Bucharest, 03.10.2023 - Veolia Romania Integrated Solutions (VRIS), a member company of Veolia Romania and a provider of water, sewage, and thermal energy system operation, maintenance, and management services, has entered into a partnership with Holde Agri Invest (HOLDE), an entrepreneurial company engaged in agricultural land exploitation, listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. The purpose of this collaboration, as stipulated in a memorandum of understanding, is to develop innovative solutions essential for sustainable modern agriculture. This will be achieved by creating models and methodologies to optimize water management for irrigation alternatives, aiming to enhance agricultural production's qualitative and quantitative aspects.
Sustainable agriculture, as an integral component of sustainable development, demands effective management of water and soil resources, entailing a comprehensive understanding of the water footprint within agricultural regions, aligned with the societal values they can and should uphold. This is with the ultimate goal of enhancing productivity and fostering the growth of a resilient and sustainable agricultural sector.
The Memorandum of Collaboration concluded with Holde Agri Invest establishes two key directions for the development of resilient solutions essential for sustainable agriculture, tailored to current climate and economic realities. The first direction entails innovation in water resource management for agriculture, involving the identification of solutions customized to the needs of efficiently managing water resources within agricultural crops. This includes water reuse, avoiding excessive extraction from conventional sources, energy conservation in irrigation systems, and minimizing environmental impact. The second direction involves the establishment of a multidisciplinary expertise center, a hub of specialists, to develop complex and scalable irrigation projects that can subsequently be replicated on a broader scale.
"The revitalization of agricultural soil through the provision of sustainable solutions is one of Veolia's objectives as it has defined its mission to become a champion of Ecological Transformation. Our experience and expertise enable us to identify and develop tailored solutions for dynamic and innovation-minded partners, aiming for sustainable water management and improved agricultural productivity. The heightened climatic volatility and pressure on surface water sources demand modern ideas and models to address new challenges. In synergy with our historical competencies, we support partners and communities in managing, optimizing, and developing water, material, and energy resources, leading toward new agricultural production systems adapted to contemporary times and responsibilities toward future generations. This marks the beginning of a journey in which we aspire to design a new approach for sustainable water use in agriculture, which may also serve as a national-level alternative”, said Mădălin Mihailovici, CEO of Veolia Romania.
Combining the expertise of the two companies in the field of water and energy resources management as well as in the agricultural sector will lead to the development of applied irrigation projects, with a clear purpose of increasing the quantity and quality of agricultural production and ensuring resilience to climate challenges.
”At Holde, sustainability and resource efficiency are at the heart of everything. We consider water one of the most essential resources for modern, sustainable agriculture, and our farms' efficient use of irrigation systems is vital. Signing this memorandum with Veolia, a world leader in providing essential solutions to successfully address contemporary challenges such as climate change, resource scarcity, and the challenges associated with urbanization and digitalization, will allow us to take concrete steps toward future-proof agriculture”, said Liviu Zăgan, Managing Director of Holde Agri Invest.
About Veolia
Veolia Group aims to become the benchmark company for ecological transformation. Present on five continents with nearly 220,000 employees, the Group designs and deploys useful, practical solutions for the management of water, waste, and energy that are contributing to a radical turnaround of the current situation. Through its three complementary activities, Veolia helps develop access to resources, preserve available resources, and renew them. In 2022, the Veolia group provided 111 million inhabitants with drinking water and 97 million with sanitation, produced nearly 44 million megawatt hours, and recovered 61 million tonnes of waste. Veolia Environnement (Paris Euronext: VIE) achieved consolidated revenue of 42.885 billion euros in 2022.
In Romania, Veolia provides water and energy management solutions. With more than 3,000 employees, the company acts strategically at the local level to implement essential services at the highest quality standards and to support the development of smart cities, serving more than 2,300,000 consumers.
Veolia Romania Integrated Solutions (VRSI) is a member company of the Veolia Group and provides operation, maintenance, and management services for water and wastewater systems, equipment, and installations for shopping centers, research institutions, and Henri Coandă Bucharest International Airport. VRSI is also the operator of the public water supply service in the city of Otopeni, since 2007, for a period of 25 years, for the city of Chitila, since 2016, for a contractual period of 10 years, and for the city of Popești-Leordeni since 2019, for a period of 29 years www.veolia.com
About Holde Agri Invest (HOLDE)
Holde Agri Invest is a company initiated by a group of Romanian entrepreneurs to develop it to become a leader in the field of agriculture in Romania. Established in 2018, the company exploits approximately 13,200 hectares of land, organized in four nuclei - Roșiori farm located in Roșiori de Vede (Teleorman county), Frumușani (Călărași county), Videle (Teleorman county) and Conțești (Dâmbovița county). As of October 2020, Holde Agri Invest is a public company listed on the AeRO market of the Bucharest Stock Exchange with the symbol HAI, and as of October 2021, the company is included in the BET-AeRO index of the BVB, with the second largest weighting. www.holde.eu