The Chinese company Linglong has announced plans to expand production in Zrenjanin across 70 hectares, and the new facility could employ between 400 and 800 workers, Zrenjanin Mayor Simo Salapura told Biznis.rs, noting that 2,500 people are already employed at the tyre manufacturing plant.
“Linglong has signed a protocol on the expansion to 70 hectares, and their business plans are currently being reviewed by the Development Agency of Serbia, after which a decision will be made on how and in what manner this investment will proceed,” he explained.
The land on which the expansion is planned, within the Southeast industrial zone, is owned by the City of Zrenjanin, while the Chinese investor is also expecting a certain amount of state subsidies for the new investment.
Last month, Linglong Group Vice-President Sun Songtao stated that the company plans to invest 645 million dollars as part of the second phase of the factory project in Zrenjanin, which includes the construction of a “green industrial chain from tyre production to recycling”. At the time, he said that Serbia and Thailand were the two main pillars for improving the production process and expanding the company’s presence on the European and global markets, adding that nearly one billion dollars had been invested in Serbia during the first phase.
It should be recalled that the subsidies granted to Linglong for the initial investment amounted to around €70 million, along with the allocation of approximately 100 hectares of land, meaning that the total state support was estimated to have exceeded €80 million.
Production at the factory began in 2024, and towards the end of last year the United States suspended imports of tyres produced by Linglong in Serbia due to evidence of the use of forced labour. Several human rights organisations in Serbia had previously warned about the same practices, but without any response from the state or judicial authorities.
Zrenjanin Mayor Simo Salapura stated that the expansion of Linglong’s production would be highly significant because it would create new jobs for workers losing employment due to the departure of the company Draxlmaier.
“Draxlmaier made the decision a year ago to relocate its facilities from Serbia, which is a smaller part of their broader plan to withdraw from Europe. They did not do this overnight, but in a planned manner, with favourable severance programmes that are almost twice the legal minimum. The Government of Serbia negotiated several times with the company’s management about staying, but their strategic decision was to leave Serbia and then Europe,” Salapura said.
Last year, Draxlmaier laid off 7,500 workers across the group, including 400 in Zrenjanin. Another 400 are leaving this June, and by the end of December and the beginning of January next year, the entire company will leave Serbia. This concerns a total of 1,800 employees who had worked at the factory in Zrenjanin, the mayor specified.
Salapura said that, thanks to the fact that there was strong demand for workers while the National Employment Service did not have enough available candidates, the first group of 400 people who lost their jobs at Draxlmaier had already found employment with other employers. He stressed that the phased departure of this investor after 18 years of operations had helped avoid a major rise in unemployment.
He highlighted as particularly important the launch of the distribution warehouse of the company JUSDA Europe in part of the former Draxlmaier facilities, as well as the expansion of Linglong, which will make it possible to employ the surplus workforce.
As major potential drivers for attracting investment and economic development, he pointed to the future Belgrade-Zrenjanin-Novi Sad motorway, for which preparatory works have already begun at two locations, as well as the reconstruction of the railway line passing through the city.
(Biznis.rs, 19.05.2026)
https://biznis.rs/vesti/srbija/linglong-planira-da-zaposli-do-800-novih-radnika-i-trazi-subvencije-drzave/
