European funds of over 17 mln euros for fishermen

Agerpres - ROMANIAN ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS, August 23, 2010, No. 34

Fishermen and local communities can have access to European funds of over 17 million euros, as of  August 2010, for the protection of wild fauna and flora in the fishing zones and for the development of a fishing fleet, according to data published by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR). The General Department for Fishing - Managing Authority for the Fishery Operational Programme (DGP-AMPOP) launched on August 9 2010 an open session for financing applications on Axis 3 measures from the Fishery Operational Programme, aimed at collective actions in the fishing zones (Measure 3.1), protection and development of wild fauna and flora (Measure 3.2), construction of ports for fishing boats, disembarking points and shelters (Measure 3.3) and pilot projects for fishing zones (Measure 3.5). The earmarked funds for this session exceed 17 million euros, of which for Measure 3.1 - 5.481 million euros, Measure 3.2 - 7.308 million euros, Measure 3.3 - 3.654 million euros, Measure 3.5 - 639,520 euros. According to DGP-AMPOP, in order to be selected for financing, the project must get the minimum score provided for each measure, in line with the Applicant's Guide. Romania is to benefit of over 307.6 million euros, by 2013, for the financing of investments in the fishery, aquaculture and processing field, of which 230.714 million euros representing EU assistance and the difference being covered from the national budget. Axis 1 destined to adapting the fishing fleet is allocated the amount of 13 million euros, Axis 2 aquaculture - 140 million euros, Axis 3 for joint interest measures - 40 million euros, Axis 4 Development of fishing zones - 100 million euros and Axis 5 Technical assistance - 14.3 million euros.

Situation of the spending of European funds for agriculture

Agerpres - ROMANIAN ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS, August 23, 2010, No. 34

The beneficiaries of EU funds have received over 1.43 billion euros from the money allotted to Romania via the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development until now, says a release of the Paying Agency for Rural Development and Fisheries (APDRP). In total, a number of 13,614 contracts for rural development have been signed and payments of more than 3.16 billion euros have been made since March 2008 when the National Rural Development Programme started, a programme through which European grants were awarded for investments and direct payments. A total of 1.43 billion euros were paid, of which 613.72 million euros for the contracts signed by APDRP, to which 825.92 million euros were added for the area payments implemented by the Paying and Intervention Agency for Agriculture (APIA).Until now, the APDRP has received 5,220 funding applications for Measure 121 on the "Modernization of agricultural holdings" launched in March 2008, of which 1,514 grants amounting to 526.9 million euros were given. Total payments of over 182 million euros were also made. Measure 123 on "Adding value to agricultural and forestry products" was accessed by 913 applicants, of which 376 public financing contracts worth more than 365 million euros have been signed. For this measure over 48 million euros have been paid. For Measure 322 on the "Village restoration and development" 585 projects worth 1.51 billion euros have been contracted until now and the contracting phase is still ongoing. For measure 312 on the "Support for the creation and development of micro-enterprises" launched in September 2008, a number of 3980 funding application have been submitted, of which 1,261 grants worth about 183 million euros have been awarded, with the contracting phase still ongoing. The contracts signed for Measure 112 on the "Setting up of young farmers" has farmers under the age of 40 as beneficiaries. This measure has received a lot of attention since it was launched in December 2008. Thus, until now, 5,261 finance applications have been submitted, of which 2,671 projects worth more than 56 million euros have been contracted. A number of 2,671 young farmers have been settled into their farms until now. APDRP also makes payments for area support measures implemented by the APIA. For these measures sums of more than 825.92 million euros have been paid.

Increasing number of farm producers get green certificate

Agerpres - ROMANIAN ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS, August 23, 2010, No. 34

The number of the farm producers who got a green certificate in the last three years has trebled in central and northeastern Romania, in the historic province of Transylvania, with the farmers choosing to grow niche products, the Romania libera daily reports. According to Grigore Onaciu, the director of the Agriculture and Rural Development Directorate based in Cluj county (central-western Romania), the agricultural producers in the area have received certificates of organic and ecological producers in such areas as the production of meat products, cheese, alcoholic products, honey and vegetables. The specialists of the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine based in Cluj-Napoca say the farmers can easily get the status of organic producers, given that many of them had to give up using pesticides or chemical fertilizers in the wake of the recession. The green farmers can be met everywhere in Transylvania. “There are green farms of snails, poultry, cows as well as a farm near Sighisoara that produces organic hay for a breed-horse farm in Germany," the Romania libera quotes Onaciu as saying.

The steep fall of Romania’s brewing market since 1994

Agerpres - ROMANIAN ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS, August 23, 2010, No. 34

The number of breweries witnessed a dramatic fall in Romania from 125 production facilities in 1994 to less than 20 today; only in the past year alone, almost 520 people were left jobless, as three brewing plants with tradition located in Hateg (Hunedoara County), Azuga (Prahova County) and Blaj (Alba County) plus another two small-sized facilities in Ialomita and Galati were closed down, reports daily Ziarul financiar, citing data from the Brewers of Europe Association. What triggered this steep fall? "Investors saw that Romania’s beer consumption was above average and that the country has a 21 million-strong population. Hungary too has a high consumption, but the population is far smaller. In addition, the large beer producers fought for the leading position in the market and sought as many takeovers as possible, whereas smaller brewers sold their businesses in order to grasp the existing opportunities and take advantage of the economic boom that was present until 2008," explains Shachar Shaine, president of United Romanian Breweries Bereprod (URBB), the producer of the Tuborg and Carlsberg beer brands, with a turnover of 81 million euros in 2009.  For these reasons, adds Shaine, Romania is currently the only country in the region after Russia, with such a highly competitive beer market, dominated by the world’s major producers. Shaine says that in 1999, when he came first in Romania, there were 55 brewers, but subsequently their number decreased gradually, mainly as a result of the consolidation that took place at international level. For instance, the last and bulkiest takeover on the beer market was the acquisition of Bere Mures, producer of the Neumarkt beer brand, by Heineken Romania - No. 2 on the local market. Although their company had a turnover of almost 50 million euros and controlled more than 5% of a market of 20 million hectoliters, one of the main reasons why Bere Mures shareholders put up the company for sale was the good timing for getting the ask price, 150 million euros, writes Ziarul Financiar.  Following such deals, Romania is now in the situation to have 95% of the beer business controlled by five or six players (Ursus Breweries, Heineken, Bergenbier, Tuborg, Romaqua and European Drinks), while small producers are just a few, unlike the other states in Central and Eastern Europe – the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary - where small breweries still play an important role. For a comparison, whereas Romania has less than 20 breweries after the close-down of three facilities in the past year, the Czech Republic has more than 125 producers, Poland has 70 and Hungary 55, according to the Brewers of Europe Association that cites a 2009 study by Ernst & Young. Despite that, the manager of the Tuborg beer producer says that there is still a chance to increase the number of beer plants by developing regional brewers, a market segment where investments have been scanty in recent years. "A system of small brewers could be developed in the future, because the producers with an annual output lower than 200,000 hectolitres take advantage of a more favourable tax system compared to large producers. But they must have regional products on offer to differentiate themselves. For example in Belgium there are many small producers that brew special beers, whereas in Romania, lager beer with an alcohol concentration of 5% accounts for 90% of beer sales," said the URBB president. Whereas in the years of economic boom, the brewing industry was growing at a monthly pace of 10%, it is now among the worst hit consumer goods sectors, as growth no longer set in since Oct. 2008, but most brewers further pumped money into promotion, so as not to lose contact with consumers. In Romania, the first strong signal of a new period of decline was seen in June 2009 when group AB InBev, the world’s leading brewer, sold out its local operations, along with several other European markets it no longer considered to be of "key importance." After the business was taken over by investment fund CVC Capital Partners, the local operations were reorganized beginning with the company’s name (InBev Romania became Bergenbier), to the management team (Mihai Ghyka was appointed Bergenbier SA CEO) and ending this August with the shareholders’ decision to close down the brewery in Blaj. The closing of the plant and the relocation of production to Ploiesti is accompanied by the dismissal of 172 employees, who have been on a non-work status in the past nine months (the decision to temporarily stop production was made in October 2009). "Along with the falling demand in the beer market, the consumer habits have also changed, the beer drinker pays more attention to costs and is spending-shy, especially now, after the government announced such tough austerity measures. Therefore, we estimate that the capacity of the Ploiesti-based plant is enough to meet the projected demand of the next three years," said Mihai Ghyka, Bergenbier SA CEO. According to information from the National Statistics Institute, beer sales fell by over 7% in the first six months of this year, after a decline of 15% in 2009. Since mid-2009 brewers gave up production units with a capacity of nearly two million hectoliters a year, the equivalent of more than 11% of total beer sales on the local market in 2009, and have fired over 580 people. Small producers too were hit by the crisis. In 2009 alone two breweries – one in Ghimpaţi (Ialomita County), the other one owned by company Vega 93 in Galati were shuttered, a move resulting in 90 redundancies. The first multinational that announced it would close a facility because of the crisis was SABMiller, owner of Ursus Breweries, which bought Bere Azuga in January 2009 and decided in June to shut down the production centre which generated annual sales below 200,000 hectolitres; 160 employees were also made redundant. Heineken, No. 2 by turnover, also closed the malt divisions in Hateg, Craiova and Miercurea Ciuc, where 60 people were working, in a move to get rid of non-performing assets. A brief review of the Romanian beer market in figures: as much as 17.6 million hectolitres of beer were sold last year in Romania; average consumption was 81 litres per capita in 2009, compared to 93 liters the year before; the market shrank 13% last year compared with 2008, whereas the 2010 mid-year decline was 7.5% the National Statistics Institute informed.

