Cooper Tire opens factory in Krusevac

Serbian President Boris Tadic and Minister of Economy and Regional Cooperation Nebojsa Ciric attended Friday (23 March 2012) the opening ceremony of a car tire factory of the US company Cooper Tire in Krusevac, it was announced on the Serbian government's website.

Tadic underlined on that occasion that it was necessary for the state and its institutions to focus on creating jobs and attracting investments because they would provide employment and security to the citizens.

He said that the government was putting efforts into keeping every job, adding that just as Trayal company in Krusevac had been saved by becoming the property of Cooper Tire, the state would not give up on Zelezara steelworks in Smederevo either and would save 5,400 jobs in that city.

Ciric reiterated that the best way for our country to cope with the global economic crisis was to attract foreign investment.

General Manager of Cooper Tire Roy Armes announced that the company would hire another few hundred workers over the next two years to manufacture 3 million tires per year.

This will put Cooper Tire among the top ten exporters in Serbia, Armes said, thanking the Serbian government, local self-government and the embassies of the United States and Great Britain for having helped that company choose a strategic location for future development.

US Ambassador to Serbia Mary Warlick pointed out that the fact that that American company had bought Krusevac’s Trayal was another strong proof of security that Serbia offered to foreign investors.

Warlick said that she was convinced that that investment would secure a bright future to the company’s employees and their families, as well as to the citizens of Krusevac and Serbia.

The US company Cooper Tire, the second largest tire maker in USA, has 60 plants and 13,000 employees worldwide. The company employs 460 workers in Krusevac and is the second largest employer in this city.