Contenders bid for land Montupet gave up

Four foreign companies – one from India, two from Germany, one from Austria – have made known their intention to invest in the land in Cluj rejected by French firm Montupet prior to withdrawing their investments from Romania.

Of the four contenders, the largest proposal comes from the Indian company, which plans to invest around 150 million dollars, local authorities say.

“This firm is not willing to be named yet, but I can tell you that its turnover last year was around 335 million dollars (around 270 million euros) and that it currently has more than 4,000 employees,” said Emil Boc, the mayor of Cluj.

He went on to say that the firm was among the world”s top three producers of CDs and DVDs and was attracted to Cluj through the Romanian Agency for Foreign Investment (ARIS). ARIS officials confirmed the Indian company”s interest in the region, but did not disclose the identity of the investor. The only company that fits the mayor”s description, however, is Moser Baer. Moser Baer has its headquarters in New Delhi and produces CDs and DVDs. Last year it generated turnover of 278 million euros. It has 4,500 employees worldwide.

Although contacted by Ziarul Financiar, officials of the Indian company had made no comment by the time of going to press. “This company is interested in investing in Cluj since they consider it to be very close to the European Union. If it goes ahead, the new plant will create 1,500-2,000 jobs,” Cluj”s mayor added.

For his part, Marius Nicoara, the chairman of Cluj County Council, said the council was likely to build a road in the area to make conditions favourable to the investor.

Emil Boc added another investor in Cluj might be Hewlett-Packard, which has a project for hiring and training 500 young university graduates over the next two years. They are to provide various processing and trading services to the investor and to its customers in the EMEA region. Boc said Hewlett-Packard”s investment is estimated at approximately 40-50 million dollars a year, without elaborating further.