Linglong maintains sustainable development of Zrenjanin site, Serbian minister says

ZRENJANIN, Serbia—Linglong International Europe has renewed its commitment to the environment and local growth in Serbia after European Union authorities raised concerns about management of its project to establish a major tire plant there.

In a statement, Linglong said Serbia's minister of construction, transportation and infrastructure Tomislav Momirovic had visited the construction site in Zrenjanin on Dec. 24, along with local mayor Sim Salapur.

"After the inspection, (Momirovic) expressed recognition of Linglong's project management and mentioned that 30 regular on-site inspections and 20 special on-site inspections have been conducted in Linglong Europe so far," the tire maker reported in a Dec. 28 statement.

"The results showed that this was the most tightly controlled construction site in Serbia," it added.

Two weeks earlier, the European Parliament published a document alleging breaches of environmental regulations as well as illegal and unsafe conditions for foreign construction workers at the Zrenjanin site.

Linglong, however, said that upon his visit, the minister was "satisfied with Lingong Europe's compliance with Serbian laws and regulations and fully confident in jointly advancing the long-term development of Linglong Europe."

The tire maker added that it has "always been adhering to the idea of sustainable development and widely using the concept of green and low-carbon in the project design."

The Chinese tire maker announced in 2018 plans to build the $975 million production plant in northern Serbia.

The Serbian plant is slated to produce 13.62 million radial tires per year, which includes 12 million units of passenger car tires, 1.6 million units of truck and bus tires as well as 20,000 off-the-road tires.