Saint Gobain Romania, a subsidiary of the French glass-to-construction materials group Saint Gobain, estimates turnover for 2003 at EUR 800,000, a similar result to that achieved in 2002, it was repor…
Saint Gobain Romania, a subsidiary of the French glass-to-construction materials group Saint Gobain, estimates turnover for 2003 at EUR 800,000, a similar result to that achieved in 2002, it was reported on 12 January 2004. The decision in late 1999 to set up Saint Gobain Glass Romania as a distribution centre for the domestic market was a result of the high sales of construction-related glass in Romania. The French group is present in Romania through three companies: Saint Gobain Glass Romania (glass products), Saint Gobain Isover Romania (insulating products) and Saint Gobain Weber Romania (construction materials). The parent company is also considering an investment project to become a maker of float glass for auto applications. The value of the investment would be EUR 120 million, and the location might be Calarasi (south-west Romania). French officials are being cautious in their statements about a large investment in Romania, as they are awaiting the signing of an agreement with the Romanian authorities. At the opening of the French-Romanian Economic Forum (Paris, November 2003) Romanian“s President Ion Iliescu mentioned the French investment among the projects encouraged by the Romanian authorities. “Personally, I believe that the volume of direct French investment in Romania under the form of share capital or portfolio investment, which nears one billion euro, might go up in the coming period through new projects such as the construction of a metallic cable factory in Zalau (north-west) by Michelin, the setting up of a glass factory in Calarasi by Saint Gobain, and by the commissioning of a ball bearing assembly line in Sibiu (centre) by Societe Nationale de Roulments,” President Iliescu said in November 2003.