Racova Com Agro Pan Vaslui, a holding company which covers businesses in the fields of agriculture and the food industry and which belongs to businessman Adrian Porumboiu, last year secured deals worth almost 88 million euros, some 15 million euros higher year-on-year.
"Last year was a good agricultural year, during which grain prices fell significantly since the previous year. We had very good grain harvests, but the most important thing was that we managed to diversify our businesses in the food industry, where the player which saw the highest increase by far was Ulerom Vaslui edible oil plant," said Adrian Porumboiu, chairman of Racova Com Agro Pan Vaslui.
2004 was one of the best years for agriculture since 1990, with agricultural production growing by 20% compared to the previous year.
In 2003, one tonne of wheat could even reach 230 dollars on the market, while last year, after the new harvest, prices went down to 140-150 dollars.
For this year, Porumboiu projects a moderate increase of 5-10% in turnover.
"This agricultural year is set to be a good one, maybe even better than last year if current climatic conditions continue," says Porumboiu, who this year cultivated 40,000 hectares of land of which 24,000 were for wheat, making him the biggest wheat grower in Romania, even exceeding Insula Mare a Brailei in terms of quantity.
The Vaslui-based holding is also one of the most important growers of rape in Romania. "We are exporting rape oil to the aeronautic industry. Rape oil is increasingly used abroad as a substitute for diesel oil and petrol," said Porumboiu.
Racova is this year planning investments of 35 million dollars. "We will open two new cow farms to supply the plant in Vaslui, since getting milk from small farmers is quite difficult. At the same time, we will continue investing in our bread plants and will open the first pig breeding complex near Barlad. We are also planning other investments, though we are still thinking about them," clarified Porumboiu.
Porumboiu also owns 120 vineyards in Colinele Tutovei in southern Vaslui county, where he last year produced 1,200 tonnes of grapes.
"We've stopped wine wholesaling and we are now selling wine in PET. Sales are good and in the next two to three years we are likely to enter the market for DOC wines, though this market is quite crowded at the moment," explained Porumboiu.
Porumboiu's group of firms owns 196 stores in Moldova, as well as bakeries in Vatra Dornei, Campulung Moldovenesc, Vaslui, Suceava, Radauti, Gura Humorului, Falticeni, Solca and Barlad.
stelian.negrea@zf.ro
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