Given that Romania doesn't have the sugar quota allocated for the 2014-2015 marketing year, the country risks an infringement procedure any time, according to Mihail Dimitriu, vice-president of the Employers in the Romanian Sugar Industry. The penalty in this case is of EUR 500 per tonne of sugar from the quota, meaning a total of EUR 52 million.

“The European Commission may start an infringement procedure against Romania because it doesn't have a sugar quota and the penalty is of EUR 500 per tonne of sugar from the quota. It hasn’t happened before that a country in the European Union hasn’t allocated a sugar quota after processing the sugar beet, in the 2014-2015 marketing year,” said Dimitriu, cited by local Capital.ro.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com