Chinese telecom equipment producer ZTE and drug producer Terapia Ranbaxy have expressed their interest to take over Nokia's factory in Jucu, near Cluj – Napoca in Romania, once they will be shut down, according to Alin Tise, head of the Cluj County Council.

Terapia wants Nokia's halls to extent its  production. Nokia will have the final decision on who will take its place in the industrial park at Jucu, according to the contract it has signed with the Cluj County Council.

Bosch has already started to take soil samples in the Tetarom III industrial park in Jucu, where it eyes 20 hectares for a future investment.

Nokia announced it will shut down the factory in Romania by year-end and continue the telephone production elsewhere in the world. The company said it will “focus its feature phone manufacturing on those locations with optimal proximity to suppliers and key markets.” The decision has caused concern among other investors, as well as among Romanian Government representatives, who try to find alternative solutions to cover the gap in the country's economy left by Nokia's withdrawal from the market.

editor@romania-insider.com