"The situation of the economy is completely the opposite of the one presented by the statements of the authorities"

Reporter: Please tell us, as president of the Forum of Domestic Investors, about the reality which the business sector is faced with at the moment?

Ioan Niculae: We are going through a difficult economic situation which is completely at odds with what the authorities are saying, that they are seeing growth. I don't know where they are seeing that growth, when over 17,000 companies have filed for insolvency since the beginning of the year. It is a huge number, and every month a few other thousand companies file for insolvency or enter reorganization. Of the tens of investors that I have talked to lately, there wasn't even one of them to say that his businesses are working or that they are stable, at the very least.

Reporter: What is the biggest hurdle that investors are faced with in their operation?

Ioan Niculae: They are all complaining about lack of capital, about the lack of cashflow, about the lack of liquidity in the market and the lack of interest for buying industrial products. With one exception, all of the banks have stopped lending.

Reporter: Under these circumstances, what other methods of financing do the investors resort to?

Ioan Niculae: Unfortunately, the crisis is manifesting itself at the level of the entire system, and whereas before we could finance ourselves by selling industrial products, over the last year, we have seen reluctance from beneficiaries and traders, meaning that they have refused to pay with sight drafts loans or pay in advance, because of the global situation.

Even though the products are necessary, even though the demand for food has increased on a global level, there are countries such as India, Pakistan, South America, Africa etc. where this kind of financing can no longer be done.

Reporter: Are companies in the economy considering mergers or acquisitions to stay on the market?

Ioan Niculae: It is harder nowadays to find companies interested in acquisitions. It is frustrating, we are completely lost. Even though we've had several meetings with the current government, trying to find solutions together, even though we have addressed several letters to the EU, the IMF, the World Bank, etc., and the international institutions have accepted our proposals, none of them has been implemented in practice.

Reporter: How are things at Interagro?

Ioan Niculae: Acting in good faith, we have stopped the layoffs in July, when we had begun the layoffs process. The plants have remained closed, we have wages to pay, the people are unhappy because they want to get money, even though we are not producing anything... it is an unprecedented situation.

Reporter: What capacity are the plants currently operating at?

Ioan Niculae: Out of the seven plants, only one is still operating at InterAgro, meaning that the output is at a minimum. When October 1st comes, we will be forced to take radical action, we will only maintain one plant with almost all of its employees, as we at the point where we have to do mass layoffs for the remaining employees. We are talking about approximately 5,800 people.

Reporter: In what manner is the agricultural year helping us?

Ioan Niculae: The harvest year is good, in terms of the volume, the crops are bigger than they were last year. Unfortunately, prices have fallen significantly. Whereas last year the ton of corn was 220-230 Euros, now, a ton of corn sells for 110-115 Euros. The situation is similar in wheat, in sunflower, canola. In my opinion, in terms of value, the 20133 agricultural year is weaker than it was last year.

Reporter: What are the causes behind the drop of the price of grains?

Ioan Niculae: Our market is adjusted internally. We have a big output and low demand. We export a large part of our production, but at the international prices.

Reporter: What are the first two measures which the Forum of Domestic Investors is asking for from the Government?

Ioan Niculae: On October 19th , we are going to have a General Shareholder Meeting. Many members have registered for that Forum, every week there are new ones, from all the economic areas. The first measure we will fight for, will be to keep a fair cost of the utilities, and the second would be a fiscal stabilization, so that companies can survive, paying off their debts, but without being shut down as soon as they run out of money to pay their taxes.

Reporter: Thank you!