The investment budget was almost four times lower than in the previous year when the company had inaugurated a new assembly line in Gaesti. The investment stood at EUR24 million, ten million euros of which state aid. This new line turned Arctic into Europe’s largest refrigerator manufacturer.
The home appliances manufacturer is part of Turkey’s Arcelik group, which bought the plant in Gaesti in 2002. Since then Arcelik has invested more than EUR110 million in Romania, according to the data supplied by the company.
At the time they announced the new assembly line, Arctic officials said they would hire 500 people in 2013-2018, but the number of employees was the same at the end of last year as in 2012, 2,500. The company planned to hire 200 people at the beginning of 2015, said Hasan Ali Yardimci (42), the executive appointed to run the local operations of Arctic six months ago.
Arctic started to make simple upright freezers on its new assembly line in 2014. The investment in the new line was made because Arctic was already operating at capacity and boosted the production capacity by 25%.
The manufacturer can now assemble about 2.6 million units a year in Gaesti. Arctic makes chest freezers and upright freezers and refrigerators branded as Arctic and Beko. The first brand is sold only in Romania, the other is also exported. Arctic ships Romanian-made products to about 65 countries, mainly to Turkey, Spain, Poland, Italy, Germany, United Kingdom and France. Exports helped it grow its business in each of the last few years and contribute 75% to 80% of its revenue.
The home appliances manufacturer ended last year with RON1.52 billion revenue, an increase of 6% on the previous year. Growth was lower than 10% for the second year in a row, but was on target, company officials said.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)