Minister of Economy and Regional Development Nebojsa Ciric and Gorenje Valjevo Director Mirko Meza yesterday signed an annex to the agreement on the allocation of funds for direct investment, worth € 400,000.

Following the signing of the annex at Valjevo, Ciric explained that these funds will help to secure 200 full time jobs in Gorenje factory in Valjevo.

The Minister voiced his pleasure at the fact that within the next several months, at a moment when the government is grappling with unemployment, its major problem in economy, as many as 200 workers will find jobs in Gorenje factory.

He underlined that Gorenje is an example of an investor Serbia should have, adding that this is affirmed by workers who stated they are satisfied with working conditions and the average salary in the factory.

The annex signed today is an expansion of the previously closed agreement, according to which €340,000 was granted to Gorenje for employing 170 people as part of the SIEPA administered Programme for Stimulating Direct Investments.

Gorenje factory in Valjevo will mark its fifth year of work in 2011. It employees 500 workers, 380 of whom have permanent employment. Last year the factory produced around 440,000 household appliances.

Gorenje exports 80% of its output, of which amount more than 50% goes to the EU market.

Having opened a factory in Valjevo, Gorenje also formed a network of local suppliers.

Over the period ahead, Gorenje will set up the headquarters of its development centre for Serbia in Valjevo, which will secure jobs for highly-qualified experts and establish firmer ties with educational and scientific institutions.

Besides the Valjevo factory, Gorenje has a boiler factory in Stara Pazova and it also invested in a factory for the assembly of washing and drying machines and artificial marble washbasins in Zajecar.

For all of these business operations, Gorenje received a total of €5,050,000 from the Serbian government as encouragement for investment and employment.

The amount is lower than 10% of Gorenje’s total investment in Serbia over the last six years.

Gorenje Group is a leading European producer and seller of electrical household appliances with a 60 year tradition. It has supplied appliances to consumers in 70 countries for decades, and in 2010 it made a profit of €1.4 billion.