The three companies based in Tulcea county, southeast Romania, have submitted projects with the Payment and Rural Development and Fisheries Agency (APDRP) the institution that manages EU agriculture funds earmarked for Romania.
Alcovin Macin wine producer drew EUR400,000 in European funds to invest in new production line equipment. Several kilometers away from Alcovin vineyard, a family of domestic entrepreneurs automated their cookie factory of Greci town with the help of EUR450,000 from the EU.
In Tulcea, Sterica Fudulea, a local entrepreneur who owns a small bakery, opted for a EUR120,000 EU fund project to help him automate production.
Alcovin Macin, a Romanian-Belarus held company with EUR1 million in turnover last year, drew EUR430,000 in EU agriculture funds from November 2008 through February 2011. The money helped it retool its white and red wine production line.
The Macin plant produces 2 million bottles of wine annually, largely reaching the shelves of stores countrywide. The company also delivers to some Bucharest hotels and restaurants, such as Howard Johnson, Marriott and La mama.
The company four years ago delivered 400 tons of wine abroad, but quantities have now gone down by two thirds on the falling orders.
Piccolo Angelo of Greci, Tulcea, with turnover worth EUR2 million from cookies production and retail, boosted its production capacity by 25% after drawing EUR450,000 in EU funds in May 2009-May 2011 period.
Now, the company’s factory yields around 1 ton of cookies and other bakery products daily, which it sells in several southeastern counties and abroad.
Damona Serv, a bakery company with EUR0.5 million in turnover, won a EU fund project worth EUR125,000, which it used to automate its production line.
The EU funds helped owner Sterica Fudulea to keep his company afloat during the crisis, when production shrank by 10%-15%.