The group controlled by the families Moraru, Lupascu and Preda, with overall revenue of above EUR200 million per annum, is the biggest Romanian-held pork producer and processor, being a direct rival of Chinese-held Smithfield, leader of the market.
“It was an exclusively cash problem on the short term,” says Marin Moraru, general manager and founder of Marex group.
He says it all started from the banking sector’s falling confidence in his business as payment difficulties emerged after lending was curtailed.
“All the payments made by clients through the bank reached lenders amid credit line reduction, so that I had to resort to insolvency for protection,” says Moraru.
BCR representatives chose not to comment on Marex insolvency.
This is the most important insolvency in the food industry in the past two years and a surprising event as the two companies did not post any losses in any of the past five years and receipts were going up.
During this interval, the meat industry declined and part of players took on losses and embraced cautious investment policies.
Marex group thus enters a period of revamping for the first time after a genuine agro-food empire has been built in Braila in the past two decades.
Marex group of companies, about which Marin Moraru previously said it was a creation based on money from banks, is built around Marex company (managing meat slaughtering, meat processing, spirits and bioethanol production) and Vegetal Trading (managing vegetal agricultural production and pig farms).
The group also includes Stejar Prodimpex company, distributing alcoholic drinks and alcohol.
A large part of receipts is secured by pork businesses generated by farms holding over 200,000 livestock.
“We will continue to operate. We’re drawing up the reshuffling plan, we’re restructuring loans, part of banks gave a positive answer. We’ve also renegotiated with suppliers and we’ve replaced some of them,” says Marin Moraru.
The group is not mulling sweeping restructuring moves for the time being, or major layoffs.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)