May 18 (SeeNews) - Slovenian white goods manufacturer Gorenje [LJE:GRVG], controlled by China's Hisense Group, plans to close its sanitary equipment factory in Serbia's Zajecar and is in talks for the lease-out or sale of the production facility, Serbian media reported.
The factory has been operating with significant losses for a long time and the management of Gorenje is intensively negotiating with two potential partners who would rent or buy the production capacities and re-employ its workers, Tanjug news agency quoted the director of the factory, Vlado Krebs, as saying on Friday.
"We expect that these negotiations could be completed very soon. Both interested partners intend to expand their business, so more workers could find jobs in this factory than we have at the moment," Krebs said.
The decision of Gorenje to sell the factory located in eastern Serbia has nothing to do with the coronavirus pandemic, Krebs noted.
"It is the result of the significant losses that this factory has, as well as Gorenje's strategic decision to focus on the core business of home appliances, and to withdraw from all others, such as the production of sanitary appliances," he explained.
Gorenje started the production of sanitary equipment under the Gorenje Home brand in Zajecar in 2011 after it acquired the factory of local sector player Porcelan. The company has invested 10 million euro ($10.8 million) in the development of the factory.
($ = 0.925066 euro)