Erste: Romania 3rd in the region in terms of advertising market decline in 2009

Ukraine tops the list of countries in the region that registered the sharpest declines on the advertising market in the first half of 2009, at 40 percent, with Bulgaria, at 29 percent, and Romania, at 26 percent, ranking second and third, according to an Erste report on the media market.

The advertising markets in the region, with the exception of that in Bulgaria, are expected to grow in 2010, but the bank's analysts forecast that the recovery will be felt no sooner than 2011, when the confidence of consumers and expenses will rise.

The forecasts of Erste analysts for the whole of 2009 are pessimistic as far as Romania is concerned, as the country could fall to second place, after Ukraine, in terms of decline, with a percentage estimated at 26.1 percent, while the Bulgarian market could fall 24 percent. The report includes the forecast by ZenithOptimedia, which estimates a 3.4 percent growth of the advertising market in 2010 and 9.8 percent in 2011. These rates do not coincide with the estimates by Erste analysts, who predict the advertising market will increase 5.5 percent in 2010 in Central and Eastern Europe, and by 9.5 percent in 2011.

money.ro