Slovenia’s largest household appliances maker Gorenje will cut 270 jobs by closing its Slovenian boiler-making unit in November and moving production to Serbia.
It said the unit in Slovenia has been operating at a loss since last year, when sales fell 27 percent, while labour costs increased in 2010 after the government in January raised the minimum wage by 22 percent.
“High taxes on wages and business operations which are among the highest in the world … make boiler production in Ljubljana no longer economically viable,” Gorenje said in a statement. It said the boilers will now be produced only in Gorenje’s factory in Serbia, which expects to end 2010 with a profit.
Gorenje said in December it would cut the number of employees by 3.5 percent to 10,206 this year, while further job cuts are planned by 2013. Gorenje, which is Slovenia’s second largest exporter, was badly hit by the global crisis and posted a net loss of 12.2 million euros in 2009 but expects a profit of 10.1 million euros this year.
Gorenje shares closed 0.81 percent higher at 12.5 euros on Friday, while the blue-chip SBI index lost 0.43 percent.