Mercadia Holland buys miniMAX store chain

Agerpres - ROMANIAN ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS, August 23, 2010, No. 34

Mercadia Holland BV Group purchased the commercial company miniMAX Discount SRL, the operator of the store chain with the same name, in a transaction concluded on August 13, Mercadia informs. "Mercadia Group is already active on the retail market in Romania since the spring this year through MIC.RO store chain. MiniMAX acquisition is part of the development strategy of the group on this market", stressed Dan Ionescu, CEO Mercadia Holland BV. MiniMAX Discount is a Romanian company set up in 2003 with the aim to develop a discounter type store chain of medium dimensions in the cities and towns of Romania. MiniMAX chain numbers at present 31 discounter type stores in localities with over 10,000 inhabitants all over the country. The management plans to open more than 100 such stores in the final phase. Previous shareholders of miniMAX Discount were Austrian group Real4You together with Rainer Exel and Andreas Kampf. Mercadia Holland BV Group holds majority packages in the following companies: MIC.RO, Retail, BET CAFE ARENA and iLearn.

President Basescu: Land cultivation should be stimulated by tax levers

Agerpres - ROMANIAN ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS, August 16, 2010, No. 33

Land cultivation activities should be stimulated by tax levers, given that there are currently two million hectares of uncultivated land in Romania and the subsidy is still cashed, President Traian Basescu told Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company on Aug. 11. He also pointed out that the two million hectares of uncultivated land mostly belong to small farmers. “This is not good. We must also find out whether this guaranteed minimum income did more harm than good. Here I mean the guaranteed minimum income, which provides an alternative to cultivating the land. Not to mention the fact that in the agriculture sector we see the following situation: either one cultivates the land or not, one gets the subsidy. I am afraid we must do something about it. It is intolerable to get the subsidy and not cultivate the land, but this is European Union’s rule” said Basescu. “We will have to stimulate the land cultivation through tax levers,” added Traian Basescu.

Romania's 2010 wheat crops to stand close to 5.6 million tonnes

Agerpres - ROMANIAN ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS, August 16, 2010, No. 33

Romania’s 2010 wheat crops will slightly exceed 5.6 million tonnes, as 98 percent of the land under wheat has so far been harvested, State Secretary with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Adrian Radulescu told Agerpres on Aug. 11. “We already have 5.6 million tonnes of wheat collected from 98 percent of the area under wheat, and I believe we will reap more than 100,000 tonnes from the remaining area, at an average crop yield of 2.8 tonnes per hectare,” said Radulescu.

MADR projected the 2010 total wheat crops at 6.64 million tonnes from 2.064 million hectares and an average yield of 3.4 tonnes per hectare, but abundant rainfalls triggered early wheat sprouting and made harvesting in the optimal season impossible.

Radulescu also said that out of its total wheat crops, Romania will export nearly 1.8 million tonnes to meet the business orders underway but it will be then compelled to import nearly 1.2 million tonnes of wheat to make sure the demand is met until the 2011 crop.

“There are business orders underway for the export of 1.8 million tonnes of wheat at a price of RON 0.5-0.7 per kg, but I believe we will have to import nearly 1.2 million tonnes to see us through the next year’s crops and meet the domestic demand. But I am afraid that the price for the imports will be higher than RON 1.2 per kg,” said Radulescu. The annual supply of wheat to meet domestic demand in Romania is estimated at 3.5 million tonnes.

The state secretary reaffirmed his previous estimates of the wheat quality, saying that nearly 30 percent of the wheat crops will not be fit for bread making.

In 2009, Romania reported a total wheat production of 5.25 million tonnes. Romania’s total production of cereals - wheat, barley, two-row barley, maize and rice – stood at 13.88 million tonnes, down 15.5 percent from 2008 (16.441 million tonnes). Wheat and maize made up 12.685 million tonnes, or 91 percent of the total yield of cereals.

Torrential rainfalls coupled with drought have affected Europe’s main cereals producers and exporters, including Ukraine and Russia, both of which were compelled to take measures to limit exports.

Billa to open 20 outlets in 2011

Agerpres - ROMANIAN ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS, August 2, 2010, No. 31

Billa, the largest network of local supermarkets in Romania, with a 2009 business turnover of 288 million euros, is continuing its business expansion in Romania, announcing that it will open 20 outlets in 2011, despite the retail trade still sliding. Ziarul financiar reported on July 30 that Billa, part of the German Rewe group of companies, is the second largest retail trader in Romania after Metro Group. The group runs also the Penny Market and Selgros supermarkets. So far this year, it has opened eight new outlets and seven more are to come in the following months, all of which will create 500 jobs. Although consumption projections are still bleak, indicating a 5 percent further drop in 2010, foreign traders continue to expand their business in an attempt to win more share in a market estimated at 20-22 billion euros. “We can see potential for more than 200 local Billa outlets,” Billa Chief Operating Officer Filip Cristescu told the paper. The Romanian Billa network of supermarkets is counting on a 2010 business turnover similar to the 2009’s 288 million euros, betting on further expansion in 2010. Retail trade in consumer products contracted 10 percent in volume in 2009. The big retailers that halted investment in expansion are said to have witnessed a decrease by 15-25 percent in their business turnovers expressed in euros in 2009.

Radu Roatis (ANSVSA): Romania may resume pork exports from local farms this September

Agerpres - ROMANIAN ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS, August 2, 2010, No. 31

In September this year Romania may resume intra-community pork exports from local farms, the president of the National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority (ANSVSA) Radu Roatis told Agerpres on Wednesday, July 28. "We have fulfilled all conditions to resume intra-community pork and pork products exports. We have submitted the request and are waiting for the decision, which will probably arrive in September, at the first meeting of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health," said Roatis. The ANSVSA president underlined that approving this request would allow any Romanian pig breeding farm, accredited on the community market, to export pork and pork products to any country within the EU. "Any accredited farm, which wants to export pork, will be able to do it after the EC ratifies the agreement to move Romania to Annex II from Annex III, i.e. a country free of classical swine fever. Romania fulfilled all its obligations, i.e. we stopped the vaccination against swine fever on January 1, 2010 and since then no outbreak of swine fever has been registered," added Roatis. Pork and pork processed product deliveries from Romanian farms were banned on the EU market since 2003 as Romania used to vaccinate pigs to eradicate classical swine fever. In 2007 the European Commission decided to extend the ban on Romanian farms' pork exports till December 31, 2009, considering that swine fever was still not kept under control. In December 2009, the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health approved Romania's admission to Annex III of Decision 2008/855. In this context, Romanian pork processing units, which process meat from European areas officially free of swine fever, were granted permission to deliver products bearing Romanian brands on the European single market. Romania requested the European Commission, upon the request of Romanian producers, to be included in Annex II of Decision 2008/855. This may allow the trading of pork and pork products produced in Romania, opening for Romanian producers good prospects to sell their products on the European market. Including Romania in Annex II of Decision 2008/855 is essential because inclusion in Annex I of the Directive may be subsequently requested, which will allow total liberalization, including the possibility to sell live pigs on the European market. The last swine fever outbreaks in Romania were registered in 2007, in the Timis County (western Romania), at the farms belonging to the American company Smithfield, where over 50,000 pigs were slaughtered. Now, 5.1 million pigs are raised in farms and households all over Romania, 1.4 million of which in commercial holdings and 3.8 million in households. Annual consumption in Romania is of approximately 11 million pigs, 70 percent of which is satisfied by imports only. Before 1989, almost 15 million pigs were raised in Romania.

