Sudzuker Moldova to invest 44.5-million-lei in production modernization
The annual general meeting of the leading sugar producer in Moldova – the Moldo-German enterprise Sudzucker Moldova decided to channel 44.5 million lei in the form of the 2012 year reinvested profits, for the modernization of production.
Financial Director of Sudzucker Moldova, Octavian Armasu said that the shareholders decided to direct 30.9 million lei for the payment of dividends, worth 3 lei per share.
In his words, about 60% of profits, which made 75.4 million lei in all in 2012, will be reinvested. This will allow covering part of investments in the construction of a plant for producing biogas in Drochia, which will require spending of about 8 million euros.
«The Sudzucker Moldova concern has been investing serious proceeds in the Moldovan project starting from 1998. Yet, the first dividends were paid only in 2007. Unfortunately, under the current conditions in Moldova, one cannot speak of some stable profits for stockholders, who have already invested in the Moldovan economy over 600 million lei. Several years in a row, the sugar harvest was seriously affected by drought. Starting from this year, we have entered a high-risk zone, because of the change in the taxation methodology in this sector and because of the dramatic growth of contraband flows. In 2012, when the VAT on sugar stood at 8%, the profitability index made 7%, under a turnover of about 1 billion lei. This year, even after the parliament’s decision to preserve 12% of VAT on the accounts of agricultural producers, the prospects of getting some profits are still doubtful,» he said.
He also said that the company’s policy, aimed at the modernization of the sugar plants and the development of sugar beet production, made it possible to increase the competitiveness of the Moldovan sugar. Due to the investments made by Sudzucker Moldova, the energy costs on sugar production have been halved.
In 2012, the company started the construction of a bio-gas plant, which is to be commission in the sugar-processing season in 2013. The capacity of the plant stands at 55 thousand tons of sugar-beet pulp and about 7.3 million cubic meters of bio-gas, with a concentration of 51% methane.
In spite of the bad weather conditions that affected the sugar beet harvest in 2012, Sudzucker Moldova supplied the need amount of raw materials to its plants (360 thousand tons) and produced 53 thousand tons of sugar (67% of the overall amount of sugar produced in Moldova). The company exports sugar to some European Union countries and to the Russian Federation.
Adapted from Infotag