French-owned Sanofi Aventis Cls. is expanding its factory in Miskolc with an investment of 5 billion forints; the pharmaceuticals company is installing a high-speed syringe-filling and inspection production line”, the Group’s Vice-President Philippe Luscan announced on site.

“The company, which has previously concluded a strategic partnership agreement with the Government, is expecting the investment to increase competitiveness”, Mr. Luscan said.

The plant in Miskolc, which employs some five hundred people, manufactures around 90 billion forints (EUR 290M) worth of injections and single-use syringes in sterile conditions and the facility at the foot of the Bükk Hills is responsible for the majority of the company’s Hungarian production.

“As one of the world’s leading healthcare companies, Sanofi has ‘built on the legacy of Chinoin’ to become one of the Hungarian economy’s most significant participants, employs some two thousand people in Hungary, and its three production units and one distribution platform make it one of the 20 largest companies in Hungary, while it is the 14th place among the country’s exporters”, he added.

Minister of State László Szabó of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade highlighted: “This investment means that Sanofi is counting on its Hungarian factories in the long term”, adding that trade flow between Hungary and France is increasing at an annual rate of ten percent, with both exports and imports exceeding 4 billion euros-a-year.

Mayor of Miskolc Ákos Kriza (Fidesz.KDNP) spoke about the fact that it is important to Miskolc that there is a pharmaceuticals plant in the city, which means knowledge and innovation and which provides jobs for about five hundred people.

“Sanofi’s new investment also sheds light on the economic relations between the two countries; Hungary is the fourth most important foreign investor in Hungary and French companies employ some 43 thousand Hungarian workers”, France’s Ambassador to Hungary, Éric Fournier said at the event.

According to public company data, Sanofi Aventis Cls. achieved 169 billion forints (EUR 544M) in turnover in 2015, following 179 billion in 2014, while its after-tax profits increased to 5.4 billion forints (17.4M) compared to 1.2 billion in the previous year.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)