Ursus Breweries closes factory in Cluj-Napoca

Newsroom 18/11/2010 | 15:45

Ursus Breweries announced today that it will close its factory in Cluj-Napoca, due to poor results for the April – September period. The company currently operates four production units and says that their output is more than the local market can absorb in the context of decreasing beer consumption.

“The Romanian beer market continues to go down, dropping by more than a quarter in the past year and a half”, said representatives of Ursus Breweries, adding that the forecast for the medium and long term is not optimistic. Between April and September the company’s sales (volume) went down by 11 percent against the same period of the previous year.

The brewer says that it chose the factory in Cluj because it has the highest operating costs among its four units and the fact that it is located in the center of the city makes it more difficult to manage from a logistical point of view. “The decision to close the factory was a difficult one to take”, said Gary Whitlie, president of Ursus Breweries adding that the fate of the factory’s 150 employees represents the main priority for the company.

Ursus Breweries will open a “mini production unit” in Cluj-Napoca in order to maintain the tradition of producing the Ursus brand.

Part of SABMiller, Ursus Breweries is present on the local market with the URSUS, Timisoreana, Ciucas, Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Grolsch, Azuga, Redd’s, Stejar, Pilsner Urquell and Miller brands.