Iulian Stanciu, one of the shareholders of the IT&C company Asesoft Distribution, which bought 50% of the shares of two companies involved in vegetable production and processing, says agriculture is now becoming a business that cannot survive along the lines of a subsistence family firm.
"In agriculture, making a profit is becoming the main target. At some point in the future, large foreign companies will enter the agricultural industry. When this happens, you can sell, if those investing are involved in your area of business, or you can aim to compete with them," said Iulian Stanciu, who owns 50% in Solana and Almis, which operates in the farming business.
Stanciu, 31, says there were several factors behind his decision to invest in agriculture.
"The most important factor was the challenge, as the business was in rather a bad shape. The person running the business, Florin Dragan, was a former college friend of mine, and when he could no longer handle things on his own, he came to me with a partnership proposition. I thought it was interesting, I analysed the proposition and decided to take half the shares," said Stanciu.
However, Stanciu is not the only shareholder in the Asesoft group of firms who has decided to invest in market segments other than IT. Sebastian Ghita, the majority shareholder of the group, invested in Domeniile Viticole Tohani (Tohani Vineyard), a business he sold, however, at the beginning of the year.
Stanciu entered the Solana business with an initial investment worth 200,000 euros, not expecting to see visible results in the first year of activity.
He bought 50% of the shares and granted a loan to the company, in order to reach the same level as Florin Dragan, shareholder and general manager of the Solana companies, specialised in vegetable production, and also Almis, a company involved in the production and distribution of canned vegetables, both of which are located in Braila county.
"The hardest part of this business was to change people's way of thinking from let's work to let's make money. My objective has not been to secure dividends in the short or medium term, but to organise the company well and to increase its value by providing it with new business opportunities, such as the opening of new markets," he added.
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