Romania may screen for security impact sale of major dairy Napolact to Hungarian group

Sebastian Burduja, adviser to prime minister Ilie Bolojan and former minister of energy, warned of the security impact of the sale of major dairy Napolact to a group owned by a businessman close to the Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban, according to Profit.ro.

Burduja requested a specialist report, opinions from the SRI and SIE, and an analysis of the sale file by the Commission for the Examination of Foreign Direct Investments (CEISD).

As energy minister, Burduja questioned the sale of E.ON Romania assets to the Hungarian state-owned group MVM. The deal is now in limbo, as CEISD issued a negative opinion.

In July, Dutch company FrieslandCampina reached an agreement to sell its operations in Romania, including the Napolact brand and production facilities in Cluj-Napoca and Târgu Mureș, to Bonafarm Group.

Bonafarm Group is a Hungarian agricultural group, controlled by Sándor Csányi, the executive director of the OTP banking group, the richest man in Hungary and the most important investor in agriculture in the neighboring country.

“Mr. Sándor Csányi’s profile transcends that of a simple private investor, emerging as a central pillar of the state capitalism model promoted by the government led by Viktor Orbán. His close and documented ties to prime minister Viktor Orbán point to an economic model in which large conglomerates do not act independently of the government’s political agenda, but essentially become instruments for projecting the economic and political power of the Hungarian state in the region,” Burduja reportedly states in a document.

(Photo source: Facebook/Sebastian Burduja)