Cooper Tire officially takes over Krusevac-based Trayal tire factory

U.S. Cooper Tire paid EUR 13 million Tuesday to acquire Krusevac-based Car Tire Factory (FAG), which used to be an integral part of Trayal Corporation, and officially became the factory's owner in that way.

As Trayal Corporation Deputy CEO Nebojsa Djenadic confirmed to Tanjug on Tuesday, money from the sale of FAG will be spent on new equipment and raw materials and the payment of an old debt to suppliers.

- About EUR 3.3 million euros will be invested, whereas the rest will be used to pay a debt from the previous period to suppliers and a debt to the Republic Health Insurance Fund, as well as severance pays to redundant workers - Djenadic specifed.

According to his words, representatives of the U.S. company visited Trayal Corporation on Tuesday.

Trayal Corporation PR Manager Lenka Markovic told Tanjug that officers from the Personnel Department would be terminating employment agreements with Trayal's workers in the Krusevac-based office of Cooper on Wednesday.

According to earlier statements of Zoran Jeftic, who is a trustee of Nezavisnost Trade Union at Trayal Corporation, Cooper Tire will keep 375 out of 493 workers at FAG and hire additional 38 people from other factories of Trayal. Also, according to his words, Cooper plans to employ another 100 workers until June.

People at Cooper's office in Krusevac did not want to comment on the employment process yesterday, while Milenko Mihajlovic, president of the Trade Union Council for several municipalities, announced talks with Cooper about the employment of people for a definite period of time.