RETROSPECTIVE 2011 - Investments in field of AGRICULTURE AND FOOD INDUSTRY that drew greatest attention of eKapija's users in 2011

eKapija`s investment team has recently done an analysis and formed the rank list of investments and investment ideas that drew the greatest attention of eKapija`s users in 2011. The results are very interesting, some are expected, but there is a plenty of surprises, so that we`ve decided to share this information with you.

Projects are classified into 12 categories and this time we are presenting the most interesting investments in the category of AGRICULTURE AND FOOD INDUSTRY.

Buy, sell, resell, add. That is how agriculture and food industry in Serbia looked like in 2011. Many people were not happy to find out that they would eat a Maggi soup instead of a C soup and a Dr.Oetker pudding instead of a C pudding. Most people were surprised by the fact that the famous Fructal was taken over by the less famous Nectar. Another big surprise was MK Group's acquisition of Carnex and takeover bid for Slovenia's Zito.

Ice Cream Factory, which is still domestically owned, drew attention with its owner's interesting story and the announcement of cooperation with Gazprom's restaurants.

In the category of Agriculture and Food Industry, the greatest attention of eKapija's readers in 2011 was drawn by acquisitions and investments in raw materials and machines.

Investors were mainly domestic companies.

The first-ranked investment on this list is the acquisition of Centroproizvod. The first stories about the sale of that famous Serbian company could have been heard in early 2011, and current owners Nestle and Dr.Oetker were mentioned as potential buyers. One day after the announcement of that news, Nemanja Popov, then CEO of Centroproizvod, denied that story and said they were talking with a number of world-renowned companies about possible cooperation, but that the ownership structure would definitely remain intact, meaning that the news about the company's acquisition by Dr.Oetker and Nestle was absolutely not true. Then a news emerged in April that the company Dr.Oetker had taken over Centroproizvod's division for confectionery and powder products. Two months later, in June, Nestle announced that it had reached an agreement to take over Centroproizvod's operations, that is, the company's culinary division (spices, seasonings, soups and dressings), confectionery division (spreads and chocolates), and drinks division (chocolate beverages and teas).

The story about the takeover of Fructal ranks second in our retrospective. Nectar, Serbia's leading juice manufacturer, signed on 25 July 2011 an agreement on the acquisition of Slovenia's Fructal. That was a transaction worth EUR 50 million.

When asked for their opinion about Serbia's Nectar, people at Ajdovscina-based Fructal said: "We find it most important to keep Fructal in good hands because this company exists since 5 October 1945. It is also significant that salaries are paid on a regular basis and that no employees are laid off. The new owner has maintained its production in Serbia, so we hope it will also maintain ours."

(Carnex)

In mid-November Carnex became part of MK Group. This investment is the third on our list, and the attention of eKapija's readers was mainly attracted by the fact Carnex was again a domestically owned company. As MK Group CEO Miodrag Kostic announced on that occasion, its group has been strategically focusing on agricultural production and food industry over the last ten years because these branches of economy have the biggest development potentials, and especially because the demand for food and food products is constantly growing.

A story by Radosav Komadinic, owner of the company Ice Cream Factory, ranks fourth. After leaving the coffee company Rex, Marbo, Que Pasa restaurant and Aleksandar Palace hotel behind him, Komadinic is now creating an "ice fantasy." Last year his Ice Cream Factory won a special award for the exporter of the year in the category of small and medium-sized enterprises. This award, which is presented by the Investment and Export Promotion Agency (SIEPA), went to the company from Nova Pazova for its continuous export of ice cream to Russia.

Aside from being available in stores and in the Russian market, the products of Ice Cream Factory can also be ordered at Gazprom's restaurants.

In addition to being the "sugar king," MK Group's owner Miodrag Kostic may soon also become the "bread king." That is what Kurir daily wrote in September 2011, thus becoming the first daily newspaper to announce that Kostic's MK Group intends to become the majority owner of Zito Grupa, the largest producer of baked, milling and confectionery products in Slovenia.

