Wienerberger will close the brick plants in Gura Ocnitei and Triteni temporarily  

Wienerberger Romania, the Austrian group subsidiary – the biggest world brick producer – will close the plants in Gura Ocnitei (South Romania) and Triteni (central Romania) temporarily, as a consequence of the current economic crisis that slowed down the construction market development during the last months, Romanian press agency NewsIn informs.

„These measures are part of the Wienerberger group’s extensive restructuring programme for 2009, to adapt the local production capacities to the evolution of the markets and demand. The two plants will be closed only temporarily, meaning the activity could restart at anytime. For the moment, we have no date, it all depends on the future market development”, the company’s report shows.

According to the statement, the staff will not be affected and the brick orders will be honoured, as the company has enough stock. „The Romanian real estate market has fallen dramatically within the last months, after a record number of buildings finished in 2008, namely 67,300. The main reason is related to accessing the necessary funds, both by the investors and the buyers. But the demand for new buildings has not disappeared”, Wienerberger Romania general deputy Daniel Catanas declared.

He welcomed Romanian Government’s measure to reduce the VAT for buying an apartment from 19% to 5%.