Thirst of rich people in Arab states, quenched by Romanian mineral waters

Romania wants to export mineral water from underground springs where it is most needed – to the rich Arab states and Asia.
Thus, millions of cubic meters of mineral water, bulk and bottled could go next year to Qatar, UAE, Jordan and China, digi24.ro informs.

By the ‘90s, the 4B were the 4 mineral waters very known worldwide: Biborteni, Borsec, Bodoc and Buzias.

„We are interested in recovering these factories and products on the markets which were closed down, to revive the old brands a little bit more and to export water,” Radu Dumitru, general manager of National Company of Mineral Waters (SNAM) said.

Bottles of mineral water under Buzias or Bodoc brands could be served at the table of the rich sheikhs, says the director of the state company. Radu Dumitru estimates that the bottling Romanian state labeled could begin in two months.

SNAM wants to buy two bottling units from private companies. It would be a first for the last 25 years that the Romanian state will buy a production plant from the market.

A bottling station amounts to EUR 10 million. “We can take money from bank loans,” Dumitru added.

According to him, the big problem at the moment is that Romania does not earn very much from this resource. “Out of the 2 billion liters consumption of bottled water in our country, taxes are paid just for a half of the amount. The rest is sold as table water or spring water and for this sort, no royalties are paid,” SNAM chief pointed out.

More specifically, EUR 4 is the fee for 1,000 liters of mineral water. The state collects for 1,000 liters, as much it would get for 2-liter bottles of still water sold in supermarkets in Dubai. In UAE, the minimum price of a liter of mineral water is equivalent to RON 5.