The court has blocked the shares owned by Romanian businessman Dan Adamescu (in picture) in Astra Asigurari and Unirea Shopping Center in a forced execution case, according to reports sent by the two companies to the Bucharest Stock Exchange, where their shares are listed.

The Nova Group, Adamescu's investment vehicle in the two companies, has to pay penalties of around EUR 4.6 million to the Authority for State Assets Recovery (AVAS), stemming from investments which should have been made in the Unirea Shopping Center privatization, according to Romanian daily Ziarul Financiar.

The Nova Group owns 74 percent of Unirea Shopping Center, which is worth EUR 44.4 million on the BSE, while the 72.6 percent shares in Astra Asigurari is worth EUR 20 million. Trading stopped on Tuesday for both companies on the BSE.

Unirea Shopping Center, the owner of the shopping center by the same name in Bucharest and of a similar project in Brasov, is the biggest company listed on the Rasdaq platform of the Bucharest Stock Exchange. The company posted EUR 15.4 million in turnover for the first nine months of the year, down 10.5 percent on the same period of last year.

Astra Asigurari – until recently Astra Uniqa- accounted for EUR 201 million in gross subscribed premiums over the first nine months of 2010.

Dan Adamescu ranks among the wealthiest Romanians, with an estimated wealth of EUR 1 billion, ranking third in the most recent Forbes top for Romania. He has invested in real estate, retail, media – the Romania Libera newspaper, insurances and tourism.

Unirea Shopping Center, then called Unirea Store, was privatized in 1999, when Nova Trade, Adamescu's company, took it over from state body AVAS.

editor@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Agerpres)