Bucharest-based industrial equipment producer Vulcan, which is under insolvency, unveiled the largest oil pumping unit in Europe, on Wednesday, July 29.

The new equipment, which is 100% designed and produced in Romania, will be delivered to the Middle East under the name “The White Elephant”.

The company has invested EUR 350,000 from its own sources in research, development, and testing for the new pump prototype. The pump can extract 1,000 barrels of oil per day from a depth of up to 4,000 meters.

Vulcan has already concluded a contract worth EUR 22 million to sell 200 oil pumps to the Middle East, almost a quarter of which have already been delivered.

“By the end of the year, we’ll take part in two other auctions in Kuwait and Oman,” said Remus Vulpescu, Vulcan’s CEO.

Vulcan currently has 560 employees, after laying off half of its staff. The company plans to hire back and reach 1,200 employees in maximum one year, according to its management.

Vulcan is part of a local group controlled by Romanian investor Ovidiu Tender. The company went into insolvency in 2013 and its legal administrator is Euro Insol, which also reorganized electricity producer Hidroelectrica.

Romanian producer Vulcan goes insolvent despite bigger contracts; lack of working capital due to debt

editor@romania-insider.com