After two turbulent decades at the junction of business and political life in Romania as well as Central and Eastern Europe, architect-turned-entrepreneur Dan Costache Patriciu, has some insight into conflict and how to overcome it: economic integration, common sense and a common understanding.
Ranked among the wealthiest East Europeans by Forbes magazine in July 2008, Patriciu, better known simply as “Dinu,” has many titles in his portfolio: successful businessman, prominent liberal figure, media mogul and philanthropist. He has been an outspoken and consistent advocate of free-market principles and classical liberal values for Romania and other transition economies in Europe.
A common culture and tradition is the primary currency for regional prosperity, Patriciu told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review last week.
“I think this region has a common history, a common culture that goes beyond religion. I speak about cultural tradition, a common understanding in business, [that makes] relationships very easy to establish,” said Patriciu, the chairman of DP Holding SA – a privately held Geneva-based group that invests in and manages a range of investments across Europe – and a member of the Atlantic Council’s International Advisory Board.
Cooperation in the region is not only energy-related but also business-related, he said, giving special importance to the Black Sea region, with Romania, Bulgaria and the Balkans in the west and the Central Asian states in the east. “If business grows, wars stop,” he said.
‘Crucial time for region’
In an effort to foster regional cooperation, Patriciu, who serves on the advisory board of the Washington D.C.-based Atlantic Council, recently founded The Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center as part of the council’s Transatlantic Energy Dialogue, which is set to hold its second Black Sea Energy Forum in Istanbul in September.
The Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center leads the Atlantic Council’s work in regional, energy-based economic and political issues while also developing new initiatives to boost economic and other types of integration across Eurasian, Black Sea, Caspian and Central Asian issues.
“It is an important time for the region because there are lots of developments that are increasing opportunities for trade, investment and economic development. Economic development and integration are the key aspects, in addition to the energy transport routes,” Patriciu told the Daily News.
The upcoming forum, taking place between Sept. 29 and Oct. 1 in Istanbul, is an ideal platform for regional integration and building a better future, he said. “Bringing leaders in business, energy and government together from throughout Eurasia to talk about building a better future for the region is very important; in fact, it is the Atlantic Council’s biggest initiative in the region,” Patriciu said, noting that last year’s Black Sea Energy Forum in Bucharest was a success.
“It is very fortunate that it [the summit] will be held in Istanbul. It is a historical center as well as the largest city in the region, and in a country whose political and economic role in the region is growing,” he said.
The forum’s agenda, as well as the list of companies, ministries and invitees involved, reflects an expected focus on general economic trends and opportunities beyond energy.
Patriciu praised the Turkish government, particularly Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, for its support for the forum. “We are aiming to enlarge the participation, extend the forum in Istanbul geographically. Invitees include leaders from the Black Sea states and the Caucasus countries, Asia, the Balkans, the Middle East and the Gulf states and Afghanistan, Iraq and the United States. We hope for participation from about 40 countries. I am also personally looking forward to Istanbul.”
‘No special role’ for Russia
Emphasizing the Transatlantic connection, Patriciu said, “The United States could be the vector of promoting political stability, economic growth and prosperity and integration in the region.” However, Russia, he said, does not have a special role.
“I do not consider Russia’s oil more important than anybody else’s. Russia is a neighbor who we have to have good relationships with. But new transport technologies and shale gas technologies will, I think, make Europe less dependent on Russian energy,” he said.
According to Patriciu, now is a key time for major hydrocarbon export projects. “New projects that are now taking place in several countries are nearing decision points at the moment, like Nabucco,” he said, referring to the proposed natural-gas pipeline that would diversify natural-gas suppliers and delivery routes for Europe.
“Investment into other technologies or gas transport is also very important. The region can be a departure point for gas, especially liquefied natural gas. Natural gas is a future market,” he told the Daily News.
Patriciu, who brought Romania’s Rompetrol Group to a prominent position in Europe in the late 1990s, expanded the company’s portfolio as catalyst for linking the hydrocarbon resources of the Eurasian region with the demand for oil products in Western Europe.
Recently, however, the entrepreneur sold his remaining stake in the Rompetrol Group after selling the majority shareholding in August 2007 to Kazakhstan’s national oil company, KazMunayGas. Now, he said, he has investment portfolios in alternative and renewable energy sources in Romania and abroad, though he believes Romania’s legislation in the sector is not “yet mature” for investment.
A prominent political figure in Romania between 1990 and 1996 and again from 2000 to 2003, Patriciu served as a deputy in the Romanian parliament and founding member and leader of the National Liberal Party, or PNL’s, parliamentary group. In 2003, he withdrew from parliament and from active political life to concentrate on his business ventures.
Now, he considers politics a bore.
“In the beginning of the ’90s, I was very passionate about contributing with my forces in the process of transforming and turning the country into a new democracy. Today, I feel that politics are boring and I can be more useful for the community in other ways,” he said.
 European Union needs Turkey
Despite his doubts about political unions, Patriciu said he believes it is not Turkey that needs the European Union, but the bloc itself that needs a country such as Turkey.
“I am not a great believer in the political union. I believe in free trade, but not the union as an ‘over-state.’ The EU as a free market will probably understand that Turkey needs to be a member of the bloc. Turkey does not need Europe, but Europe needs Turkey,” he said.
In the case of Romania, which joined the EU in 2007, membership has had both economic advantages and disadvantages, he said, adding that the idea of the common currency is unachievable.
“I don’t think you can put different cultures under the same currency umbrella. People are different, cultures are different and measuring productivity in cultures is far different,” Patriciu said.
Commenting on the differences between northern and Mediterranean Europe, he said the prosperity of nations could not be measured with just the level of productivity. “You cannot measure happiness through productivity,” he said.
Patriciu also congratulated Turkey for rejecting loans from the International Monetary Fund, or IMF, earlier this year, saying: “I congratulate them that they did it and that is reflected in their growth and the fact that economic crisis passed better than in other countries, including Romania.”
 Owning the biggest print media group
With DP Holding SA and its more than $1 billion in assets, Patriciu has a pan-European portfolio of direct investments in financial services, transportation, real estate and media and communications. He took over the board of media company Adevarul Holding as chair in 2006 and turned it into the biggest print media group in Romania today.
“We also have the biggest circulation in the country, with 1 million copies a day of three publications that are the leading publications in their respective sector,” Patriciu told the Daily News.
However, he sees no future for television. “I believe in interactive broadcast. People cannot be the slaves of broadcasted programs; they want to have their own relationship and participation with the news. The web is offering them all these opportunities,” he said.
Patriciu’s media holding also has a large presence on the web, and he said he sees a lot of opportunities for synergies with the printed press. “I think these are two different universes, and the two of them will survive together,” he said. “I think there a lot of people who still like holding their paper, feel the ink. I have my iPad, but I also have my newspapers every morning.”