This story ranks fifth on the list of the most popular ones in 2011. It was announced early this year that MK Group had extended the validity of its takeover bid for Slovenia's Zito. As it was explained, MK Group allegedly accepted certain additional conditions set by sellers - KD Group, the state-owned company Sod and Modra Zavarovalnica. We believe that this story will remain high on the 2012 list as well.

It seems that confectioners are doing well in Serbia. The sixth on our list is a project of the company Haj Ararat, which intends to invest EUR 1.3 million in the production of confectioneries in Nis.

Nis Mayor Milos Simonovic and Haj Ararat CEO Rafi Karapet Benlian have signed an Agreement on the alienation of a building land on the territory of Elektronska Industrija (EI) Nis. A new production hall, spanning a total of about 1,680 square meters, will be built next to the existing business and production facilities on aforementioned 4,350-square-meter lot, which will enable the employment of nearly 100 people. In that way, the conditions will be created to produce 200 tonnes of confectionery products a month, that is, EUR 3 million worth of confectioneries per year.

The seventh-ranked is Energo Zelena, which is building a slaughterhouse waste treatment plant in Indjija. This plant is worth EUR 21 million and will be put in operation in mid-2012.

The eighth place belongs to a project in the north of our country. Banini has been granted a EUR 1 million incentive by the Ministry of Economy of Serbia to build a new confectionery plant in the municipality of Kikinda and employ 200 workers in it.

Julia Mlin, part of the Central and Eeastern European milling group that operates in four countries in the region, has opened a mill in Feketic. The value of this greenfield investment exceeds EUR 5 million, and people at Julia Mlin point out it is "the biggest investment in Serbia's agriculture in 2011." It is also big and interesting enough to rank ninth.

Ranking tenth to fifteenth are the following: an investment in animal food production at Komponenta factory in Cuprija, the concentrate factory Sojaprotein Becej, the mineral water plant Duboka, the strudel factory Medela Vrbas, the reconstruction of Toplicki Vinogradi winery in Prokupac and, in the end, the announced investment by Victoria Group in Zrenjanin-based sugar plant.

Take a look at the complete rank list of investments in the category of AGRICULTURE AND FOOD INDUSTRY and compare it with your own opinions, expectations and assessments.

One more thing - have you already read which projects drew your greatest attention in the category of SPORTS, SHOPPING CENTERS, TOURISM, ENTERTAINMENT AND RECREATION, INDUSTRY, TRANSPORT, TELECOMMUNICATIONS and IT, REAL ESTATE and HEALTH CARE?

eKapija.com Beograd

Štampa Sistem doo Beograd

Nestle Adriatic Foods d.o.o. Beograd-obrisano iz registra

Nestlé S.A.

Dr. Oetker d.o.o.

FRUCTAL d.d.

MK Group d.o.o. Beograd

Carnex d.o.o. Vrbas

Gazprom Export Moskva

Marbo product doo Beograd

Agencija za strana ulaganja i promociju izvoza SIEPA

Grad Niš

Energo-zelena d.o.o. Inđija

Banini a.d. Kikinda

Ministarstvo privrede Republike Srbije

Julia Mlin Bačko Petrovo Selo

Toplički vinogradi Gojinovac

Kancelarija za lokalni ekonomski razvoj Niš

Electrawinds-s d.o.o. Beograd

Vlada Republike Srbije

ŽITO Prehrambena industrija d.d. Ljubljana

Ice Cream factory d.o.o. Beograd

Nestle ice cream Srbija a.d. Beograd-17161822

Strauss Group Ltd Israel

Benlian food d.o.o. Niš

Elektronska industrija a.d. Niš

Cefta Secretariat Brussels

Grad Kikinda

Opština Mali Iđoš

Small steps d.o.o. Feketić

Lad Group d.o.o. Beograd- u stečaju

Koncern Bambi ad Požarevac

Medela a.d. Vrbas

Invej a.d. Beograd

Fabrika šećera a.d. Zrenjanin

Agencija za privatizaciju Republike Srbije Beograd prestala sa radom 29.01.2016.