State official: Romania offered best terms to Volkswagen for new plant

Romania made the best offer to Volkswagen for hosting the planned new car plant, Paula Pirvanescu, a state secretary in the Ministry of Business Environment (MMACA), said at the Auto Industry Forum 2019 in Bucharest, adding that “the final decisions are made at a higher level” - not involving the ministry or the investment agency, Agerpres reported.

Romania is one of the best EU countries for companies to relocate their businesses and a hub for the automotive industry with Renault and Ford operating “nearly very well” despite problematic infrastructure, Pirvanescu argued.

The race for hosting Volkswagen’s new plant resumed with Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Croatia all of them renewing their interest or even contacting the German group - after the German group announced it put on hold the investment in Turkey (their initial choice) amid political and military developments.

Volkswagen, however, announced on October 22 that it is not actively scouting for new locations, quoted by Reuters.

Volkswagen is not scouting for alternative locations as it evaluates plans to build a new car factory in Turkey, Andreas Tostmann, VW’s production chief, told journalists in a call on Tuesday.

“We are watching developments. Plans for Turkey are currently on hold. We are not actively looking at alternative locations,” Tostmann said.

The Putin-Erdogan agreement on October 23 decreases the chances for Volkswagen to relocate its planned plant out of Turkey.

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