APDRP: Financing applications worth some 300 mln euros for rural businesses

Agerpres - ROMANIAN ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS, August 2, 2010, No. 31

The Paying Agency for Rural Development and Fisheries (APDRP) received 1,780 financing applications with a total eligible value of nearly 300 million euros for Measure 312 - "Support for establishing micro-enterprises", informs an APDRP release. The session for the submission of projects took place over June 14 – July 15, 2010. Funds amounting to 95.85 million euros were available for this session. The projects are to be assessed by APDRP experts and selected for financing depending on the reached score. Most financing applications were submitted in the South Muntenia Region 3 (445 projects) and Region 6 North-West (340 projects). Projects target various activities, such as the acquisition of equipment for the provision of the services relating to crop production, the establishment of car services, of body care centres, the opening of veterinary facilities, handicraft workshops, printing houses, copy centres, shoe factories, water bottling plants and many others. The non-repayable financing under this measure may reach up to 70 percent of the total eligible value of the investment, but it may not exceed 200,000 euros. The non-repayable European funds granted under Measure 312 can support over 200 eligible activities, which are to be developed only in the rural area. Measure 312 – "Support for establishing and developing micro-enterprises" is included in Axis III – Improvement in the life quality in rural areas and diversification of rural economy of the National Rural Development Programme (PNDR).

Financial state aid to cover up to 70 pct of insurance premium cost

Agerpres - ROMANIAN ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS, August 2, 2010, No. 31

Small and medium-sized enterprises that carry out activities in the sector of primary agricultural production may benefit as of this year from a financial state aid of up to 70 percent of the insurance premium cost, according to a normative act approved by the government last week. The total state aid is a percentage of the insurance premiums paid by the agricultural producers, namely 70 percent of the insurance premiums corresponding to the policies that stipulate the compensation of the losses resulted from unfavourable weather conditions that can be included in the category of natural disasters, such as frost, hail, glaze ice, rain or drought and 50 percent of the insurance premiums corresponding to the policies that stipulate the compensation of the losses incurred due to the above-said weather conditions, as well as other losses caused by unfavourable weather conditions or diseases/pests of animals or plants.

Less than two percent irregularities in implementing SAPARD in Romania

Agerpres - ROMANIAN ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS, July 19, 2010, No. 29

The irregularities in implementing the SAPARD Programme account for about 1.8 percent of the absorption of the non-repayable European funds placed at Romania's disposal through this programme, the total value of debits being 17.4 million euros, informs a release the Payment Agency for Rural Development and Fishing (APDRP) sent to Agerpres. Through the SAPARD Programme, over 2002-2006, Romania was granted non-repayable funds for the development of the rural areas worth 1.27 billion euros for 4,412 investment projects. According to the APDRP data, after checking the way the financed projects were implemented and after the checks made by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), they found certain irregularities in making investments, a fact that brought about 14 debits. The total value of these debits set up at the OLAF request is 17.4 million euros, which accounts for about 1.8 percent of the non-repayable European funds absorbed by Romania through the SAPARD Programme. The projects for which the debits were formed were financed through Measure 1.1 "The improvement of processing and marketing of agricultural and fishery products," which is part of the SAPARD Programme. The debits were caused by irregularities that the Office found in the tenders organized by certain beneficiaries, while in most cases considered by OLAF the acquisition processes were quite formal.

Agriculture Minister: Romania has second largest rural development programme in Europe, after Poland

Agerpres - ROMANIAN ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS, July 19, 2010, No. 29

Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Mihail Dumitru told an agriculture seminar on July 22 that Romania holds the second largest rural development programme in Europe, after Poland. “Certainly Romania has been going through a difficult period. The positive side resides in the fact that although we have been experiencing a financial crisis, Romania may benefit from EU funds. Romania has a rural development programme over 2007-2013 which is the second biggest in Europe, after Poland’s. The funds total almost 13 billion euros. The farming sector continues contributing to the GDP,” Minister Dumitru pointed out. Likewise, the Romanian official admitted that Romania’s agriculture fails reaching the European level and one of the recovery alternatives is to develop variants to make people continue living in the countryside.

“We know that the Romanian agriculture fails meeting the European performance level, but we have to develop alternatives and offer people good living and work conditions and avoid they leave the rural space. We are about to set up the required legal framework to support the Romanian food and farming sector. Last night (on July 21 July 2010 – editor’s note), the Government passed an important law package numbering five financial support measures for agriculture. The first is aimed at backing up the animal sector. Romania’s animal breeding sector can meet most of the domestic consumption, and also increase the exports. There is no serious economic reason for Romania not put out these products. The law package is not complete, other variants are under way. They will be enacted depending on the budget resources we avail of, but also on the EU Commission’s opinion,” Agriculture Minister Dumitru said. According to him, the EU Commission will make its first proposal on the new agriculture policy, by yearend. “Important talks on the new CAP are in progress, and one of the most important is about financing,” Minister Dumitru stressed.

Romania wishes CAP to remain one of the main EU policies after 2013 as well

Agerpres - ROMANIAN ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS, July 19, 2010, No. 29

Romania wishes the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to remain one of the main EU policies after 2013 as well, Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Mihail Dumitru told Radio France International (RFI) on July 20. “First of all, Romania wishes CAP to remain one of the main EU policies, just like it used to be. It wishes to have a budget strong enough to support the objectives of the common agricultural policy. To be more precise, we wish to have a budget at least similar to the one allocated for 2007-2013,” Mihail Dumitru said. Moreover, as regards the architecture of the common agricultural policy, the Romanian official pointed out it is important that CAP remains mainly an EU policy, primarily supported from the EU budget on two pillars, just like it used to be. “The first pillar is for supporting farmers’ revenues and the second pillar for rural development, for supporting the development of the rural economy. Furthermore, we wish the distribution under the first pillar of the CAP, namely the direct payments, be made in an impartial way, we wish to eliminate the large differences between the old and the new member states. We have tackled this aspect, which begins to take increasingly more shape in Europe, supported by the proposals put forward by the Romanian farmers,” Agriculture minister underscored. He added there have been made several proposals in relation to some of Romania’s specific interests regarding the future of the common agricultural policy. “For example, we believe we still need some market intervention instruments that should provide a safety net in case of crisis on the food product markets and increased volatility of prices. Moreover, a risk management instrument at European level has to be developed. Furthermore, given the climate changes and the increasingly more frequent extreme weather incidents we believe we must come up with certain solutions at European level,” the Romanian official pointed out.

Romania asks EC to allow advance payments of up to 80 pct of 2010 direct payments

Agerpres - ROMANIAN ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS, July 19, 2010, No. 29

Romania asked the European Commission (EC) to allow the granting of an advance payment of up to 80 percent of the direct payments per hectare relating to the applications submitted in 2010, according to a release of the Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry (MADR) of July 22. The request was made on July 14 by the Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Mihail Dumitru through an official letter addressed to the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Dacian Ciolos under art. 29, paragraph 4 of the EC Regulation no. 73/2009. “A positive answer of the European Commission would represent both a helping hand that is more than welcome for our farmers, in order to reduce the adverse effects of the crisis and the difficult weather conditions, and a certification of the fact that the support mechanisms of the Common Agricultural Policy are managed so that they should meet the needs of the beneficiaries from the rural areas,” Mihail Dumitru said. This year’s financial allocation for the single area payment scheme amounts to 729.863 million euros, resulting in approximately 81 euros per hectare. As many as 1,091,984 applications have been submitted over March 1 – June 11, 2010 for a surface covering 9.4 million hectares. Agriculture minister believes the EC representatives will grant Romania the necessary support by allowing advance payments in 2010 as well.

Bucharest, June 29 /Agerpres/ - The Agricultural Producers' Associations League of Romania (LAPAR) requests, on behalf of crop farmers, the instating up of an emergency situation, meant to save what can be saved from the agricultural production of cereals and rapeseed harvest of this year. According to a LAPAR release, the abundant and daily rainfalls in the past weeks have triggered a disastrous situation for the farmers because they cannot start the harvesting of cereals and rapeseed. "During this period the full harvesting campaign should have been underway, but harvesting the barley and rapeseed is delayed a lot, while that of wheat has not started. Harvest losses are huge and will result in negative results for farmers nationwide. Excessive humidity in the atmosphere, correlated with soil moisture, are reflected by the moisture problem of the grain ready to be harvested, and the harvesting combines cannot even enter the fields. Significant areas planted with barley, wheat, rapeseed were so affected by the heavy rains and strong winds, so that these crops were laid to the ground. At the same time, the places where water stagnates cause further delays and great losses. The situation is dramatic countrywide, and farmers are left alone to face the fury of nature unleashed", says the release. Under these conditions, the farmers urge the Presidency, the Government, the Parliament and all the political forces in the country, irrespective of their political affiliation, "to come down to earth and get united in finding viable and urgent solutions, so that the country's agriculture sector and the farmers can be saved in the difficult times they are confronted with".

