The Italian footwear producer, Geox, might leave the southern Serbian town of Vranje by the end of July, as reported by the Info Vranjske portal.
The Geox footwear store in Vranje has been having a clearance sale for a while now and it has been almost emptied out.
Also, the main modeller of Geox in Vranje was moved to Morocco last week, where Geox will start producing its most popular footwear models.
According to unofficial information, a number of workers have already been instructed to register with the local job office, and in the past month, the factory has been closed because the employees were on a collective annual leave.
Still, there are allegations that the company’s assets and some workers might be taken in by the Turkish company Teklas, which operates successfully in Vladicin Han.
The arrival of Geox to Vranje was agreed upon in 2012, and the factory was opened in 2016.
Vecernje Novosti daily writes that the workers claim that they have not been given any official information and that they all hope that these are only speculations. The workers add that the trade unions are hoping that the scenario of moving the production to Albania will not happen.
Geox received a state subsidy of EUR 11.25 million, i.e. EUR 9,000 per employee. According to Serbian law, foreign companies that get state subsidies have to be fully operational for at least five years in the country after launching operations here.
(Nova Ekonomija, 15.07.2021)
https://novaekonomija.rs/vesti-iz-zemlje/italijanska-fabrika-obu%C4%87e-geox-odlazi-iz-vranja
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