Rousse Winery is one of Bulgaria’s major wine producers. It has a long-standing tradition of corporate philanthropy but does not necessarily see this as its most important contribution to the region.
In an area of high unemployment like Rousse, the presence of the Winery has a strong direct and indirect effect on the region’s well-being. Its US$65 million investment in the wineries and in wine-growing dwarfs the investments of other Bulgarian wineries and makes it the biggest investor in north-eastern Bulgaria. Vine-growing and wine production have been the main occupations in this region for some 4,000 years, but they would stagnate without new technologies and management practices. The Winery also invests a lot in personnel training programmes and  winery-management software. These are long-term investments both for the company and for the region.
The company was recently purchased by Seaboard, a leading agri-business corporation, but its tradition of good corporate citizenship is totally independent of the mother company. The Winery makes grants to social institutions in the region and sponsors fundraising events in their favour. Decisions are taken in each case by the company’s top managers and for purely philanthropic reasons: the company helps because it can.
For more information about Rousse Winery, contact them by email at winery@vinpromrousse.com