Austria’s Holzindustrie Schweighofer began operations in the new sawmill at Reci, Covasna county, following an investment of EUR 150 million and will generate 650 jobs for those interested to work at the plant and more than 2,000 jobs in the region, a press release informs.
The new factory, whose construction began in December 2013, has an area of 70 hectares and a capacity of annual debiting of 800,000 m3 roundwood, derived exclusively from sustainably managed forests in Romania and other countries such as Poland, Hungary Austria, Croatia, Slovenia etc.
“Following this investment, Holzindustrie Schweighofer becomes one of the largest private employers in the area,” the release reads.
In addition, according to Austrian investor, the factory in Reci will bring to the budget annual contributions of over EUR 6.8 million by paying fees and taxes.
The Reci project is the third sawmill of Holzindustrie Schweighofer in Romania after those in Sebes and Radauti. The company also operates in Romania a plant of glued solid wood panels in Siret, and one panel unit in Comanesti. Most of the lumber produced in Reci will be higher processed.
The investments made by the Austrian company on the Romanian market reach EUR 778 million, according to the quoted source.
The company has been accused on several occasions that uses timber from illegal logging, but the company claiming otherwise. Recently, the latest EIA’s (U.S. Environmental Investigation Agency) report showed how Schweighofer processes large amounts of illegally harvested timber from Romanian forests into semi-finished wood products and biomass, selling the products throughout the European Union.