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[April 2006]
Wienerberger Subsidiary Semmelrock Continues Investments in Eastern Europe
Semmelrock, a 75% subsidiary of Wienerberger AG and the market leader for high quality concrete pavers in Central-East Europe, is continuing its growth course during 2006. Five projects have already been successfully started or realised this year and plans call for total investments of approximately 8.5 million euro for growth and innovation in 2006.
In the northern region of Poland, Semmelrock completed an important transaction in March by purchasing the remaining 30% of the Kombet concrete paver plant in Gdynia near Gdansk on the Baltic Sea. Together with the plants in Kolbiel near Warsaw and Gliwice near Krakow, this represents the third location in Poland that is wholly owned by the company. "This country is one of our most important concrete paver markets, and one of the largest markets in Central Europe. The full takeover of Kombet will allow us to provide even better coverage for the economically interesting region of north Poland and further expand our clear number three position," commented Robert Holzer, CEO of Semmelrock International GmbH, on this transaction.
In Romania, Semmelrock successfully entered the market through imports from east Hungary and now plans the construction of a new state-of-the-art concrete paver plant in Bolintin-Vale, 15km west of Bucharest. The groundbreaking ceremony took place in early April and completion is scheduled for September 2006. "With Bolintin-Vale we have found an ideal site for our first plant in Romania. The region surrounding Bucharest is one of the fastest growing markets in Romania, and future membership in the EU is expected to support above-average economic growth throughout the country, " explained Holzer.
The previous activities of Semmelrock have shown a steadily increasing interest by Romanian consumers in high-quality pavers. A complete structure with its own local production, sales and administrative organisations will further improve the capability of Semmelrock to meet the needs of its customers. This new plant will also move the company a major step closer to its goal of developing a leading position in Romania over the mid-term.
In Slovenia, Semmelrock demonstrated its long-term interest in developing a strong presence by founding a distribution subsidiary in Ormoz during spring 2006. The company has supplied the Slovenian market through exports of high quality concrete pavers from Austria since 2003 and has been able to establish a firm position as a supplier in the premium segment since that time. "The positive feedback from the market in Slovenia supported our decision to found a distribution subsidiary as the logical next step," added Holzer.
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ENDS