Finance minister: We are considering new taxes on farmland and other properties

Bucharest, June 28 / Agerpres / - Taxes on properties will be raised next year, however, without affecting the people currently paying 20 - 40 euros, the pensioners and those earning a low income, Public Finance Minister Sebastian Vladescu told a private television channel on Sunday, June 27. 'We are considering new taxes on farmland and the national ownership system. I am in favour of initiating such talks, because revenues derived from property taxes are very low in Romania. Those living in one-room or 2 and 3-room apartments have nothing to fear. Those benefiting from larger surfaces, many properties, of which some are industrial properties, the people that own uncultivated land have reasons to be nervous next year, because we will think about ways to tax them,' Vladescu explained. He added the tax on farmland must be increased in Romania, but pointed out that no decision on such rise had been adopted so far. The Finance minister underscored that the value of the property must be assessed and he believes there is only one way to do this, namely by considering the value registered at the notaries, which should be used as tax base.

Commissioner Ciolos envisaging reforming quality policy of agri-food sector

Bucharest, June 28 /Agerpres/ - European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Dacian Ciolos is considering reforming the quality policy of the European agri-food sector so that traditional products of small entrepreneurs may be subject to a simplified registration process. 'I am contemplating presenting to the European Council and the European Parliament towards the close of the year a proposal for a regulation that would reform the quality policy of the agri-food sector and introduce a specific logo for traditional products traded on local market places. The new regulation would also set up a more simplified regime for the Europe-wide registration of products coming from small entrepreneurs and also European promotion for the same products,' Ciolos told a news conference in the weekend. Attending the second edition of 'D'ale gurii Dunarii' festival (For Your Mouth, from the Danube Mouths), Ciolos said that he would like the registration system to be also simplified, so that the production authorisations may be awarded without very big investments or bureaucratic complications. Ciolos also voiced hope that the local and county authorities will also realise the importance of local resources and support the initiative of the civil society, so that innovative and economically efficient solutions may be found. 'The main resource of the Danube Delta is the picture abroad of the people living here,' said Ciolos. Ciolos attended on Saturday the second edition of 'D'ale gurii Dunarii' festival at Uzlina, organised by the Save the Danube and the Delta Association, with support from the Romanian Ministry of Environment and the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River.

Non-repayable funds worth 2.8 billion euros to reach EAFRD beneficiaries

Agerpres, ROMANIAN ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS June 28, 2010

The Paying Agency for Rural Development and Fisheries (APDRP) has sealed financing contracts for the development of the rural area worth 2.79 billion euros, informs APDRP. As many as 12,542 financing contracts were signed since the initiation of the National Rural Development Programme (PNDR) in March 2008, through which European non-repayable funds for investments and other payments are granted. Moreover, payments totalling 549.49 million euros were made for the contracts concluded by APDRP, plus the per hectare payments implemented by APIA worth nearly 659 million euros. According to APDRP, the fund absorption is carried out in an alert and efficient pace under the 2007-2013 National Rural Development Programme. This impressive number of financing applications proves the beneficiaries’ high interest, as well as the major effort the Agency had to make. The 2007 - 2013 National Rural Development Programme is the programme that extends European non-repayable funds for private and public investments for the development of the Romanian rural area. The available money, namely the non-repayable funds earmarked for this program exceed 10 billion euros, out of which over 8 billion euros are from the European Union (under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development - EAFRD), the remainder being provided from the national budget.

New strategy for the irrigation sector as of this July

Agerpres, ROMANIAN ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS June 21, 2010

The Ministry of Agriculture will complete in July this year a new strategy for the Romanian irrigation sector, a plan worked out in collaboration with the World Bank, Agriculture Minister Mihail Dumitru told Agerpres. "In July we will have a new strategy conceived in collaboration with the World Bank, adjusted to the new conditions in Romania. The main guidelines of the strategy will be saving energy and water and the revamping programme will also get financial support from the World Bank,” Dumitru said. He mentioned that the new strategy will be adjusted to the present situation of the sector, where subsidies were abolished starting with 2010. "Recently, a section of the revamping programme was inaugurated, one that has already been unfolding in previous years with WB assistance in the Dabuleni area," said the Minister of Agriculture. He added that irrigations were contracted this year for over 413,000 hectares of crops, although farmers no longer receive irrigation subsidies. "The disaster announced in the beginning of the year, that there will be no irrigation contracts without subsidies, did not occur. We have over 413,000 hectares of farmland contracted for irrigation, 20 major farmers with over 8,000 hectares currently irrigate their land and small-size farmers have their own irrigation systems," said Dumitru. Farmers can access this year non-repayable European funding to improve their irrigation systems under Measure 125 of the National Rural Development Programme “Improving and developing infrastructure related to development and adaptation agriculture and forestry” for which almost 300 million euros are assigned. In 2010, the largest areas subject to irrigation contracts are those with wheat - 101,286.5 hectares; maize - 135,178.1 hectares; sunflower – 40,338.1 hectares; rapeseed – 31,642.9 hectares; barley – 15,161.2 hectares; soy – 21,142.7 hectares; vegetables and potatoes – 15,234.5 hectares; rice – 12,532 hectares.

In Romania there are around 408 water user organizations that have taken over the management of the irrigation infrastructure on more than one million hectares of farming land.

Financing applications worth over 864 mln euros for investment in farms

Agerpres, ROMANIAN ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS June 21, 2010

In the May project session, the Paying Agency for Rural Development and Fisheries (APDRP) has received 691 financing applications totalling more than 864 million euros (public and private financing) for investments in farms, according to APDRP data. As many as 367 financing applications amounting to 330 million euros have been submitted for the crop sector and 324 applications worth 533 million euros for the livestock sector. The session for measure 121 “Modernisation of agricultural holdings” took place over May 3 – 31, 2010. Funds worth 150 million euros were available for this session, of which 60 million euros have been earmarked for the crop sector and 90 million euros for the livestock sector. The maximum non-repayable amount that can be granted for financing a project under measure 121 is 1.6 million euros. According to APDRP, one of the projects with the highest eligible value, 4 million euros, is located in Buzau county and targets the establishment of a pig breeding farm, which also includes a fodder unit. At the opposite end - in terms of the eligible value - is a project worth about 35,000 euros, through which the beneficiary plans to set up a plantation of table grapes in Vrancea county. As many as 5,220 eligible financing applications have been submitted so far for receiving non-repayable financing for investments in farms, totalling some 1.94 billion euros. Out of these applications, 1,591 projects have been selected for financing, worth over 570 million euros. A number of 1,524 contracts totalling more than 528 million euros have been sealed.

Around 86 mln euros to be allocated to SMEs development in rural areas

Agerpres, ROMANIAN ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS June 21, 2010

Around 86 million euros in European funds will be allocated to the non-agricultural economic activities in rural areas, by signing 474 financing agreements to develop small and medium enterprises, Agriculture Minister Mihail Dumitru told a press conference on June 18. “This money is directed towards non-agricultural economic activities in rural areas in order to develop the small and medium enterprises in the services sector or in the sector of processing various raw materials from the rural area, and will contribute to job generation,” said Dumitru. According to Dumitru, this measure will be supplemented by the funds allocated through the rural tourism measure, which the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is working on, and which is now in the final selection stage.  “In the following period, we will be able to sign the agreements for a couple of hundreds more projects aimed at those who build tourist guest-houses in rural areas,” added Dumitru. Non-reimbursable European funds are granted for private and public investments, through the National Rural Development Programme 2007-2013 (through  the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development - EAFRD) in order to develop Romania’s countryside.

