Hundreds of kilometres away from one another, three towns with less than 12,000 inhabitants in Prahova, Ilfov and Cluj counties are becoming part of the economic map as the areas with the biggest P&G, Pepsi or Nokia plants in Europe.
The new plants built from scratch by the global giants are changing the pulse of some towns unknown until now, which will see their unemployment rates go down despite the ongoing crisis.
The latest "arrival" on the map of Europe's biggest factories is that of a 4,000-inhabitant commune near Bucharest due to attract 150m-dollar total investments from Pepsi Americas in the company's first greenfield in Romania.
The inhabitants of Dragomiresti Vale have already rushed to submit their CVs to Pepsi, because salaries are above the average of the area, but at first the plant will operate with the employees transferred from the facility on Soseaua Viilor set to be closed by the producer once it opens the new factory.
The arrival of the US soft drinks producer in Dragomiresti might help the real estate market spring back to life.
In Urlati, a town of around 12,000 inhabitants, the effects of P&G's arrival are already visible. The company started building a shampoo and other hair care products factory this year, with the first phase to be finalised in the spring of 2010. By then, the facility will have around 150 employees. This will be P&G's biggest shampoo plant in the world and will attract total investments of 100m dollars.
P&G's investment in Urlati and the construction of Pepsi Americas' plant in Dragomiresti are the only greenfield projects worth above 100m dollars in the FMCG industry to be finalised over the next year and they are likely to generate around 600-700 new jobs by 2011.
In Jucu, a commune of 4,000 inhabitants in Cluj county, the announced arrival of Nokia produced major changes: land plot prices skyrocketed, several real estate projects and greenfields of Nokia suppliers were started. However, the euphoria has waned amid the global economic crisis fallout.
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