Copos: I went back to 2003 and the value of my assets has halved

George Copos, owner of seven hotels with 1,000 rooms across Romania, says that although he has not had an official valuation of the assets he owns performed, he believes all of them dropped in value last year, to half of what they were worth in 2008. "We're back to 2003 as regards the results of some businesses I control," stated George Copos, who last year posted revenues worth 26m euros (110m RON) from hotel operations, down 26% in RON year-on-year. For instance, turnover generated by Bucharest's five-star Hilton hotel reached 13.4m euros last year, 1.4m euros less than in 2003. Asked whether he considered giving up some hotels, amid their falling occupancy rates and revenues, Copos stated it would not be wise of him to sell assets during the crisis and that they needed to be kept in such moments. Two years ago, Copos valued his fortune at 600m dollars. Besides hotels, the businessman also controls an electric engine plant, real estate operations and a bakery business.