The Dutch operated via the Primagaz brand and planned at the time of their entry to expand into other LPG market segments. The losses they accumulated, the market trend, as well as the lack of any prospects made them drop their development plans so that Primagaz will completely disappear from the local market by the month’s end, as Andries Govaert, general manager of Primagaz Romania, explained.
The Primagaz official would not reveal any details about last year’s turnover or losses. Finance Ministry data, however, show that whereas at the time of its arrival on this market it took over an EUR14.7 million business with a loss of EUR0.4 million and 210 employees, the company’s revenue had gone down to EUR10.8 million by the end of 2010 and the loss widened to EUR3.8 million. The number of employees was also down to 163.
Govaert says that the group does not expect any improvement in the near future; as such all the relevant authorities, employees, customers and suppliers were notified of the situation. The company is now in talks with the employee representatives over the employees’ future and will not provide any more information until the negotiations are over, the official added.
At the time of its arrival, Primagaz said it did not come in Romania to be just one of the many there. Instead it planned to invest and become an important player on this market, considering the country’s authorities were still reassuring anyone that the financial crisis would not affect its economy. Reality was completely different in the end, and the LPG market even fell by as much as 10% during the crisis year.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)