New Palfinger factory in Nis to start working in June

The Palfinger factory, whose construction in the industrial zone toward Niska Banja started in September 2023, will commence production activities in June this year, and the assembling of the machines is in progress, says this Austrian company which produces cranes. They currently employ 70 workers, and the plan is for there to be 375 of them by 2027.

The opening of this factory has been announced several times and for a long time now – a big investment was announced by the president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, and the mayor of Nis, Dragana Sotirovski, ahead of the 2022 elections, but they didn’t confirm that “the big mysterious investor” was Palfinger. It was then made official and the agreement on the allocation of incentives was signed in 2022, according to which the Austrian investor gets EUR 4.6 million.

The foundation stone was laid down eight months ago, and according to Gottfried Rumpl, the factory operations vice president at Palfinger, the construction is currently in the final phase. The plan is for the construction works to be completed in June at the latest. The machines are being assembled, whereas the heavy equipment has already been installed, says Rumpl. He says that, with the opening of this facility in Serbia, they will be able to expand their production capacities, and that the strategic proximity compared to the facilities in Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia and Austria suits them.

– After the completion of the first phase of the construction in 2024, Palfinger will gradually establish the production of steel and subcomponents for a wide range of production lines here in Nis, from loading cranes to access ramps, by 2027. By then, we will secure 375 jobs for experienced welders, machine handlers, machine operators, as well as technicians, engineers and administrative staff – explains Rumpl.

According to the Agreement on Subsidies, the Austrian company has obliged to invest EUR 35.5 million in the facility in Nis.

So far, the state has paid them one tranche of the subsidy – around EUR 169,000 – according to the data of the Ministry of Economy.

Let us remind that the Austrian Palfinger has been announced several times by both the president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, and the mayor of Nis, Dragana Sotirovski, and the Government of Serbia has pronounced the project an investment of national interest.

Palfinger proizvodnja d.o.o. Niš

Palfinger

Palfinger factory in Niš

Aleksandar Vučić

Dragana Sotirovski

Gottfried Rumpl

production of cranes