Swisslion-Takovo new owner of Vrsacki Vinogradi – Rodoljub Draskovic gets price of RSD 575 million

The company Vrsacki Vinogradi has been sold for RSD 575 million (EUR 4.6 million) to the Swisslion-Takovo concern, owned by businessman Rodoljub Draskovic.

The starting price was RSD 480 million, which amounts to a half of the estimated value of the collective. Aside from Draskovic, two other purchasers submitted bids.

The new owner hopes to return to Vrsacki Vinogradi the reputation it had in the late 1990s in a year.

– Vrsacki Vinogradi have been deteriorating and losing money for the past 20 years. The plan is to turn the collective into the leading continental wine producers in the entire region through the quality, the range of products and new plantations. The intention is to invest in the Vrsac cellars and grape processing – Draskovic announces for Danas.

Vice President of Swisslion-Takovo Zeljko Vlahovic stated for B92 that the plan was to invest in Vrsacki Vinogradi and “to return Vrsacki Vinogradi to the people of Vrsac”. He stated that there was enough money for that and that the priority was to prepare for the new season, and that they would keep “as many workers as necessary”. The state tried to sell Vrsacki Vinogradi through tenders three times, and the company was sold on Friday, February 10, 2017.

The last attempt of 2013 failed as the Privatization Agency had selected the sole bidder at the time, the Chinese company Guan Nan, which had offered EUR 5.3 million for the company whose value had been estimated at EUR 29 million. The Ministry of Economy examined the privatization and eventually annulled it.

Following that, Vrsacki Vinogradi had been kept from bankruptcy by the restructuring until November 2015. In the meantime, the value had been dropping and has now been estimated at around RSD 960 million (slightly less than EUR 8 million), although the Banat giant’s property list includes 206 facilities, 516 parcels, 140 vehicles...

Swisslion d.o.o. Beograd

Vršački vinogradi a.d Vršac

sale of Vrsacki Vinogradi

wine production

wine with geographic indication of origin

Guan Nan

Rodoljub Draskovic

Zeljko Vlahovic