CITR, part of Impetum Group, reintroduced into the economic circuit the only mushroom compost factory in Romania, by selling it to Pilis Food, an important player in the agricultural sector in the south of the country. As a judicial liquidator of the East Champion Union Cooperativa Agricolă (in bankruptcy), CITR obtained over 840,000 Euro following the auction, money that will be redistributed to creditors.

“This transaction revitalizes a western sector in Romania, that of compost production for mushroom cultivation, and will certainly encourage many entrepreneurs to develop new businesses in this sector. We wanted to save the value of this compost factory and we are glad that we managed to bring to the table an investor who wants and can reintegrate it into the economic circuit. We anticipate that in the coming years there will be more and more mushrooms in southeastern Romania, encouraged by this compost factory but also by increasing the consumption of mushrooms in Romania. Our mission is to discover the value of companies in difficulty and to create the context of the second chance to save and increase this value through innovative solutions, reintegrating them into the economy,” says Ionut Coleasa, Partner, CITR.

Given that Romanian producers had to import compost from Hungary at high costs, saving this plant from bankruptcy and reintroducing it into the economic circuit will support the development of this economic sector. Compost is the raw material for mushrooms, being a local business considering the very high transport cost.

The company that took over the compost factory is PILIS FOOD, represented by Puiu Elisei, one of the most famous farmers in the Calarasi region.

“As a result of the investment, our company becomes the main player in this segment of national interest. In the next period we will invest in the refurbishment of the factory and in the growth of the team. We will recruit a specialized technologist and in addition we will create 30 new jobs. Our expectations are that after the resumption of compost production in September, more mushrooms will reappear in the area that have left the market in the past due to uncompetitiveness, because they had to import compost and thus produce mushrooms at a very high cost. We aim for a turnover of 10 million euros / year and the expansion even in the region,” said Puiu Ilisei, Founder and administrator of PILIS FOOD.