Jucu, the new El Dorado for foreign investors

The departure of Finnish group Nokia from Romania and the layoff of 2,200 employees represented a true breath of fresh air for the Romanian government, by providing it with an opportunity to release a wave of announcements about the investments which major foreign companies plan to make in Romania. The 2,200 people that were laid off have nothing to worry about, it won"t be long before several companies would be literally fighting each other to hire them back, at least when one listens to the statements made by the ministers of the Boc cabinet. Besides, the president of the Finnish group, Stephen Elop, said that Nokia would look for potential investors interested in buying the plant of Jucu.

The first to start the trend of enthusiastic announcements intended to mitigate the effects of this unexpected withdrawal was Prime Minister Emil Boc. He has announced that there are ongoing negotiations with various investors willing to invest money in Romania and to create several thousand jobs: "Because I am Prime Minister, and because I come from Cluj, I feel compelled to find a replacement for Nokia to fill the void they left behind. We need to understand that the departure of the company was caused by considerations pertaining to the global economic crisis". In order to prove that in Romania there are also openings of new plants, not just shutdowns, the Prime Minister attended the inauguration of the plant owned by The Toro Company, one of the world"s main makers of precision irrigation systems, together with a large entourage. The plant will manufacture micro-irrigation systems for vegetable farmers, owners of agricultural farmland, orchards and vineyards in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

After holding a special meeting, the Government went into full alert. Andreea Paul-Vass, economic advisor to the Prime Minister said that the Government is currently holding advanced stage negotiations with ten companies in order to attract additional investments in the county of Cluj and help mitigate the losses caused by the closing of the Nokia plant of Jucu: "We are talking about 21 potential projects worth more than 1 billion Euros, which could create over 8,000 jobs. Also, the Ministry of Finance is currently reviewing 20 other investment projects, for which their authors are requesting state aids. The 20 projects in question are worth at least 5 million Euros each, and are required to create at least 50 jobs each". Minister Gheorghe Ialomiţianu is following a similar line: "The Romanian government, through the Ministry of Public Finance, will be providing state aid for investments which generate new jobs, support which the business sector appreciates. Thus, in 2011 10 financing agreements were signed for investments worth approximately 171 million Euros, of which state aids of approximately 64 million Euros, which led to the creation of 1,091 new jobs".

The President of the County Council of Cluj, Alin Tişe, also had good news for the residents of the county. He said that the talks of the local authorities with the Bosch group are currently at an advanced stage: "The County Council of Cluj is currently in the negotiation and analysis stage with an important strategic investor. The industrial section of the Tetarom industrial park, is one of the shortlisted locations which the Bosch group is reviewing. Soil samples and the possibility of investing in that industrial area are being analyzed". Also, three more powerful groups have expressed their intention to invest in the county of Cluj, at Jucu. The announcement was made by Valerian Vreme, the Minister of Communication: "There are companies which are looking forward to come to Romania: Huawei, Dell, ZTE". As has become the norm, the president and the Prime Minister never seem to synchronize their messages. After the exit of Nokia, Traian Băsescu had the following statement: "There may be other exits in other industries, not just Jucu, this is nothing new. I asked the Government to focus on job creation in its decisions. If we do not have the courage to take on important decisions, we are going to lose other investors as well. I have warned against the risk of having the multinationals downsize their operations on the territory of Romania. And here it is happening. It is a phenomenon which was to be expected".

Aside from the festiveness of the statements, the workers of Jucu remain extremely pessimistic. Unionists consider that the awarding of three compensatory wages for the employees who will be laid off at the Nokia factory of Jucu is insulting, when one considers the fact that the lowest severance packages paid by Nokia after the shutdown of the plant in Bochum amounted to at least 60 minimum wages in the land and ranged from 80,000 to 220,000 Euros per individual.