The economic impact of the novel coronavirus has turned out to be fatal for Romania’s last glass factory. Located in Felek/Avrig (German: Freck), Szeben/Sibiu County, Glass Factory Avrig S.A. has filed for bankruptcy, as orders vanished along with clients when the curfew was imposed.
The fate of the company with more than 120 years of history was already decided in 2018 when the new owners, Vois Group Limited from the Virgin Islands, considered filing for bankruptcy. The company posted a net loss of RON 1.33 million for the year, followed by another bad year in 2019 with a RON 1.51 million net loss, although turnover did increase to RON 8.66 million compared to RON 7.60 million in 2018.
The glass factory supplied household items such as glasses, mugs, vases, bowls, plates, decanters, etc., and customers could also request custom decorations and engravings. The company had important clients, including Versace, Tiffany and Arc International, and allegedly delivered products worth EUR 160,000 per month; but that didn’t stop the company from going bust.
“Orders have been dropping since March, and we have reduced our personnel, but it was becoming harder each day. In the last week, we effectively had no orders,” plant manager Doru Teodorescu told local press in June, right after the factory closed its doors.
Title image: Marius Tataru/Facebook
