Meat industry joined insolvency chain in 2009, after profits of million euros the year before

From acquisition and strategic partnership talk, the charcuterie industry has in less than one year gone to insolvencies, business reorganisations and redundancies, in the context where producers saw their cash drain. While large producers went ahead and even reported sales increases, medium-sized players such as Stenyon or Medeus gave in to lenders, with the first company already in bankruptcy. The insolvency swirl may soon engulf poultry producers after Avicola Iasi, controlled by businessman George Becali, has recently entered insolvency proceedings in the wake of a decision by Iasi Court of Law. The producer in the first nine months of 2009 saw its revenues slump by one third, to 47m RON (almost 11m RON), from 71m RON (around 19m euros) from the same period of 2008. "The sector is hurting, lacking the subsidies that were granted until last year. Moreover, prices have not dropped, but on the contrary, they have risen. If we don't see more insolvencies in this field, the turnovers of poultry producers will certainly be hit by a liquidity shortage," stated Grigore Horoi, chairman of Agricola Bacau International, the second biggest poultry producer domestically, with 72 million euros in turnover in 2009.