One of Turkey’s leading producers of home appliances Vestel has shut down its plant in the Russian city of Alexandrov due to the economic crisis of its northern neighbor last year.
Established with an investment of $15 million in 2003, the plant was producing LCD televisions, refrigerators and washing machines. Vestel spent another $8.5 million to repair the plant after a fire damaged the factory in 2005.
According to the Hürriyet daily, the closure was not due to a recent jet crisis between Moscow and Ankara but was because of the economic crisis in Russia, which was expected to have shrunk in 2015.
“We already closed the factory prior to the incident of the jet downing. … We have been seeking [a place for the plant] abroad but we can shift it to Turkey, as well,” Vestel CEO Turan Erdoğan told Hürriyet.
Vestel’s parent company Zorlu Holding was previously interested in selling Vestel’s Russian plant, according to media reports.
The Vestel brand name is not well known in the UK but they produce a huge number of appliances for many brands sold in Britain.
