Metallurgical company OFZ plans to transfer part of its production from Slovakia to Uzbekistan, The Slovak Spectator has reported.
The ferroalloy production company from Oravsky Podzamok has recently faced a sharp increase in energy costs. Insufficient state support has pushed the company to transfer production outside the EU, management noted.
During the year, representatives of the company visited different countries in search of the most suitable place for new production. Top managers considered moves to India, Brazil, Egypt, Azerbaijan and several other countries before settling on Uzbekistan.
"According to our calculations, electricity in Uzbekistan will be about five times cheaper than the price we are currently paying in Slovakia," said OFZ CEO Branislav Klochok.
The company plans to start operations in the new market on the basis of the Uz-Shindong Silicon joint venture. It expects to install a first furnace at the new location and start production in October.
Due to energy cost problems, OFZ had to lay off two-thirds of its employees and stop production for 10 months. Other Slovak enterprises are also complaining about hiked energy costs, blaming this factor, among others, on the transition to green energy being "too fast".
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