Eastern Europe versus South America

By dana.bucur Comment Closed
August 18th 2010 Eastern Europe is getting better and better. Romania is coming along. There is a news where Brazil may create some difficulties if you want to buy land, below all article: ‘Foreign real estate investors interested in buying land in Brazil could face a tightening of restricitions as the country cracks down on ownership over food security issues. Those who have already bought land and large rural properties by creating Brazilian companies face title deeds being revoked under tough measures that are currently being drawn up, it has been confirmed. Government officials have confirmed that official policy is that foreigners should not be allowed to buy agricultural land. The Agrian Development Ministry said the government wants to tighten restrictions on foreign ownership of farm lands in Latin America’s biggest country. Ministry spokeswoman Denise Mantovani confirmed published remarks by Minister Guilherme Cassel, who said that the government does not want foreigners to buy agricultural land in Brazil. ‘We do not need foreigners to produce food in...
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EU AGRIBUSINESS – BIG SPENDERS OF EU BUDGET

By dana.bucur Comment Closed
Jack Thurston | February 5th, 2010 - 11:20 am The biggest driver for further reform of the CAP is budgetary. At a time when most governments are struggling with vast budget deficits, public expenditure is under pressure as never before. Policy-makers are looking for ways to trim budgets, to get better value for public money and to ensure that budgets are aligned with their most pressing policy priorities. Several years ago the commission initiated a ‘fundamental’ review of the EU budget and it is expected that this will set the scene for the debate over the EU’s finances from 2014 onwards. The views of member states are critical, as they hold the EU’s purse strings. James Clasper and I have this week published a new analysis of the views of member states on the EU budget and the CAP, based in part on their responses to the budget review consultation....
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Romania – Swiss sell Expur but keep 13,000 hectares of farming land

By dana.bucur Comment Closed
Swiss-held Alimenta Group, the shareholder of Expur Urziceni - producer of vegetable oil brand Ulcom, which last year entered the biodiesel market, will sell all vegetable oil and biodiesel production divisions held via Expur Urziceni to French giant Sofiproteol, but will retain 13,000 hectares of farming land in Galati county. "Agricultural operations, which belong to some of the Expur shareholders are not included in this sale. Agricultural operations involved around 13,000 hectares in the Calarasi area, close to the Danube, where rapeseed, sunflower, wheat, barley, and maize are grown," said Richard Radag, president of Expur Urziceni, without, however, revealing the name of the corporate entity through which the Swiss own these plots. Alimenta Group started negotiations with Sofiproteol for the sale of Expur Urziceni - the biggest biodiesel producer in Europe, with 5.5 billion euros in turnover, with the due diligence process being close to completion. Representatives of...
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Foreign-owned farms control over 6% of Czech farmland

By dana.bucur Comment Closed
zech News Agency | 17 May 2010 Prague, May 16 (CTK) – Farms of foreign owners control more than 6 percent of the total Czech farmland area of 3.6 million hectares, weekly Euro says in its latest issue to be published on Monday, referring to data of the Czech Statistical Office (CSU). There are over 378 farms controlled or partly owned by foreign entities which operate on nearly 230,000 hectares of Czech farmland, Euro says. Foreigners acquired Czech land during a seven-year moratorium which the Czech Republic negotiated before its entry into the European Union. Under the moratorium, which is to expire on May 1 next year, foreigners are banned from buying farmland and forests in the Czech Republic. However, land can be bought by EU citizens which have lived and worked as farmers in the Czech Republic for at least three years, and by legal entities with foreign owners which are based in the...
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Romanian irrigation rehabilitation and Reform project

By dana.bucur Comment Closed
Romania Irrigation Rehabilitation and Reform Project, launched in 2003, aims to achieve more economic and equitable use of irrigation water for agricultural production through changes in farmers' and related institutions’ behavior, while increasing agricultural productivity in the project area.  Project benefits include increased agricultural production and higher incomes for farmers because of improved irrigation services; increased social cohesion through community-based management of irrigation systems; and reduced agriculture related pollution through improved environmental management and reduction of seepage losses.  The rehabilitation of the main schemes would directly benefit approximately 40,000 farming families and workers in agricultural associations. Published March 2010. 8 minutes video-documentary link here: http://lnweb90.worldbank.org/ecaim/multimedialib.nsf/country/Romania?opendocument&did=8E201A17B1A903A8852576F6004D2EAF ...
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Ukraine’s agriculture companies – golden eggs or rotten potatoes?

