VW electrifies the Balkans
VW wants to invest over one billion euros in a multi-car plant in southeastern Europe. The race of states has begun. Who can offer something?
Belgrade / Sofia. Excited, the Serbian "Novosti" already reported the execution. "Serbia is facing an economic earthquake!" Announced the government-friendly state gaiters on the weekend happily to their readers. With Volkswagen, the world's largest car manufacturer has decided to settle its major plant in Serbia despite fierce competition. The "performance of the Serbian economy", but also the friendly relations of the domestic state leadership to "the colleagues from Germany" had been the "tip of the balance to our benefit".
The VW plans for a new multi-brand plant in southeastern Europe disturb the works council of the car giant - and not only electrify the press of potential Balkan location states. Together with the EU members Bulgaria and Romania as well as the EU contenders North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey, several countries feel right at home as the location for the new VW plant. But with a decision is probably only expected in May.
5000 jobs are to be created
At 1.4 billion euros, the amount of the planned VW investment is estimated. While the VW plants in Emden and Hanover are to concentrate on the production of electric vehicles in the future, could be manufactured in the new plant in the southeast starting from 2023 with a capacity of 300,000 vehicles in the year across VW,? Koda and Seat models. Around 5000 employees are to employ the new plant directly. Thousands more new jobs are likely to be created by suppliers and service companies.
In addition to the transport links and the logistical requirements for a possible factory site, the availability of qualified workers and the level of state incentives are the most important factors in the location decision.
Strikingly enough, industry favorite Hungary does not seem to play a role in the VW plans: not only strongly rising wages, but also the increasing shortage of workers in the Danube state, the Wolfsburg prefer to squint further to the southeast. Turkey (Ford, Hyundai, Honda), Rumania (Ford, Dacia) and with cuts Serbia (Fiat) in the VW Hatz can lead a relatively strong automotive sector there.
The respective advantages and disadvantages
The tense relationship between the EU and Ankara speaks against a new VW plant in Turkey. Romania, on the other hand, is missing highways, a slightly higher wage level and, in some regions, the tense job market. In boom regions such as Timişoara (Temeswar) or Cluj (Cluj), the staff for a major investor like VW should be difficult to find. Structurally weak regions such as the eastern Romanian Iaşi have the human resources but are poorly connected.
The slightly favored Bulgaria, with the site of the Kremikowtzi steelworks, which has been shut down since 2008, has an almost perfect location for the new VW plant around which the booming city of Plovdiv also competes. As an EU member, Bulgaria can also score with relatively stable conditions and very narrow trade ties with Germany. Serbia and outsiders Northern Macedonia could also attract with greater financial incentives, in addition to lower labor costs: as EU candidates, they are not yet fully subject to strict state aid conditions. On the other hand, Serbia's free trade agreement with Russia is unlikely to play a role: from duty-free export to the Brudernation, Fiat models manufactured in Kragujevac are excluded.
Change in the blood picture
Still, the VW site race is considered open - and lets all parties hope. Investing on such a scale would change the "blood picture of our economy," raves Serbia's all-powerful leader Aleksandar Vucic. A VW settlement would have a "very helpful signal effect" for the location Turkey, says Alper Kancer, President of the Turkish industry association Taysad. The VW investment would "correspond to all foreign investment in Bulgaria in one and a half years" and promote the country in the top ten of the EU automotive nations, calculates the Bulgarian business newspaper "capital" before its readers.