Romania-based spirits producer Alexandrion Group will invest some USD 100 million in an alcohol distillery in the state of New York, in the US, said group president Nawaf Salameh during a press conference on Friday.

The group plans to build a distillery the same size as the one it runs in Romania, and employ 400 people, including Romanians in the US, reports local Agerpres.

Alexandrion has been pondering for the last five ears what external market to choose for its expansion.The recent strengthening of US-Romania trade relationships brought about a bigger openness, “so we’ve decided to start the investment. It is a strategical, not a commercial move. We will produce everything that can be distilled and all the brands will be ours,” added Salameh during the Trade & Entrepreneurship Ministry conference.

It will be a greenfield project, with construction due in several months, and production start in about a year.

The big Romanian investment to the US was announced mid-last week by trade minister Ilan Laufer.

editor@romania-insider.com