The Granata Hotel in Cluj-Napoca, owned by CFR Cluj owner Ioan Varga, was auctioned on Friday, February 13, in a foreclosure auction by businessman Cosmin Ioan Sebastian Nustiu, for 19.9 million lei (about EUR 3.91 million). The sale of the real estate asset was necessary to cover some claims resulting from a cryptocurrency loan whose value increased exponentially, leading to the execution of the guarantees deposited by Varga.
The traded property is located on a 4,760 square meter plot of land and includes two buildings with four and five floors respectively. The hotel has a total of 58 rooms (11 in the first building and 47 in the second), complemented by facilities such as a restaurant, a bar and a conference room. The sale procedure, to which only one bidder presented itself, was triggered after Ioan Varga failed to honor on time a loan of 165 Bitcoin contracted in 2019. Due to the spectacular appreciation of the virtual currency, the debt has soared from its initial value of around €1.2 million to more than €12 million today, resulting in the loss of the hotel purchased in the past from businessman Abris Lelbach.
The new owner, Cosmin Nustiu, is an entrepreneur from Alba Iulia who controls 99% of the company Art Instal SRL, a company that has been active for 19 years in the field of plumbing and air conditioning installations. According to financial data reported for the year 2024, his company recorded a turnover of about EUR 9.03 mil. and a net profit of about EUR 3.51 mil. The company has a share capital of about EUR 109.5 mil. and a workforce of about 60 employees. With this acquisition, Nustiu acquires a real estate asset considered to have a high commercial potential, suitable both for the continuation of the hotel business and for other developments.