When fertilisers don't work any more, Niculae bets on milk

Ioan Niculae, considered one of the wealthiest people in Romania, and known especially for his businesses in the chemical fertilisers industry through the InterAgro group, decided to focus on several sectors, all of which having to do with consumer goods.
One of them is the milk sector, with Niculae saying he has over 1,000 cows in Zimnicea, and that he plans to invest 2 million euros in a UHT milk packaging line.
Niculae has recently explained InterAgro’s development through the need to create levers able to support the chemical fertilisers business.
Four of the six chemical plants have been closed down, two of them – Viromet and NitroPoros at the beginning of this year, with InterAgro representatives explaining this decision through the “major losses caused by the new natural gas policies promoted by the authorities.”
This has persuaded Niculae to develop his businesses in several sectors, with milk being a major target for InterAgro.
Currently, the business held by the InterAgro owner in the sector is not very large, but has risen significantly in the past few years. So, after a 3.8 million-RON (0.9 million-euro) turnover in 2009, Niculae estimates a 5.8 million-RON (1.4 million-euro) turnover in 2010, while forecasts for this year are even better, with the businessman expecting his milk business alone to fetch him 7.5 million RON (1.8 million euros) in 2011.