Romanian farmers to benefit from only 6 state aid schemes

Agerpres, ROMANIAN ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS June 21, 2010

Romanian farmers will benefit this year from only 6 state aid schemes, although 13 support measures were initially prepared, Agriculture Minister Mihail Dumitru told Agerpres on June 14. “Although we have prepared 13 support measures, we can afford only 6 aid schemes for this year due to the budgetary restrictions. We will commit to these aid schemes in the fourth quarter of this year, but we will pay them only in 2011, because we only have funds to repay diesel costs,” Dumitru said. The six support measures are: reduced excise tax for the diesel used in agriculture, aid for animal welfare in the pork and poultry sectors, the payment of the insurance premiums, rendering aid and production loans with subsidised interest rate. “The total amount earmarked for subsidies in the 2011 MADR budget amounts to 1.9 billion lei (1 euro trades at 4.22 lei). It is an amount similar to what we paid this year for the 2009 debts,” the Agriculture minister explained. He was discontent with the fact that agricultural trade union members said recently that all support measures for the agricultural sector were cut back this year or cancelled. “I have not heard one single farmer saying there is, however, a support measure in force. It is true that the diesel excise reduction entered into force on May 27, but if one takes into account that no or only a modest land tax is paid in Romania, this could also be considered as a state aid measure. I can mention the crisis plan implemented by the French president Nicolas Sarkozy, which involves the deferral of tax payments. If we consider them collectively, I think we can compensate to a large extent the fact that we are unable to give additional payments for crop production this year. I am a minister who is asked to distribute very little money, and my solution was to give money first and foremost to the sectors which receive no financing and need money, namely the animal breeding sector. I have talked with the farmers about the current situation and we try to meet the requirements of the sectors worst hit by the crisis with the available budgetary resources. If the resignation of the Minister of Agriculture settled the problem of the Romanian agriculture, it would be the easiest solution,” Dumitru underscored. The Minister of Agriculture pointed out that it has been said many times that no support is being granted anymore to agriculture, although 3 billion euros from European and national funds are allocated yearly to Romania’s agriculture, even during crises. “No one takes into account just how much money we allocate for investments. Our annual financial commitments through PNDR (National Rural Development Programme) reach 2 billion euros, while further 732 million euros are earmarked for the area payments from the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund and further 500 million euros from national funds. I do not know whether an amount of 3.2 billion euros is enough or not,” Dumitru added. “Moreover, we decided to maintain the complementary payments from the national budget for sheep and goats, and we will change last year’s measure for the cattle sector with another support scheme divided into two components: milk and meat. It will not reach last year’s level, but the aid will not be cancelled” Dumitru said. The crop sector will be subsidized in 2010 only through the area payments from European funds, worth 80.36 euros per hectare, with the complementary amounts from the national budget granted since 2007 being removed for 2010-2013. The initial aid was set at 166 euros per hectare, of which 80 euros from the European Union and the difference from the national budget.

Napolact wins gold at Effie Romania Awards Gala 2010

Agerpres, ROMANIAN ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS June 21, 2010

Dairy maker Napolact has won two gold prizes at the Effie Romania Awards Gala 2010, an event designed to acknowledge, educate and encourage effectiveness among the marketing communications industry, the company reports in a press release. This recognition consolidates Napolact’s leading position on the Romanian dairy market and it also confirms the perception of Romanian consumers, who consider Napolact to be a natural and trustful brand, with genuine Romanian traditional values. The big winner in the Food Products category was Napolact’s “Prilej de ragaz” (Time to Rest) campaign, which, together with the achievements of the previous years, contributed to Napolact’s winning gold in the Sustained Success category for the entire communication activity of the previous years, carried out under the umbrella concept of “Ca odinioara” (Like It Was Before). Moreover, the campaign was nominated for the Grand Effie prize. The success of Napolact is said to be all the more important as 19 prizes were awarded this year, fewer than in the past years. Napolact reported a 2009 business turnover of RON 233.5 million. The company is a member of the FrieslandCampina Romania group of companies. The range of Napolact products comprises all the specific dairy products – fresh milk, yogurt, sour milk, kefir, white cheese and yellow cheese. With 550 employees and two factories at Baciu and Taga, the company processes 32 million litres of milk a year, using 100 collection points and 110 farmers to this end.

Area payments for 2009

Bucharest, June 18 /Agerpres/ - Romania paid to farmers 581 million euros in direct subsidies per hectare (SAPS) for 2009, and 2010 will be the first year when it will not pay delay penalties to the European Commission, Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Mihail Dumitru told a news conference, on Friday. 'We succeeded to authorize the payment of 96 percent of the EU funds for the direct subsidies per hectare for 2009, which means that Romania will not pay penalties' Minister Dumitru said. He also stressed that the authorized amount exceeds 595 million euros. As many as 1.121 million applications for 9.617 million ha were lodged for the 2009 SAPS campaign. The single area payment scheme has a ceiling of 619.8 million euros for 2009.

Management Authority signs first five contracts under the Fisheries Operational Programme

Bucharest, June 17 /Agerpres/ - The Management Authority and the beneficiaries signed on Wednesday the first five contracts under the Fisheries Operational Programme, worth 7.19 million euros, at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. 'We have signed the first contracts under the Fisheries Operational Programme, for which the total value of grants is standing at 4.7 million euros, or 73 percent of the 2010 allocations,' Agriculture Minister Mihail Dumitru told Agerpres on Wednesday. He mentioned that next week nine more projects worth a total of 25 million euros will be signed, for which the grants are standing at 15.48 million euros. 'After the signing of the nine contracts we will exceed the 2010 budget and take up the 2011 budget. We are sure that all the money for the fisheries programme will be used, which is quite important for Romania's fisheries,' said Dumitru. The total value of the five contracts signed on Wednesday is RON 29.7 million (7.19 million euros), RON 19.417 million (4.7 million euros) of which comes in the form of grants from European funds. The projects will be carried through in two years, at the longest. Romania's Fisheries Operational Programme has five axes, with Romania being among the few European Union member states to use Axis 5 for technical assistance, and the National Agency fro Fisheries and Aquaculture (ANPA) will be the provider of assistance. Romania will be granted more than 307.6 million euros throughout 2013 to finance investment in fisheries, aquaculture and fish processing, 230.714 million of which comes in EU assistance, the Romanian Government providing the remaining amount. Axis 1 - to adjust the fishing fleet - has 13 million euros; Axis 2 – aquaculture, inland fishing, processing and marketing - has 140 million euros; Axis 3 - common interest measures - 40 million euros; Axis 4 - the sustainable development of fishing areas - 100 million euros, while 14.3 million euros are earmarked for Axis 5 - technical assistance. Romania's fish market is small compared with other EU countries, with a total business turnover estimated at 40 million euros, to which the black market, estimated at 25-30 percent of the total, should be added. There are currently nearly 340,000 aquaculture farms and 48 trout farms in Romania.

APDRP to sign over 2,500 financing contracts worth 700 mln euros

Agerpres, ROMANIAN ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS June 7, 2010

The Paying Agency for Rural Development and Fisheries (APDRP) will soon sign over 2,500 financing contracts with the beneficiaries of non-repayable European funds, with the value of such contracts exceeding 700 million euros, according to APDRP data. The nearly 2,500 beneficiaries of non-repayable European funds will receive financial support under the investment measures APDRP implements at present. According to the APDRP data, most projects selected for contracting have been submitted for Measure 112 - Settlement of young farmers, namely 1,619 applications, with a public value amounting to 35.56 million euros. As many as 10.841 projects totalling 2.27 billion euros have been actually contracted so far for the financing measures implemented by APDRP. APDRP currently counts 13,677 selected projects with a public value of more than 3 billion euros, accounting for over 45 percent of the funds earmarked for these measures. The 2007-2013 National Rural Development Programme (PNDR) is the programme that provides non-repayable European funds for private and public investments targeting the development of the Romanian area. The available money, namely the non-repayable funds earmarked for this program exceeds 10 billion euros, out of which over 8 billion euros are assigned for Romania by the European Union, under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, the remainder being provided from the national budget.

Large retailers invest in proximity mini-markets

Agerpres, ROMANIAN ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS June 7, 2010

Given the current circumstances, large retailers are starting to invest in proximity mini-markets against the backdrop of decreasing rents for spaces located in the central areas, reads a release of the Regatta real estate company. While two or three years ago hypermarkets and supermarkets were considered a threat to the corner shops on the retail market, we are currently witnessing a change of situation to the advantage of the latter. Among the networks that have already adopted the new business concept taking shape on the retail market are Mic.ro, Carrefour Express and metro Punct. While Mic.ro announced its intention to expand in Bucharest, targeting the development of 100 stores throughout the city, the two other companies plan to expand both in Bucharest and in the provinces, targeting cities with 50,000 inhabitants or less. Moreover, in 2009 Interex company voiced its interest in the proximity stores, following the example of its branch in France, which already operates proximity supermarkets that proved to be profitable. The business policy of the corner shops to be adopted by the large retailers as well is based on the closeness to the client and the prompt fulfilment of some punctual needs. Given Romanians’ consumption habits, the proximity units will bet on the development of the segment of perishable products, grocery products, as well as goods used in order to satisfy immediate needs, these being the products most sought after by the clients of corner shops. The areas of the commercial units will be pretty tight, of up to 150 square meters. Considering the facilities they offer (prompt services, proximity), Romanians’ preference for corner shops, as well as the expansion plans of the large retail companies operating on this niche, the Regatta specialists predict the number of such commercial units will increase over the next period, especially in the central areas, following the pattern of the large chains of convenience stores worldwide.

