Luminita Vlad, general manager with Leader International, one of the main domestic producers of tinned fruit and vegetables, says the firm is carrying out 8m-euro investments with a view to boosting production capacities and acquiring new vegetable processing lines.
The first stage of the investment programme, which is aimed at the group's plant in Caracal, was achieved with the aid of a Sapard project worth 4m euros and is due for completion in September.
"The second stage of investments, also at the Caracal plant, will be around the same value as the first, and will be used to acquire a vegetable freezing line that will allow us to work over the entire 12 months of the year, instead of an average of 9-10 months," stated Luminita Vlad.
According to the general manager, this is an alternative solution to regular processing that will aid product diversification.
In general, the Caracal plant registers a production level of 15,000 tonnes per year, which the company intends to double by next year.
Leader International was formed in 1994 and initially carried out fruit and vegetable activities, however, the group has been operating under its present formula since 2001.
The company is a majority shareholder in Bercer (with greenhouses in the Berceni district of Bucharest), Leocer (with greenhouses in Popesti-Leordeni) and Ostrovit (with vineyards and orchards in Ostrov and Constanta). The company also owns the tinned fruit and vegetable plant in Caracal, which it acquired in 2002, and vegetable farms in Turnu Magurele and Isalnita.
According to Luminita Vlad, around 60-70% of the greenhouse production is exported, with the percentage fluctuating each year depending on foreign markets and weather conditions.
Last year, the company invested around 2.5 million euros in acquiring a tomato processing line. Investments were also used to improve irrigation systems and warehouses at the farm in Craiova.
"For this very reason, we have a great deal of investment projects planned in 2007. A four-million euro investment in the plant at Caracal, of which 2 million euros will come from Sapard financing, a 500,000 euro Sapard project designated for the farm at Turnu Magurele for equipment acquisitions, which is close to completion, and 12.4m euros in the acquisition of new greenhouses in Pipera, which is our own investment," Vlad also stated.
The basic greenhouse products sold by Leader are cucumbers and tomatoes, but given the cyclical character of these vegetables, the company has occasional production breaks when it sells other imported products.
Leader controls around 1,400 hectares of land through its various companies.
In 2006, Leader generated a turnover worth 12.4m euros and an income worth 212,000 euros, compared with a 10.7 million-euro turnover and a net income of 580,000 euros in 2005.
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