The Public Property Agency plans to complete the acquisition of Chisinau-based Aroma by Barza Albă, a company based in Bălți, in 2026. The decision to merge was made back in July 2024, but the financial results for 2025 show that the companies remain two separate entities with significantly different levels of performance.
Both companies are state-owned and specialize in the production of divin and other spirits. Following the reorganization, Barza Albă will become the successor to all of Aroma's rights and obligations. The trademarks and product lines of the acquired company are expected to be retained.
Barza Albă's audit report notes that, as of April 22, 2026, the reorganization process had not yet begun. Therefore, the completion of the merger by the end of the year depends on the speed of the bureaucratic process.
Aroma's insolvency proceedings began on April 1, 2013. In its official justification for the merger, the Public Property Agency attributed the company's financial crisis to ineffective management and declining sales. By that time, the company had accumulated approximately 240 million lei in debt.
In October 2013, Aroma was transferred from bankruptcy proceedings to restructuring proceedings, which ultimately lasted nearly 12 years. As of December 19, 2023, recognized creditor claims totaled 35.11 million lei, while the company's assets amounted to approximately 100 million lei.
In June 2025, the court confirmed the full repayment of creditors' claims following payments made by Barza Albă and terminated the insolvency proceedings. Andrei Luța, who had previously served as deputy director of Barza Albă, was appointed interim director of Aroma. Thus, the managerial integration of the companies began before the legal completion of the reorganization.
The financial burden was also partially transferred to the acquiring company. On August 16, 2024, Barza Albă transferred 28.93 million lei to a special account held by the insolvency administrator to settle Aroma's creditors' claims. The funds were obtained through a ten-year bank loan from Victoriabank.
The financial statements of both companies as of the end of 2025 reflect Aroma's 15.2 million lei loan—as a financial receivable for Barza Albă and a liability for Aroma. Public documents do not disclose how the difference between the initially transferred 28.93 million lei and the loan balance arose. Therefore, it cannot be asserted that Aroma repaid part of the funds.
The state supported the reorganization by waiving a portion of the dividends owed to it. Barza Albă was exempted from remitting approximately 2.2 million lei from its 2023 profits and approximately 2.8 million lei from its 2024 profits. The total amount was approximately 4.95 million lei.
This measure is classified as de minimis aid (minor state support; in Moldova, this amounts to up to 300,000 euros over three years). The justification cites the additional financial burden arising from the repayment of Aroma's debts and preparations for the merger. Formally, the funds left with the company must be directed toward production development, with a corresponding increase in the authorized capital.
According to published financial statements, Barza Albă increased its revenue by 24.7% in 2025: from 71.48 million to 89.12 million lei. Operating profit rose from 12.61 million to 15.87 million, while net profit increased by 10.3% to 12.15 million lei.
At the same time, the company's financial expenses increased from 1.48 million to 2.99 million lei, partly due to higher interest expenses. Net profit margin, calculated based on the published figures, decreased from 15.4% to 13.6%.
At the same time, the auditor determined that securities traded on the regulated market were recorded at historical cost rather than fair value. As a result, financial investments were understated by 6.71 million lei, net income for 2025 by 1.7 million lei, and retained earnings from prior years by 4.3 million lei.
The corrected financial statements have not been published, so the official result remains a net profit of 12.15 million lei.
Aroma's financial picture looks different. The company's revenue increased by 52.8%, from 19.92 million to 30.43 million lei. However, operating profit fell fivefold, from 4.54 million to 0.9 million lei; net profit decreased 5.75-fold, from 4.49 million to 0.78 million lei.
Other operating expenses saw the most significant increase: from 2.15 million to 7.24 million lei. Administrative expenses rose from 4.95 million to 5.57 million. The published financial statements do not disclose the breakdown of other operating expenses. Therefore, it is impossible to determine whether they are primarily related to the exit from insolvency and preparations for the merger or whether they reflect a more sustained increase in costs.
Aroma's accumulated losses as of the end of 2025 totaled 42.27 million lei, and the total uncovered loss was 41.57 million lei. Emerging from insolvency resolved the issue of recognized creditor claims, but does not yet signify the completion of the company's financial recovery.
If we simply add the figures for the two companies, their combined revenue in 2025 was 119.55 million lei, and the net income reported in the financial statements was 12.93 million lei. These figures cannot be considered consolidated results: the companies are still reporting separately, and intercompany transactions will need to be eliminated after the merger is completed.
Another feature of the future structure is the high concentration of funds in inventory. At Barza Albă, the value of inventory reached 378.93 million lei, and at Aroma, 60.9 million lei. In total, this amounts to 439.84 million lei, or about 81% of the two companies' combined assets according to their published balance sheets.
For the production of aged divin, significant inventories of distillates and work-in-progress are part of the business model. At the same time, large sums remain tied up in inventory for extended periods. Barza Albă's audit committee recommended improving inventory management and accelerating inventory turnover.
The official rationale for the merger includes consolidating infrastructure, utilizing Aroma's more modern bottling line, and expanding the product range for foreign partners. A forecast prepared in 2024 projected that Barza Albă's net sales following the acquisition of Aroma would amount to 78 million lei in 2025 and approach 100 million lei in 2029.
However, in 2025—when the merger had not yet taken place and the companies were still reporting separately—Barza Albă's revenue alone had already reached 89.12 million lei, exceeding the 2025 target set for the company following the acquisition of Aroma. // 05.08.2026 — InfoMarket.