Topoloveni natural plum jam wins 'Super Taste Award'

Agerpres, ROMANIAN ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS June 7, 2010

Topoloveni natural plum jam received on June 3 the Super Taste Award by the International Taste and Quality Institute in Brussels, being the first Romanian traditional product to be granted such a distinction by the renowned institute. PhD Gheorghe Mencinicopschi, director of the Food Research Institute, said this food product is 100 percent natural, a traditional Romanian product, with no added sugar and no additives. Due to the fact that it contains no added sugar besides that of the plums, has no artificial, but only natural additives, the jam is recommended for all people, including those suffering from diabetes and the children, the specialist underscored. “The dry substance is capable of self-preservation. The product contains fibres, it may be added into yoghurt for a delicious taste. It is a very good source of potassium, which acts on the cardiac system, with a shortage of potassium being able to cause heart arrhythmia,” PhD Gheorghe Mencinicopschi explained. According to him, the plum jam is also beneficial for the states of excitability, as it combats irritability and fatigue. It has also a laxative role and it regulates cholesterol, being also a good detoxifying product. Agriculture Minister Mihail Dumitru underscored the importance of this award, saying it is a successful event that “rewards tradition and the perseverance of a product that gained international recognition”. “The assignment of a protected geographical indication by the European Commission of the first Romanian product guarantees authenticity and quality of the recipe, which makes Topoloveni a special location, where a good product with special qualities is produced,” Agriculture minister said. He voiced his hope that other Romanian products will follow the lead of the Topoloveni plum jam, adding that the agricultural policy aims at “promoting traditional products, with the National Office of Romanian Traditional and Ecological Products having been set up in this respect, headquartered in Brasov. Its duty is to discover such products and help the producers obtain the protected geographical indication.”

Mihail Dumitru said the Topoloveni plum jam will be “the new ambassador for the Romanian products with world recognition”. Bibiana Stanciulov, general manager of SC Sonimpex Serv Com SRL, the company that has the merit of developing this product awarded at international level, underscored that the plum jam is produced by a traditional recipe which has been documentary attested as early as 1914 and has special organoleptic features, as is preserves the flavour, taste and savour of the Romanian traditional products.

First electric power plant on wicker

Bucharest, June 3 /Agerpres/ - The first Romanian plant to produce electricity from energy wicker is to be built in Ghilad village in Timis County (western Romania), on a German private investment, as the energy wicker's calorific values are much higher than the coal's. 'In addition to other advantages offered by this new source of renewable energy, we will be able to regenerate the land too, as the wicker plantations do not harm the land, but on the contrary they fertilise it,' Ghilad mayor Cornel Guran told Agerpres. The German company started to plant energy wicker on a 35-hectare area, which represents the nursery, a year ago. From here, as the wicker reaches maturity, it will be planted on the locals' thousands of hectares. The wicker can be harvested after two years and can be used for 25 years after it was planted. Fifty people are planting the wicker for the German company Rebina Agrar, and when the works begin to the power station, other tens of people will be employed plus a couple of hundred others to manually plant the wicker in the nursery.

Romania's 2009 domestic fowl imports stand at 22 million euros

Bucharest, May 25 /Agerpres/ - Romania imported live chickens, ducks and turkeys worth more than 21.977 million euros in 2009, up 26 percent from 2008, according to data of the Romanian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR) concerning Romania's foreign trade in agri-food products. The total volume of domestic fowl imported in 2009, which also included live geese and guinea fowl, neared 2,867.3 tonnes. In 2008, imports of farm fowls stood at 17.424 million euros and 2,797 tonnes. 2009 exports were 15 times smaller than imports, standing at 1.417 million euros and 114.9 tonnes, while 2008 exports were just 684,834 euros and 64.3 tonnes The MADR trade data comprise both intra-community and third-country trade.

Cattle stock posts steepest decrease in 2009

Agerpres, ROMANIAN ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS May 25, 2010

The number of livestock registered significant drops on December 1, 2009 against the same period of 2008, with cattle reporting the steepest decrease of 6.4 percent, according to the information made public by the National Statistics institute (INS). However, Romania was among the top ten countries at the end of last year by the total number of cattle, show the provisional data of Eurostat New Cronos, quoted by INS. Based on the results of the statistical research on the number of livestock and the livestock production in 2009, the stock of cattle, swine and poultry decreased on December 1, 2009, while the number of sheep and goats increased. Thus, the total number of cattle points to a 6.4-percent drop, to 2.512 million heads, while the breeding stock (dairy cows, buffalo cows and heifers) went down by 4.3 percent. According to the INS, the swine stock fell by 6.2 percent, totalling 5.793 million heads on December 1, 2009, while the breeding stock (sows) declined by 4.5 percent. At the same time the sheep and goat stock gained 2.9 percent, from 9.78 million heads on December 1, 2008 to 10.05 million heads on December 1, 2009, same as for the breeding stock for this category, which increased by 2.8 percent. There was a 0.6 pct drop in the poultry stock, to 83.84 million heads and a 1.1-percent decrease in the egg-laying poultry stock (45.04 million heads). The same document presents the number of animals and their density per 100 hectares of land in Romania and in some European Union member states at the end of 2009, made public by the Eurostat New Cronos. By cattle stock, Romania was among the top 10 countries in EU, after France, Germany, UK, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Poland and Netherlands on December 31, 2009. At the end of 2009, swine stock in Romania ranked eight in the EU after Germany, Spain, France, Poland, Denmark, the Netherlands and Italy. Romania was fourth in the EU by the sheep and goat stock, after Spain, United Kingdom and Greece. The INS survey was conducted on a sample of 60,016 agricultural holdings, of which 2,428 are legal entities and 57,588 are individual agricultural holdings.

Aggregate turnover of large retail networks drops 10 pct amid crisis in 2009

Agerpres, ROMANIAN ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS May 25, 2010

Following the record sales reported over 2007 – 2008, the large foreign networks in Romanian food retail reported the first correction in 2009 amid the economic recession. Thus, the balance sheets of the top three players on the food retail market – Metro, Rewe and Carrefour, show decreases in sales of over 400 million euros compared to 2008, reads the Ziarul Financiar daily. German groups Metro and Rewe and the French Carrefour retailer that collectively control over half of the modern food retail reported an aggregate turnover worth 4.2 billion euros in 2009, down 10 percent against 2008, although shareholders invested more than 200 million euros in expansion. Thus, after the large durable markets, such as the car and the household appliance market, contracted by 50 percent, food retail declined in 2009, resulting in lower sales by hundreds of millions of euros in the case of foreign networks and many insolvent retailers, such as Pic or Trident.

Crisis and retailer expansion

Agerpres, ROMANIAN ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS May 17, 2010

