Nokia produces its first Made-in-Romania Phone, shuts down German factory overnight

The Nokia Factory in Jucu (Romanian county of Cluj) produced on Tuesday night the first mobile phone, Ziua de Cluj informs. Covered by bulletproof discretion and secret, the Finnish technology flow is currently employing some 500 people.

On the other hand, Nokia made public on the very same day its plan to shut down its production in German and to abandon the production facility in Bochum before August 2008. The last moment decision caused protests from both employees and authorities.

After the city of Timisoara produced for years Alcatel components, Cluj becomes the reference point of mobile phone industry in Romania. After the investment deal was signed up, Nokia officials estimated that the first units will see the market at the end of February or the first days of March.

Nokia intends to cease production in Germany and to transfer the fabrication process towards other European factories, with a huge profit coming from the production cost, a Nokia official release informs. New production units will come into use in Salo (Finland), Komarom (Hungary) and Cluj (Romania), where the first units will be produced during the first quarter of 2008.