Romania's agricultural potential can lead the country to the top of European biofuel producers, in the context in which the emphasis is increasingly on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in transport worldwide, said Dragoş Gavriluta, Country Head for Clariant, at ZF Live. 

Clariant is currently investing over 100 million euro in first-of-its-kind advanced biofuels plant, in Podari, near Craiova. 120 people will work at the factory, and another 300-400 people indirectly, in the transport services, straw baling, and storage. The plant will start producing bioethanol in 2021, with a production capacity of 50,000 tonnes per year. Clariant decided in 2017 to invest 100 million euros in a bioethanol plant in Romania, after analyzing the important agricultural potential of the country.

About 15 factories similar to Clariant can be built in the south of Romania, given the agricultural potential of the area. "We have sold three licenses in Poland, Slovakia and China, there is interest in building such factories. I made a theoretical calculation, using the Romanian crop can create up to 51 factories the size of Podari. There will never be 51 factories, but the potential is massive and needs to be developed, ”Dragoș Gavriluta stated.