The crisis has also affected the Romanian retailers that currently operate 20 commercial networks counting 688 stores, reads the Capital magazine. While 124 units were opened in 2009, the number of inaugurated stores will drop one third this year. In the fall of 2008 the officials of the Cora hypermarket network announced the plan to open 4 units over the next period in Bucharest, Pitesti, Constanta and Galati. Only the store in Bucharest has been opened so far. In the summer of 2008 the Austrian company Kramer&Wagner announced an investment worth 370 million euros in 3 commercial parks, in Arad, Constanta and Bucharest. The main tenant should have been the Auchan hypermarket in all three cases. While the project in the capital city was inaugurated according to the plan, the other two investments due to be inaugurated over November 2009 – March 2010 were abandoned. Selgros did not stick to its 2009 plans either: out of the two projected stores only the one located between the neighborhoods Drumul Taberei and Militari in Bucharest opened its gates. Not all projects froze in 2009, with discounters having reported the most spectacular expansions. For example, Penny Market opened 28 new stores last year, Plus (recently taken over by Lidl) – 25, Profi – 15 and miniMax Discount – 12 units. Billa was among the best performers on the supermarket segment, with 9 inaugurated stores, while Kaufland led the hypermarket sector with 8 new stores. According to a GfK survey, discounters account for 9 percent of the total modern retail market, an extremely low percentage compared to the one reported in Western European countries. This year seems to follow the same pattern as last year. Penny Market plans to open 25 new stores in 2010 (3 are already operational), based on a total investment worth some 40 million euros, while miniMax Discount targets the inauguration of further 20 units by December. In fact, the rise in the number of units turned out to be the only chance of the commercial networks to increase or at least maintain the euro-denominated turnover values at the level reported before the crisis outbreak, given that retail sales dropped by nearly 10 percent in 2009 against the previous year and continued to go down by 7.5 percent in Q1 2010 as well compared to the same period of 2009, according to the National Statistics Institute. On the other hand, the national leu currency significantly depreciated last year against the euro. In order not to halt expansion completely and by saving money at the same time, the large commercial networks decided to enter other market segments as well. Thus, Carrefour that reached 22 hypermarkets and a turnover amounting to 1.14 billion euros focused on the inauguration of smaller units, namely supermarkets developed under the Carrefour Market brand. The largest retailer on the cash & carry segment, Metro, has launched a new concept only several days ago: Metro Punct, stores with a sales area of nearly 2,000 square meters (around 4 times smaller than that of the classical stores). The Belgian Delhaize group also targets other market sectors. In addition to the dynamic expansion of the Mega Image supermarket network (9 units were inaugurated in 2009 with further 10 new stores due to be opened this year), the company launched the Red Market discount concept last year. Four such units are functional at present, with further 4 due to be opened by the end of the year. There are also networks that opted for the step-by-step policy, opening only one or two stores in 2010-2011. “We plan to open a unit in Constanta this year and another one in Brasov, on the Tractorul platform, in 2011. We will soon announce the presence of another store in Bucharest on the premises of a retail park, which will be the largest hypermarket in Eastern Europe,” Patrick Espasa, Auchan Romania general manager said. One of the main competitors, Real, opened its 25th hypermarket in Bucharest just a few days ago, following an investment worth 22.8 million euros. The German retailer inaugurated 4 stores in the capital in less than 3 years, in which it pumped over 100 million euros.

Poland and Romania have the largest number of farmers in the EU

Bucharest, May 10 /Agerpres/ - As many as 2.148 million Romanians were working in the agricultural sector in 2009, namely 19 pct of the total of 11.223 million EU citizens working in the same sector last year, read the data supplied by the Statistical Office of the European Commission (Eurostat). In 2009, the five EU states with the highest employment in the agricultural sector accounting for almost two thirds of the EU27 total, were Poland (the equivalent 2.214 million people), Romania (2.148 million), Italy (1.2 million), Spain (909,000) and France (858,000). Between 2000 and 2009, employment in the agricultural sector fell by 24.9 pct, the equivalent of 3.7 million full-time jobs in all the member states (EU27), Eurostat informs, but the largest decreases were found among the new member states such as Estonia (-55 pct), Bulgaria (-48 pct), Slovakia (-43 pct) and Romania (-41 pct). The real agricultural income per worker, between 2000 and 2009, increased by 5 pct on average in the EU, although it significantly surged by averagely 61 pct in the new member states and decreased by 10 pct in the other 15 older members. Over 100 pct increase in real agricultural income per worker was recorded in Latvia (140 pct), Estonia (131 pct) and Poland (107 pct) from 2000 to 2009. In Romania, the real agricultural income per worker grew by 37.2 pct in 2009 compared to 2000, but it went down by 18.3 pct in 2009, compared to 2008.

Contracts of more than 529 million euros for farms modernisation

The Paying Agency for Rural Development and Fisheries (APDRP) signed 1,529 financing contracts worth over 529 million euros with the applicants for European funds for investments in the modernisation of farms (Measure 121 of the National Rural Development Programme), the committed funds accounting for almost 60 percent of the total amount allocated for this measure during 2007-2013. According to APDRP data, actual payments to the beneficiaries of these investment funds exceed 148 million euros. APDRP received 4,529 investment projects for the modernisation of farms (Measure 121), the total value of these projects amounting to 1.5 billion euros, i.e. 167 percent of the amount allocated to the National Rural Development Programme for this investment measure over 2007-2013. Five project submission sessions have been opened so far for Measure 121, the first one being opened in March 2008. A new submission session will be open over May 3-31, 2010. Source: Agerpres.

Government to grant aid to dairy producers, worth up to 2,000 euros

Dairy farms will receive state aid during the crisis worth up to 2,000 euros, according to a resolution adopted by the government. According to the Minister of Agriculture, Mihail Dumitru, the total funds available for Romania are worth 5 million euros, from a total of 300 million allotted by the European Commission at EU level. Thus, the weight of the aid increases from 200 euros per farm in the case of farms that delivered between 10,000 and 20,000 kg of milk, and can reach up to 2,000 euros per farm for those delivering between 20,000 and 200,000 kg of milk. "This aid is granted to farmers with milk quotas for deliveries to processors as of March 31, 2010 and who last year delivered a quantity larger than 10,000 kg of milk," the Minister said. This aid will also be granted to farms that have delivered between 200,000 and 500,000 litres of milk and those who have delivered over 500,000 litres in the 2008-2009 quota year. Farmers can apply for the aid until June 30, 2010, said the Minister. Source: Agerpres.

Romanian national milk reserve at 1.014 mln tonnes in 2010

The Romanian national milk reserve will amount to 1.014 million tonnes in 2010, after 31,181.4 tonnes or one percent having been added under a draft Government Resolution on setting the national milk reserve levels made public by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Some 613,971.2 tonnes of the national milk reserve will be distributed to the producers for deliveries to processors and direct sales, namely 86,538 tonnes for deliveries and 527,433.1 tonnes for direct sales. The balance represents the total individual quotas that are kept at the producers' disposal in the national reserve for two years. During the EU accession talks, Romania got the right to produce three million tonnes of milk a year, of which two million tonnes were assigned to direct sales and one million tonnes to deliveries to processors. So far, Romania has never exceeded its national milk quota. Source: Agerpres.

Dole to export Romanian fruit and vegetables

Dole, the world's largest fruit and vegetable producer, will begin in about two years exporting Romanian-grown fruit and vegetables. The company currently estimates a turnover of 35 million euros on the local market, with banana sales accounting for 90 pct of the figure. "This year, Dole Romania will hit 35 million euros in local turnover, with bananas accounting for 90 pct of the figure. In about two years, we will start exporting Romanian-grown apples, pears, grapes and potatoes," said Dole Romania commercial director Bogdan Grama. He said that Dole began working on product descriptions according to the company's philosophy and has already contacted several local producers. "When we have the supply chain in place, we will start tests and in two years we kick off exports. It is also possible that we open a juice or can factory in Romania," said Grama. Dole Romania began operating in Romania in 2009, although the company's products - mainly bananas and citrus - have been on the local market since the '90s and even before the 1989 Revolution. Now the company owns a terminal in the Agigea Port (Black Sea) and a special banana storage warehouse, but also distribution centres in the country's key areas. The company's share of the Romanian market is 25 percent. Source: Agerpres.

Foreign investors hold over 450,000 hectares of Romania’s agricultural land

Agricultural land holdings in Romania of Italians, Danes and Dutch stand at a combined 450,000 hectares; Romania’s agricultural area covers 14.7 million hectares. Foreigners’ investments in local agriculture targeted the cultivation of cereals, potatoes and rice, as well as dairy farms, writes daily Adevarul. With over 300,000 hectares, Italians own the largest area, representing 3.1% of Romania’s arable land (9.4 million hectares). They grow cereals, rice and are also in the business of raising layer hens. For example, in the eastern county of Braila, Italians grow rice on over 1.7% of the county’s arable area of 356,000 hectares. In the Banat region (west), they cultivate cereals. Whereas the Italians have started investing in Romania back in the early '90s and can already boast a tradition in this respect, the Danes established a foothold in local agriculture in 2004 and now own 1.5% of the arable surface. Thus, more than 30 Danish companies have invested in the domestic agricultural sector in recent years and hold almost 150,000 hectares of arable land, according to data of the Embassy of Denmark in Bucharest. Most investments are concentrated in the counties of Buzau, Teleorman, Timis and Ialomita. Danish farmers are about to equal the total agricultural area held by big Romanian agricultural investors Culita Tarata, Ioan Niculae, Adrian Porumboiu, Mihai Anghel and Stefan Poienaru, who own in total some 170,000 hectares of land, or 2% of the arable surface. Having just a small surface of agricultural land back in their home country and a high population density, the Dutch farmers have turned their attention to Romania in 1999, having invested so far in several dairy farms. In terms of the area held by the Dutch, this still represents a small percentage compared to the large areas owned by the Italians and Danes. Source: Agerpres.

