German firm could move production from Romania to Moldova, Ukraine

German cable producer Leoni AG could move a part of its production from Romania to another country with lower labor costs, such as Moldova or Ukraine, according to Dan Onoriu, minister counsellor within the Romanian Embassy in Berlin. The group’s sales are estimated to go down this year, and the number of jobs could be reduced, said the Leoni CEO Dieter Belle, reports local Economica.net. The company’s subsidiary in Romania had to hire many people last year, due to the high number of orders. The company reached 16,000 employees, and the minimum wage was increased to EUR 1.4 per hour. The company will have pre-tax profits of only 2% in the next six-seven years, and only if it carries out massive restructuring, said Dan Onoriu. The group is currently considering reducing the number of employees in Romania from 9,000 to 5,000. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: Leoni.ro)