In 2021, 787 agricultural cooperatives were established, the total number of such associations reaching 4,041, according to Ziarul Financiar calculations made based on data from Confidas.ro, a financial analysis platform for companies.

The number is the highest in the country's history, surpassing that of the communist period.

"In 1989, according to statistics, there were 3,172 agricultural production cooperatives in Romania, which managed 8.9 million hectares, almost the entire agricultural area of Romania. Basically, there was one in each commune," Paul Şchiopu, an accounting expert and author of several books on associations in general and on agricultural cooperatives in particular, told ZF.

The number of cooperatives last year was four times higher than the average of the last five years, with a peak of 280 newly established cooperatives in 2018, according to Confidas data.

(Photo: Mihai Neacsu/ Dreamstime)

andrei@romania-insider.com