Reinvigoration of old tractor dismantling programme

Minister of Environment and Forestry Laszlo Borbely said that he will attempt to reinvigorate the tractor dismantling programme, as only 49 applications were approved nationwide in the first three weeks of the programme. Borbely told a press conference that very few applications were submitted in the three weeks after the dismantling programme for tractors commenced, compared with the large number of applications filer under the car dismantling programme. He explained that the tractor fleet is smaller than the automobile fleet and the dismantling bonus is RON 17,000. 'We will see what we can do to reinvigorate the system,' said Borbely. The funds for the dismantling of tractors and other farm machinery come from the Environmental Fund Administration under the Environmental Fund. The programme is planned to be carried out in two stages: the first stage to end on July 25 and the second to be conduced August 1 - November 25. At a validation meeting this March, 17 manufacturers of tractors and self-propelling farm machinery were selected to take part in the programme. Source: Agerpres.

Romania's agri-food product deficit down 26% in 2009

Romania’s deficit in agri-food products totalled 1.533 billion euros in 2009, down by nearly 26 percent (over 531 million lei) against 2008, according to the data of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR). In 2008 the deficit in agri-food products exceeded 2.064 billion euros. Romania imported last year agri-food products worth 3.714 billion euros, by 26 percent less than in 2008, when imports stood at 4.163 billion euros. Fresh and frozen pork and cane and beet sugar were the main imported agri-food products, with their value reaching nearly 379 million euros and 192.7 million euros respectively. Moreover, Romania imported in 2009 poultry meat and offal worth 156.9 million euros and maize valued at 130.3 million euros. The external market also provided cheese, coffee, chocolate, citrus fruits, bananas, tomatoes, as well as fruit juices and vegetables. On the other hand, Romania’s exports went up last year by around 4 percent compared to 2008, reaching 2.181 billion euros (2.099 billion euros in 2008). The most attractive local food products for the external market were cigarettes and cigars, for which over 362.1 million euros have been collected, as well wheat which brought in some 303 million euros, maize – 250.5 million euros, rape seeds – 223.7 million euros and sunflower seeds – 146.1 million euros. In 2009 Romania continued to export live animals, sheep and goats respectively, worth more than 82.3 million euros, cattle valued at nearly 74 million euros, as well as poultry meat and offal amounting to 49.8 million euros. Romania’s exports also included bakery and pastry products, honey and mineral water. The European Union is Romania’s main partner in agricultural trade, accounting for 70 to 80 percent of both the imports and of exports. Source: Agerpres.

Agriculture minister: Future CAP should back farming sector development

The future Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) should back the continued development of the farming sector and should guarantee acceptable earnings for farmers, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Mihail Dumitru told during a joint press conference with visiting European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development - the Romanian Dacian Ciolos - after talks held at the ministry's headquarters. He said that the future CAP should also secure Romania's and Europe's food safety and it should provide certain goods and services that agriculture offers to the society in general. 'I'm speaking here about biodiversity, the beauty of the rural landscapes, animal welfare, the preservation of cultural traditions and of the rural natural heritage', Dumitru said. The talks with Ciolos focused on the major aspects of the CAP reform, namely the importance of an adequate budget and the CAP architecture. Dumitru said that Romania is now a major player in the completion of the future CAP and therefore it should propose measures that are 'in the interest of the Romanian agriculture and also in accordance with the proposals put forward by the Commission and the other EU member states', he stressed. 'It is very important for us to be part of such debates. We have already held a technical discussion at the Ministry of Agriculture and we established an outline position of Romania on the CAP', Dumitru said, adding that such talks will be extended to Parliament and the academic circles and there will be constant talks with the agricultural sector and the rural economy representatives. In the second half of April, Ciolos paid his first official visit to Bucharest since his appointment. Source: Agerpres.

Over 700 projects financed under European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development completed

As many as 722 investment projects in agriculture and rural development financed under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (FEADR) have been completed so far, with such projects benefiting from non-repayable funds totaling over 100 million euros, the Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry (MADR) informs. Most of the finalized projects registered with the Paying Agency for Rural Development and Fisheries (APDRP) targeted investments under Measure 121 (“'Modernization of agricultural holdings”) of the National Rural Development Program (PNDR). Thus, as many as 617 investment projects were completed under this measure, with the value of the disbursed European funds totalling 85.13 million euros. Furthermore, some 88 investment projects were finalized under Measure 123 (“Adding value to agricultural and forestry products”) and the State Aid Schemes XS 13/2008 and XS 28/2008, which swallowed up 13 million euros. As many as 17 projects were completed under Measure 312 (“Setting Up and Development of Micro-Enterprises”), which benefited from non-repayable funds worth over 1.8 million euros. Source: Agerpres.

'Fruit in Schools' healthy eating programme earmarked EUR 6.7 ml

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR) will assign approximately 6.7 million euros for the community programme encouraging fruit consumption in schools, MADR informs. Starting with the school year 2009-2010, Romania will implement the community programme encouraging fruit consumption in schools, based on a three-sided partnership among the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Education, Research, Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Health. For a maximum of 100 school days, 1st to 8th graders will receive apples for free within a maximum daily value of 0.3 lei per student. The programme's budget is 26.75 million lei (6.68 million euros) and includes the EU financial contribution worth 19.97 million lei (4.99 million euros) and the public co-financing and expenses other than eligible ones, worth 6.77 million lei (1.69 million euros), and is tailored for 1.71 million students. Source: Agerpres.

Value of Romanian organic exports down 20% in 2009

The domestic market of eco-friendly products totalled about 20 million euros in 2009, a value similar to that of 2008, while the value of the country’s organic exports dropped by 20 pct from 2008 to 80 million euros, according to Teodora Aldescu, advisor for organic agriculture with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR). "The organic products that were highest in demand on the domestic market were cheese, eggs, cereals and bread, whereas the products bound for foreign markets were mainly raw materials, i.e. cereals, oil and protein seeds, but also processed products: cheese, honey, oil and wine "said Aldescu. Exports of organic products fell from 129,770 tonnes in 2008 to 100,000 tonnes last year due to the shrinking demand on the community market, notably for milk and dairy products. The countries that took up the bulk of the exports in 2008 and 2009 were the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Italy and Great Britain. According to the same source, the number of Romanian registered organic operators also dropped from 4,191 in 2008 to just 3,316 at the end of 2009. "Last year the number of registered organic farming operators fell by 26 pct; most of those who gave up the activity were producers, and one of the reasons was the lack of subsidies for this sector," said Aldescu. MADR data shows that last year there were 74 registered organic producers, 86 bio-product processors, whereas the rest are exporters, importers and traders. The MADR advisor said that Romania is currently the only EU country with no support in place for agri-environmental measures. "Romania is currently the only EU country not to receive financial support for agri-environmental measures addressing organic agriculture. We have, however, signals that the new MADR leaders have started negotiations with the EU to introduce forms of support for organic farming at least as of 2011," explained Aldescu. As concerns the land under organic crops, the data presented by the MADR advisor shows that in late 2009, they covered 240,000 hectares (or 1.8 pct of Romania’s total agricultural area) by 8.6 percent more compared to the 221,000 hectares (1.6 percent of the total agricultural area) reported in 2008. The key goals of the MADR organic farming strategy are increasing cultivated areas, diversifying the range of processed products, expanding the internal market of organic products, but also making stocks available for export to EU and third countries. For 2011, the strategy foresees reaching a surface of 337,000 hectares assigned to organic farming (2.27 percent of the total agricultural area) that should grow to about 754,000 hectares (5.08 percent respectively) in 2013. Other plans are to stimulate the per capita consumption of organic products so that in 2013 they account for 10 percent of the foods sold on the domestic market. Source: Agerpres.

Minister of Agriculture: A farmer could get as much as 400 euros/hectare in 2010

In 2010 a Romanian farmer breeding animals can theoretically get an amount of 400 euros/hectare, which is a historical level, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Mihail Dumitru told a conference of the Agrostar trade union confederation. He made it clear that a farmer can get 81 euros through the single area payment scheme for every hectare used for breeding animals (pasture, hayfield), to which national complementary direct payments amounting to 86 euros/hectare are added, plus 50 euros/hectare in case of  a less favoured area (as in Romania all hilly and mountainous regions are considered less favoured), plus 197 euros/hectare as payment for applying agri-environment measures. "In Romania's recent history we have never given such large sums of money," said Dumitru. The Minister of Agriculture mentioned that the Government decided to grant national complementary direct payments for agriculture at the highest level permitted by the European Union for this year, the total amount being 638 million euros, of which 351 million euros for animal breeding, the sum of 24