The figures of the past year in this industry show that almost520 people have been made redundant, three traditional breweries ofHateg (Hunedoara), Azuga (Prahova) and Blaj (Alba) and another twosmall ones of Galati and Ialomita have been closed. Thus the numberof beer production centres fell by another five facilities, whilein 2008 around 20 of the 125 breweries active in 1994 were stilloperational in Romania, according to the Brewers of EuropeAssociation data. How did this happen?
"Investors came here and saw an above-the-average beerconsumption and a population of 21 million people. Consumption ishigh in Hungary as well, but the country does not have as manyinhabitants. Moreover, here large producers battled for the leadingposition on the market and tried to seal as many acquisitions aspossible, while small brewers sold their businesses owing toopportunities and the economic boom registered until 2008,"explained Shachar Shaine, chairman of United Romanian BreweriesBereprod (URBB), the producer of Tuborg and Carlsberg, with81m-euro turnover in 2009.
In the wake of takeovers, in Romania more than 95% of thebusiness is now operated by five or six players, while the numberof small brewers is very low.
Nevertheless, Shaine says there is still the possibility thatthe number of breweries would go up through the development of someregional breweries, a market segment that has not seen anyinvestments in recent years.
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