Bridgestone/Firestone to increase Poznan investment

Tire-maker Bridgestone/Firestone has announced plans to invest a further zl.195 million over the next five years in its newly-completed plant in Poznan. The announcement came at a ceremony to mark the Poznan facility reaching its full production capacity. The plant was built at a cost of zl.470 million, and is expected to achieve sales this year worth zl.270 million. Speaking at yesterday's ceremony, chairman of Bridgestone/Firestone Poland, Masakazu Sekiguchi, said, "The new facility will enable us to double production next year, to 20,000 tires daily." Giving the reasons for the increased investment in the Poznan plant, Dominique Mikolajczak, member of the supervisory board of Bridgestone/Firestone Poland, said, "We have decided to choose Poznan, because we have been able to buy out the old Stomil production facilities. Besides that, Poznan is located near to our customers in Western Europe." (Puls Biznesu, p. 12, Prawo i Gospodarka, p. 2) A.K.