According to Boris Efimov, General Director of Orhei-Vit S.R.L. Boris Efimov, at the moment there are at least half a dozen containers with the finished products of this enterprise in the ocean on their way to the USA: juices and drinks, canned fruit and vegetables. Customs duties imposed by the U.S. authorities on Moldovan goods at the moment of their delivery are a problem for American buyers. Nevertheless, US trading partners have already notified him that they would like to share the sudden tax burden with the suppliers of goods. Accordingly, such a prospect will “eat up” a significant share, and possibly the entire margin of Moldovan producers/traders. As a result, continued cooperation with U.S. buyers would become highly problematic.
According to Boris Efimov’s estimation, in the structure of the company’s exports, the share of the American market accounts on average for about 10% (in some years, for some assortment items – significantly more). In the USA, Orhei-Vit supplies finished products both under its own trademark and for sale under the trademark of customers.
Orhei-Vit’s U.S. business line has not been the most dynamically growing from year to year, but it has nevertheless provided considerable stable revenues. Its possible loss for the company would not be fatal, but it would be painful. Realization of finished products is mainly linear, direct contacts with counterparties, not through an impersonal trader-intermediary. Such connections are built up over years, their acquisition or loss is not only a matter of money, but also of reputation.
Read more in Friday’s issue of Logos Press.
