April 1 (SeeNews) - Chinese company Shandong Linglong has started the construction of a tyre factory in Zrenjanin, in northern Serbia, the Serbian government said.
Shandong Linglong plans to invest 800 million euro ($900 million) in the construction of the factory, which will have 1,200 employees and will produce 13 million tyres per year, the Serbian government said in a statement on Saturday.
The factory will have a footprint of 500,000 square metres and represents the largest foreign investment in northern Serbia ever, president Aleksandar Vucic said during the official groundbreaking ceremony, according to a press release issued by the Zrenjanin city government.
"Linglong is not just a factory, it is also roads and speedways, from Belgrade to Zrenjanin and from Zrenjanin to Novi Sad, we will completely link Banat and Zrenjanin will be everywhere, on the road and rail map, this will additionally facilitate the arrival of new companies in this city," the president of Linglong, Wang Feng, said.
The Chinese company will operate the factory via Serbian subsidiary Linglong International Europe, the Zrenjanin city government said last week.
Last month, the city government said the factory will be built in three phases, with the last one to be completed in March 2025.
In September, Vucic said Shandong Linglong was in talks with Volkswagen and Renault for the sale of tyres produced at the factory as of 2021.
($ = 0.889603 euro)