotek Group.
GARBE has been on the markets in Central and Eastern Europe for 4 years. Now the company has announced the full occupancy of all its industrial parks in the region.
The disposable income gap between CEE economies, which are enjoying solid economic expansion, and stagnating Western European countries is narrowing fast. This is buoying consumer spending in markets like Poland and Romania and attracting international and regional retailers to large modern shopping centres that dominate the CEE's shopping and experience landscapes, while also offering higher margins and lower costs, NEPI Rockcastle's latest research concludes.
The collaboration involves key activities critical to the brand's long-term success in these new markets, including identifying and selecting franchise partners.
Nhood Services Romania has been selected to support the international expansion of the Romanian restaurant chain Spartan.
Only half of the CEE countries saw an increase in turnover among the top 500 companies, revealing disparities in economic performance.
The company estimates 30% better results in Poland compared to Romania, considering market size.
Romania's annual inflation rate climbed unexpectedly to 5.5% in May, up from 4.9% in April, driven primarily by increases in food and services prices.
Travel tech company FlixBus is adding new international coach connections from Romania to Greece and bolstering existing routes to Bulgaria.
EDP, through its subsidiary EDP Renewables, has opened its largest solar park in Romania, located in Albina, taking its total solar and wind capacities in the country to 570 MW.
The German tech company cbs purchased the SAP division of Romanian company SkyConsult, marking its entry into the local market.
Romanian tech company Metaminds, which supplies digitalization services for both the private sectors, named Ovidiu Ghiman as its new CEO, replacing Andrei Cruceru.