Dairy giants accused of manipulating Romanian market

Three
international giants involved

The
Competition Council, the Romanian government body tasked with
ensuring a normal competitive environment, has started an
investigation into the possible market manipulation. Apparently there
were arrangements about how to collect, to process and to market
milk.

Aside
from three large foreign groups (Danone, FrieslandCampina and
Hochwald), the following holdings are also being investigated:
Al­ba­lact, Covalact, Almera Interna­tio­nal, Dorna
Lactate, Lactate Natura, Napolact, Lactag, Lacto-Solo­mo­nescu,
Teletext, Unicarm and Unilact Transilvania.

If
the dairy companies are found guilty, they can get a fine of up to
ten percent of their turnover. The value of the dairy market in
Romania is estimated at about 800 million euro.

Fragmented
market

The
Romanian market is still very fragmented, especially concerning
suppliers. In total, there are some 800,000 cattle farmers, with most
having no more than five cows.

The
carcinogenic aflatoxin, found in locally produced milk, rocked the
Romanian dairy market at the beginning of 2013. Dairy cows being fed
polluted corn turned out to be the cause of the issue.