Romanian authorities are to sign on Wednesday a memorandum with Voestalpine, the Austrian company that plans to invest over €5 billion in a steel plant near the Black Sea. The company recently purchased two more plots in the area and currently owns 300 hectares, which represents some 70 percent of what will be purchased from private owners. Voestalpine needs a total 600 hectares for the investments, of which 170 are owned by Agigea harbor and will be leased to the company by the state for 50 years. Sources say Voestalpine offered between €10 and €100 for one square meter and the memorandum is pending approval from all ministries and the government. Sources added there are no problems with the memorandum.
The Austrian ambassador to Romania, Martin Eichtinger, said Voestalpine will decide by December the steel plant’s location, between Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Turkey. The latter’s negotiations with Voestalpine lag behind the other countries’, as the feasibility study has not been completed yet.
The investment could create some 5,000 jobs and would be the largest greenfield private investment in Romania’s history.
