Nokia shut down production line in Romania by the end of 2011

Nokia’s plant in Jucu, Romania, will stay open until the end of the year and employees will continue to receive wages until the end of March 2012, employees were told Thursday after the Finnish cell-phone maker announced it was shutting down its Romanian operations.

Laid off staff will also receive severance payments but the company has not yet given any details about its planned benefit packages.

The local employment agency office in Cluj said the plant's shutdown will raise the county's unemployment rate, but it is not expected to exceed 4% from the current 3.3%.

Jucu mayor Dorel Pojar said the local Nokia plant generated several million lei in taxes to the local budget.

The Cluj county prefect summoned an urgent meeting with the mayor in Jucu, officials of the local employment agency and of the local labor inspectorate to discuss the consequences of the shutdown.