Brașov-based "Roman", maker of trucks and buses, is at an advanced stage of negotiations with a foreign maker of tractor engines. Roman could begin the manufacturing of tractors for the domestic market in a few months. The general manager of the company, Carol Rugacs, said that the signing of a contract for the acquisition of electric engines may take place within two months at the latest, with production set to begin immediately afterwards, because the company has already acquired gearboxes and axles made in Cugir.
The owner of the company, Ioan Neculaie, thinks that it can produce several thousand tractors a month, and said that the company plans to adhere to the "Clunkers program" for tractors.
In the summer of 2009, "Roman" began the delivery of tractors to Crystal, a Romanian company with Egyptian shareholders which acquired from the new owners of "Tractorul" the licence for the 65 HP tractor, but only for the Egyptian market. "They wanted the exact model that Tractorul SA used to make years ago, even though we have proposed certain improvements ", The general manager of "Tractorul", Carol Rugacs said.
The demand for tractors on the Egyptian market amounts to 3,000 - 3,500 pieces annually, and there is the possibility of those tractors being all produced in Braşov. "It is a reason to be proud as a nation that we will resume the production of tractors and that we will get back one of our traditional markets", Mr. Rugacs was saying last year.
Ioan Neculaie announced that after production of tractors for the Egytpoina market begins, he is reviewing the possibility of manufacturing tractors for the domestic market, which has a shortage of 250,000 tractors, and the extension of the "Cash for Clunkers" program to cover tractors as well could stimulate domestic demand in this sector.
Ovidiu VRÂNCEANU, Braşov (Tradus de Cosmin Ghidov
