Daewoo Craiova plant to join Renault?

While awaiting the arrival of General Motors, the Daewoo plant in Craiova appears to be edging ever closer to Renault. “The scenario of a French takeover of the Craiova plant was discussed during the visit of Minister Devedjian (French Minister for Industry, Patrick Devedjian). It is obvious demand is going to be very high, and even during my recent visit to France I saw remarkable enthusiasm,” Finance Minister Mihai Tanasescu told Ziarul Financiar. The issue will also be taken up with French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, who is due to arrive in Bucharest on October 17. There’s another event scheduled for this day too, and that is the signing of the privatisation contract for Distrigaz Sud with Gaz de France, a French state-controlled company. Minister Devedjian had stated that French carmaker Renault was in talks with the Romanian Government over the acquisition of the Daewoo plant in Craiova in order to boost production of its Logan model. French Group officials denied these talks had taken place, however, saying only, “depending on the increase in demand for the Logan, Renault will be looking to various options to boost its production capacity.” ZF