Europe
19 May 2026
Romgaz moves on Azomureș deal as clock ticks
Written by Natalie Noor-Drugan
Romgaz, Romania’s largest natural gas producer and majority state‑owned, said on 6 May it had reached an agreement in principle to acquire Azomureș’s operational activity as a going concern. It said this reflects a shared understanding on structure, price and commercial mechanisms, and it aims to complete negotiations, secure board approval and sign a transaction contract by the end of May.
Azomureș, owned by Swiss agri‑business Ameropa, operates Romania’s largest nitrogen fertiliser plant at Târgu Mureș and covers a substantial share of domestic demand when running at normal rates. In March it notified unions of plans for collective dismissals and mothballing of the plant, opening a consultation under Romanian labour law and creating “an estimated window of approximately 45 days before irreversible workforce reductions begin”.
The company linked this step to “the continued absence of a clear, executable path forward for the plant”, citing prolonged uncertainty over long‑term gas access and “the lack of a binding decision framework” around a possible Romgaz acquisition. More than 600 employees are already on technical unemployment and contracts with service providers for over 1,500 indirect workers have been suspended. Management says the consultation is meant to explore options and mitigate social impact while keeping the site restart‑ready.
Ameropa has been in talks with Romgaz for more than a year and says it has spent over €70 million ($76 million) to keep Azomureș operationally ready during this period. CEO Josh Zacharias said the decision to launch restructuring consultations “was not taken lightly, but it has become unavoidable in the absence of a clear decision path”, while stressing that Azomureș remains ready to engage “on any reliable framework that preserves domestic fertilizer capacity” and reduces import dependence and price volatility for Romanian farmers.
Azomureș describes the Târgu Mureș facility as Romania’s largest fertiliser plant, covering roughly 100 hectares and producing a wide range of nitrogen‑based fertilisers and industrial products. Around 2,500 people, including direct employees and contractors, work at the site, making any full mothballing a major social and supply‑chain risk for the country’s agricultural sector.
Romgaz has positioned its interest in Azomureș as part of a broader role in securing Romania’s energy and fertiliser chains, while underlining that it must follow strict listed‑company procedures and protect its own economic interests as a state‑backed issuer. With only an agreement in principle in place and Azomureș’s restructuring clock still running, fertiliser market participants will be watching whether a binding deal can be wrapped up in time to stabilise operations and keep Romania’s biggest nitrogen plant in domestic supply.
