In 2019, Romania produced 29.5 million tons of grain, 14 million of which exported and the top three export destinations in Europe were Spain, Italy and Germany, National Statistics Institute data show. Also last year, the country imported 288,416 tons of (fresh, refrigerated, or frozen) pork worth EUR629 million, according to the same source.
“We need to pump money into the development of the food industry, invest in entrepreneurial businesses, devise policies and provide lines of credit to that end. All young people go to Germany because we don’t have any large, working Romanian companies, and the German giants poach our workforce because we are not competitive. What are we, a consumption market, workforce, and raw material provider of Europe?” says Cosmin Moldovan, general manager of Moldovan-Carmanageria Sannicoară, a EUR20 million meats business.
Romania has some 4 million pigs and its pork production covers about 30% of its consumption needs. Germany is one of the main countries from which it imports pork. The volume of pork imported from that country stood at 52,200 tons, worth EUR114 million.
“Romania does not produce enough pork because it doesn’t know how to turn its grain into meat. We produce 30% of what we eat, even though two or three years ago before the swine fever, production stood at up to 45% of consumption, and then dropped again. We’re in serious trouble here, and the government does not grant subsidies for swine farming. However, we can access EU funds for investments in this sector,” said Catalin Ene, cofounder of Macro Suin.
The EU funds for the development of the sector are insufficient on the one hand and the potential investors are reluctant to invest in swine farming, on the other, because it is a risky business, which requires experience and knowledge of legislation that is constantly changing, especially the environmental legislation, he added.
“We need to find solutions for the meat industry, see what we can do to drive some of the capital to this sector and only then we will be able to tip the trade balance in our favor. Romania could catch up through investments and it had better do that,” Catalin Ene added.
Early in April, Germany announced it needed about 300,000 seasonal farm workers and 2,000 Romanians left from Cluj-Napoca airport on April 9 to work in Germany.
“We had a construction company two years ago and had to shut it down because everyone left to pick asparagus or strawberries for EUR9/hour in Germany. (…) We must find ways to keep them here. Banks do not support us like banks abroad do with the companies there, policies are not the same,” Moldovan said.
Catalin Olteanu, owner of Strong Berry, a farmer that grows forest berries on several hectares of land in Lunca Dambovitei, Dragomiresti, says the farmers have their “hands tied” now because the movement restrictions had a negative impact on the workforce. He works with day laborers who travel in from 20 to 30 kilometers away but had to manage on his own during lockdown.
Romanians prefer working abroad, where they can earn more, and the brokers are interested in sending them there. The government is “groping in the dark and the country is drained of its workforce in agriculture, while many people are furloughed”, he added.
“The government should look at the companies with growth potential and support them. We should have a large Romanian business in every county. We’ve been on the market for 25 years and stayed here, while foreign companies left. We now need 15 to 20 people for manufacturing jobs but cannot find them because people are either abroad, furloughed or on welfare,” Cosmin Moldovan added.
He says this is a good time for the government to make investments in this sector, because there is room for growth and capacity, and this could ensure independence from the EU in the future.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)