The Romanian Center for European Policies has published an exhaustive analysis of the agricultural cooperatives sector, based on data provided by the National Trade Registry Office on all the agricultural cooperatives registered in Romania by mid-2015.
Between 2009 and 2013, 499 agricultural cooperatives were established. The North-Eastern region hosts almost one quarter of the total number of agricultural cooperatives in Romania. In 2014, only 390 cooperatives out of 743 submitted the financial balance sheet. Most cooperatives are first degree cooperatives and have a reduced number of members.
Moreover, among the 63 agricultural cooperatives with growing vegetables as their main activity, only 13 declared their turnover above zero in 2013 and 15 in 2015. Out of these 13, respectively 15, two were created through “Rural development through entrepreneurship and association” programme financed by Romanian-American Foundation. These facts reveal the unfavorable situation regarding the placement of Romanian vegetables on the domestic market is. Therefore, this research is relevant in the context of public policy debates aimed to reform the agricultural associative sector in Romania.
The research can be found here.