Timisoara mayor Nicolae Robu said he didn’t agree to another expansion of the Continental tire factory in the city as the residents in the area have repeatedly complained about the pollution generated by the German company.

“I’ve always said it was a mistake to approve building a factory of this kind so close to residential areas. I can’t undo what was decided back then, but I can intervene when they ask for an expansion, which I don’t approve,” Robu said, cited by local Economica.net.

He said he would consult the residents in the area on Facebook and gather signatures from people who oppose the factory’s expansion.

Nicolae Robu said that, despite the high investments for reducing pollution in the area, mostly financed by the Romanian state, the results were not satisfying. He appreciated, however, that the tire factory is a place that uses high production technologies and that many graduates in the city have found jobs there.

The Continental factory in Timisoara opened in October 2000 and has become one of the German group’s biggest tire plants after EUR 430 million investments. The factory has 2,500 employees.

Continental is one of the biggest foreign investors in Romania.

editor@romania-insider.com