“Business was pretty bad in January, February, and March, the decline in consumption and, implicitly, in sales was of almost 10 percent. In April-May-June, the market has slightly picked up, and as of April, the drop was of 1-2 percent. Generally, holiday months register very high increases, but this year could be atypical from this point of view too,” LukOil Romania’s Deputy General Manager, Andrei Chirilescu, told Business Standard.
The company official said that, although many Romanians working abroad will not return to their home country to spend their holiday here, as they used to do in previous years, boosting fuel consumption, the “First Silo” grain storage governmental program, together with intense infrastructure works, could impact the evolution of the market.
The “First Silo” program will allow grain producers to store their production in warehouses licensed by the Ministry of Agriculture. In exchange, producers will receive a certificate mentioning the stored quantity. Then, the producer can take this certificate to the bank to request loans necessary for continuing agricultural works or paying suppliers.
