Grants in total amount of RON 350 million (EUR 70 million) were given to two Romanian entrepreneurs under the Investalim scheme aimed at the food industry for developing two sunflower refining plants in Agigea (Constanta County) and Tantareni (Gorj County) under two projects with a total value of RON 650 million.

The investments come after a broad consolidation carried out by the foreign investors in the industry over the past decades, with several major sunoil plants being acquired and closed down – one of which was operating not far from the location of the new plant developed in Tantareni.

Romania is among the largest European sunflower producers.

US group Cargill closed down the sunflower processing plant in Podar (southern Romania) in 2013, after taking over the Romanian assets from Swiss group Expur. 

Earlier, in 2007, Bunge closed another sunflower oil plant in Oradea. It is one of the three such plants acquired and closed down by Bunge in Romania – the other two being Unirea (Iasi) and Muntenia (Bucuresti).

Under one of the two new projects, Poarta Deltei, an organic cereal producer with a business of approximately RON 63.5 million in 2023, owned by the Constanta entrepreneur Costea Dincă, will build an oil factory in Agigea, according to Economica.net. The project involves RON 243 million in investments, of which RON 119 million were provided under a state grant.

Without giving more details about the investment, Dincă says that the construction works will most likely start next year and that he has already signed the financing contract with AFIR, the institution through which the Investalm scheme is run.

The second investment, of RON 404.5 million, of which state aid is RON 234.8 million, is carried out by the company Barret Family, a business with a turnover of RON 57.2 million in 2023 and activities in the cereal production area owned by Iancu Victor from Mizil.

The unit will be located in Tantareni, Gorj County, on a 12-hectare land concession from the state, and the actual investment "will start immediately," as the Gorj County Council wrote on its social media page.

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Ryzhov Sergey/Dreamstime.com)