The company Cranfield Foundry will built a most-sophisticated, fully automatic and environment-friendly foundry in Macedonia's city of Probistip, which is to manufacture parts for automotive industry. The company's management team and Minister in charge of attracting foreign investments Bill Pavleski signed Wednesday in Skopje an agreement on the EUR 15m-project, which should open 280 jobs.

The project, encompassing eight hectares, includes a production plant and administrative building. The production process should kick off for one year at latest.

"We have announced this investment a month ago and today we are already signing an agreement. This is yet another confirmation for our work and efforts to bring as many as possible investments to Macedonia and create jobs," Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said at the signing ceremony.

It is rather significant, he said, that the Cranfield Foundry has announced another investment, namely setting of a second production line by 2020, which means more jobs.

This project in Probistip will not only reduce the unemployment rate in Propistip and its surrounding, but will also bring investment in human resources via training and transfer of know-how, Pavleski said. It will also boost the export rate and stimulate domestic economy by creating a network of local suppliers that will further revive the local economy, he added.

The number of plants of manufacturers of automotive parts has increased substantially in Macedonia lately as a result of the solid Government's policies, he added.

Before choosing Macedonia, the Cranfield Foundry management team visited several locations in Europe, mainly in the Balkan region.

"We have decided that Macedonia is the most appropriate for business due to its location, easy access to European markets and favorable conditions it has been offering, especially the Government's support, competitive costs for construction and skilled labor force," the company's Chief Operations Manager, Darius Juba, said.

Cranfield Foundry is part of the Cranfield business group, whose founders have a long tradition in Russia's metal-processing industry.

Today, the company submitted a study of the impact of Probistip foundry on the environment to the relevant ministry.