By dana.bucur Comment Closed
May 14, 2010 By Roman Olearchyk Via: www.ft.com Even in Europe’s most depressed large economy, there are a few shafts of commercial light. Ukraine, where gross domestic product fell last year by a whopping 15 per cent, is witnessing a flurry of investment into its promising agricultural sector. Businessman Oleg Bakhmatyuk is mulling whether to take his farming company - Ukrlandfarming - public after this month sealing a $1bn valuation for Avangardco Investments. Egg producer Avangardco - which Bakhmatyuk owns - listed a 22 per cent stake on the London Stock Exchange. Now investment bankers in Kiev said Cyprus-registered Ukrlandfarming could raise $50-80mn via an IPO on London’s AIM this year. A handful of Ukrainian agribusiness companies have gone public on European exchanges in recent years, including sunflower oil producer Kernel, as well as farming companies Landkom and Mriya Agro. But apart from large-scale investments brought in by multinational agribusiness giants, including Cargill and ADM, the inflow of investment into promising domestically-owned companies is only starting...
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Temperatures are rising over land and sea

By dana.bucur Comment Closed
Some critics argue that the global record of land surface temperature over the 20th century could be to some extent corrupted by heat from towns and other factors. There is a clear warming, though, if a lesser one, in two other records made independently; that of the temperature of the oceans' surface waters and of the night time air temperature over the oceans. While the larger warming over land could in part reflect some error of procedure, though that is not proven, the trends all have the same shape. Source: The Economist on-line http://www.economist.com/daily/news/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15748082&fsrc=nwl ...
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Official presentation of CEPW – European Center for Premium Winter Wheat

By dana.bucur Comment Closed
On February 23, 2010 was held in Constanta, Romania official presentation of the European Center for Premium Winter Wheat. Along with famous actors of Constanta regional market, Mr. Mihai Berca, Professor and PhD and Mr. Ernst Grosslerher have brought to the attention of all those present some details on Premium varieties and modern farming techniques. Premium wheat varieties are grown in countries that stretch along the Danube and beyond, as it can be seen in the map above. A noteworthy detail is that Probstdorfer varieties are varieties developed in the Pannonian Plain in conditions similar to those in Romania. They hold in their genomes over 80% genoplasma Bezostoia, variety which was inexplicably abandoned in Romania. Mr. Grosslerher has mentioned that Romania presents a huge agricultural potential, only if we judge in light of the fact that his home country, Austria, where drought conditions are much harsher than those in Romania, productions...
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TRANS-EUROPA – AN AUTHENTIC PARTNER, LEADER IN ROMANIA

By dana.bucur Comment Closed
~ Author: Dana Bucur ~ From acquiring the self propelled vessels for transporting cereals, fertilizers etc on the Danube River, up to conditioning and storage facilities, TRANS EUROPA Group (http://www.teu-group.ro) clearly distinguishes itself from other companies through the quality of its services being on the first place in the 2009 Top of Galatz Small and Middle Sized Companies. Under the same aegis of management three business units work together: •    TRANS EUROPA PORT S.A. Galatz •   AGROPORT S.A. •   TRANS EUROPA S.A. These three companies are strategically placed in the East and South-West of Romania covering one of the most important Romanian business areas, area bordered by the Danube River, from Galatz to Braila (East of Romania) and up to Drobeta Turnu Severin (South-West of Romania), thus, the agricultural producers, inputs suppliers etc, can dispose of the hole range of commercial and port services. Hereafter, a short presentation of the three companies: TRANS EUROPA PORT S.A. Galatz, founded in 1996, with branches in Galatz, Braila and Drobeta...
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