Bucharest Arena, which manages the Stirbey Domain, has entered bankruptcy

The administrator of the Stirbey Domain in Buftea, the company Bucharest Arena, which had been in insolvency since the beginning of 2018, has now entered bankruptcy.

To return to the market debt-free, the company’s plan included partnerships with the most important corporate event planning agencies and travel agencies, so that the Stirbey Domain would be included in cultural tourism circuits offered to foreign tourists alongside visits to the Village Museum, the Historic Center, or the Palace of Parliament, the hotel-style rental of the palace apartments, entering the niche of children’s parties, and attracting new festivals like Summer Well and Zurlandia. 

In February 2018, the administrator of the Stirbey Domain in Buftea, Bucharest Arena, entered insolvency with total debts of 100 million RON, after purchasing the palace with the intention of transforming it into an exclusive hotel—a project later abandoned—and failing in repeated attempts to sell the building. The domain includes the palace and a 24-hectare park.

In 2007, the Domain was purchased from the heirs of the Stirbey family for 9 million EUR by Bucharest Arena. Today, according to termene.ro, the shareholders remain Dan Octavian Cocis (19.89% of shares), Valerian Mares (29.83%), Ilie-Staicu Olteanu (29.83%), Emil Pop (19.89%), and Cristian Singer (0.55%). stripes.

The reorganization plan involved creating a complex offer for the corporate events market, meaning that, in addition to the F&B offer, a set of related services would be added to meet all the requirements of this type of event: sound, lighting, projections, stage technology, activities specially designed for indoor and outdoor team-building programs, etc. 

The entry into insolvency was justified in the document by the fact that the lack of funds resulted in the company’s inability to implement the initially proposed business plan—namely, the development of a restaurant complex, a hotel, and a residential complex—as well as the lack of accommodation, which led to the loss of a significant number of events.

Bucharest Arena has loans contracted from two banks, Alpha Bank and Eximbank. The loans from Alpha Bank were contracted during 2007, amounting to 10 million EUR, and are currently declared due, generating outstanding and penalty interest worth 2.1 million EUR. The loans from Eximbank amount to 9 million RON and have also been declared due.

At the time of purchasing the Domain, the owners announced their intention to transform the Stirbey Palace into an exclusive hotel with a 5-star restaurant and a museum dedicated to the Stirbey family. Later, when the plan could not be realized and the palace became a space only for social events such as weddings and baptisms, the property was put up for sale for approximately 20 million EUR but could not be sold.

In 2016, the company, with about 50 employees, had a turnover of 6.8 million RON and a loss of 2.9 million RON, while debts reached 96 million RON, continuously increasing from 57 million RON 10 years ago. As of December 31, 2017, according to the latest available data, debts reached 100 million RON, with a turnover of 9.4 million RON and a loss of 4 million RON. Last year, business totaled 7.6 million RON, with a loss of 1.3 million RON and debts of over 101 million RON.

The domain and the palace came to the attention of Bucharest high society at the beginning of the 20th century. Among the visitors to the domain was Queen Marie. After the 1950s, the Domain became state property under the communist regime, being set up for protocol. The palace hosted part of the Ana Aslan Geriatrics Institute, also serving as a wine warehouse and guest house for Nicu Ceausescu. After the 1989 Revolution, it was transformed into a hotel. Later, in 2006, the Stirbey Palace was returned to the six heirs of the Stirbey family following a lawsuit they won at the European Court of Human Rights and was for sale for 2 years. Initially, the heirs presented a purchase offer to the Ministry of Culture, which, however, declined to acquire the property because the requested amount was too high for the institution’s budget. As a result, in 2007, Bucharest Arena became the owner of the Domain.