Romaqua Group SA, the bottler of Borsec mineral water, will initiate investments of more than 14 million euros this autumn in order to expand its bottling capacity, enter the market for natural juices packaged in tetra-pak style cartons and launch a new still water brand, Busteni.
"We will begin to invest in expanding the facilities in Busteni, that is in building a new factory that will take up 3,000 sqm and a bottling line for carton-packaged natural juices. These investments will amount to 5 million euros," explained Octavian Cretu, Romaqua Group chairman.
The company's investments will either be self-funded or backed by loans from Banca Comerciala Romana (Romanian Commercial Bank - BCR).
"The Romanian soft drinks market has tremendous growth potential. We only need to stop to think that consumption of bottled mineral water per capita in Romania stands at 40-42 litres compared with the 150-160 litres a year in Western countries. The same goes for juices," Romaqua's chairman said.
Romaqua Group's latest investment was made in a carbonated soft drinks bottling facility in Busteni, where the group owns 20,000 sqm of land.
The investments in the Busteni factory had reached about 10 million euros so far, Cretu stated. The actual building totals 4,000 sqm; the factory numbers 120 employees.
Romaqua bottles Giusto soda pops at its Busteni facility at the moment, which were introduced this spring. Its second goal is to introduce a new brand of still mineral water. The company has a licence to operate of a mineral water source in Busteni but has not used it until now.
The new mineral water should arrive by 2006. It will be an Evian-type water (with a very low mineralisation level), Cretu explained.
Romaqua Group is 98% held by Romaqua Holdings SA, previously called Comchim (Bucharest), a company involved in the import and sale of chemical and pharmaceutical products.
Both businesses are controlled by four Romanian individuals, with Octavian Cretu as the main shareholder. The Romaqua Group employs about 800 people.
Also this year, Romaqua Holdings entered the coffee market with the Metropolitan brand, following an investment in a roasting and packaging line in Bucharest. Cretu would not say how much the Romaqua Group's turnover was worth, though certain estimates point to some 40-50 million euros a year.
The bulk of company's revenues are derived from bottling and selling Borsec mineral water.
The Borsec brand puts Romaqua among the top three players on the mineral water market, alongside Coca-Cola HBC Romania (Dorna, Izvorul Alb) and European Drinks (Izvorul Minunilor, Stana de Vale).
georgiana.stavarache@zf.ro
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