Slovenian company Perutnina Ptuj and Albanian business group Balfin are set to invest in the poultry farming industry and the trading of poultry meat.
The two parties have established the company Perutnina Ptuj Albania, which will be controlled to the extent of 81% by the Slovenian company and 19% by the Albanian one.
The new company has preliminarily reached an agreement to acquire several Albanian companies in the poultry farming sector, including those involved in the cultivation of poultry feed and the trading of poultry meat, Monitor reports.
The buyers have submitted for approval to the Competition Authority the agreement to acquire four interconnected companies: Driza, Fresh Chicken Albania 2019, Industria Foragjere (VEAF), and the business of the company Euro Alb 2009.
Sources from the Balfin group have stated that they cannot officially comment on the operations in question yet.
Driza is a company engaged in the collection, processing, packaging, and refrigerated storage of agricultural and livestock products; the breeding, fattening, and production of poultry and their products within and outside the country, etc. The company is fully owned by Albanian businessman Hyqmet Driza.
Fresh Chicken Albania 2019 is a company engaged in poultry slaughter for its own needs and on behalf of third parties; the collection, processing, packaging, and refrigerated storage of agricultural and livestock products of all kinds of prepared or semi-prepared products, with plant or animal origin, etc. Fresh Chicken Albania 2019 is fully owned by Albanian businessman Sulo Driza.
Industria Foragjere (VEAF) is a joint-stock company active in the construction of fodder factories, the production and trading (wholesale and retail) of complementary fodder, concentrates, vitamins, etc.; trading of raw materials (fishmeal, meatmeal, grains, corn, cottonseed, and other products of this nature, etc.). Industria Foragjere (VEAF) is owned by Hyqmet Driza and the company Driza.
Euro Alb 2009 is a company engaged in the collection, processing, storage, and refrigerated storage of agricultural and livestock products, the breeding and fattening of poultry production, products, and by-products, wholesale and retail within and outside the country, etc. Euro Alb 2009 is fully owned by Besnik Driza.
According to financial statements for 2022, the four companies had a combined turnover of just over 1.6 billion lekë and achieved a total net profit of around 26 million lekë.
Perutnina Ptuj is part of the Perutnina group, the largest producer of poultry meat and its by-products in Southeastern Europe. The Perutnina group owns 14 production factories and has subsidiaries in Slovenia, Austria, Romania, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and North Macedonia, with a total of 4600 employees.
The group's activities include poultry breeding and slaughter, meat processing, and the production of by-products, food cultivation for poultry, etc. So far, Perutnina has not been directly present in the Albanian market, while its products are marketed by the distributor Kosmonte Foods.
In 2019, the Perutnina group was acquired by the Ukrainians of the MHP Group, a company with similar activities in the poultry processing and trading industry.
According to the latest financial data for 2022, the Perutnina group reported a total turnover of 441 million euros.
Balfin is one of the most important business groups in Albania, owned by businessman Samir Mane.
The group operates in 11 countries worldwide, in activities ranging from construction, real estate development, financial services, wholesale trade, tourism, energy, transportation, and education. In the consolidated balance sheet for 2022, the group reported a total turnover of 444 million euros, employing around 5,000 workers.
Slovenian Investors' Previous Experiences
The previous experiences of Slovenian investors in Albania have not been very successful. Telekom Slovenije entered the Albanian market in 2007, acquiring the internet service provider company, Albaniaonline, and Albanian Fiber Backbone, which later in 2009 took the name Primo Communications. Due to unsatisfactory results, the Slovenians withdrew and sold the company in 2014 to the Albanian company AD Trade.
By the end of 2014, Primo reported accumulated losses of more than 1 billion lekë.
There was also a short-lived investment in Albania by the Slovenian retail company, Mercator. Mercator entered Albania in 2009 and supported its project mainly in a hypermarket located in the City Park shopping center and later in a small number of other supermarkets. Mercator's presence in Albania lasted only five years, and in 2014, the Slovenians withdrew, selling the company to the Albanian company Pragma Acquisition.
By the end of 2013, Mercator accumulated losses of almost 1.9 billion lekë.
One of the few ventures indirectly controlled by Slovenian investors that achieved some success in the Albanian market was Studio Moderna Albania, trading under the Top Shop brand. It built a business selling products owned by it through television channels. However, even Studio