The only companies making tractors in Romania at the moment are IRUM Reghin and MAT Craiova, which focus on tractors for semi-industrial and industrial farms, according to ZF data.
“Our target is the small farmers, who will be able to resort to mechanization,” Stroe says.
Craiova-based Ruris is thus taking the first steps towards a segment less interesting for farm machinery suppliers, the fragmented market of small farmers, who own 4 million hectares of arable land in Romania, or half of the total arable land of available.
Stroe says the market Ruris operates on is on the rise, but sales potential is limited for the time being, because income per capita in the agriculture sector is rather low.
“The return of the market to its potential will be possible in the next two or three years, considering the macroeconomic impact of Romania being a part of the EU,” the Craiova entrepreneur says.
Stroe is one of the few Romanian businessmen that started a farm equipment business from scratch in the past two decades, where he has found a niche for growth, that is small farm equipment.
Ruris posted 30 million lei (EUR6.75 million) revenue in 2014, a 60% increase year-on-year and expects growth of 20% in 2015, as it plans to develop exports and sales channels. Exports should contribute 17% of the revenue this year and the main destinations will be France, Italy, Lithuania, Greece, Portugal, Republic of Moldova, Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Ruris has 80 employees and plans to hire more for its logistics and warehousing department in the fall, in the wake of an over EUR300,000 investment in doubling storage space to more than 3,000 square meters. (EUR1=RON4.4409)
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)