History
The extraction and processing of oils and fats from vegetable sources has a long tradition in Romania . The first oil companies were founded in Bucharest in early 18 th century; in mid-nineteenth century Romania , oilseed processing turned into mass production.
The story of Argus SA began seventy years ago, and both of them - plant and story - developed gradually. The plant was established in 1943 under the name S.A.R. ARGUS, a private company with Romanian capital, located in Constanţa at no.8 Ardealului Street , in a neighborhood which the locals used to call Obor.
In 1948, the plant was nationalized as the “Oil Plant of Constanţa” and functioned under this name all along the communist period.
In 1968, a modern, bigger plant was built in Constanţa at no.1 Industrial ă Street , where Argus SA has functioned ever since. The two units ran in parallel until 1980, when the older unit was closed down and dismantled.
In 1990, the plant reverted to its old name – “Argus”.
Between 1994 and 1996, the plant went through a process of privatization and became a public limited company, with 100% private capital. The process was one of the successful applications of the Management Employee Buyouts (MEBO) method of privatization in Romania .
From the very beginning of its existence as a private company, in 1991, and more so starting in 1994, the plant went through a period of massive investment, which may be divided into the following stages:
• In 1994 a new bottling line was introduced, with a capacity of 210,000 l/hour.
• In 1996 a pet-bottle making machine was installed and a pet-bottling line was purchased.
• Starting in 1997 the raw oil extraction unit was updated; in 1998, the Bühler pre-cleaning machine was updated too.
• In 1999 and in 2004 the refining unit was updated and revamped; thus, its capacity was increased, and the possibility was created to obtain refined oils by both the chemical and the physical refining methods, which in its turn guaranteed the product quality demanded by the consumers.
• In 2005, a bottling line for 2l bottles was added, and the bottling line for 1l bottles was updated.