Heineken to close the Hateg brewery

Transferring operations from the Hateg brewery to Heineken’s main Romanian breweries was a business decision within the actual economic context in order to optimise production and to consolidate Heineken’s business in the long term, the brewer reported on 14 January 2010. This will lead to 98 job losses.

After the Hateg brewery closure, Heineken will be left with four breweries in Romania: Constanţa, Craiova, Miercurea Ciuc and Târgu Mureş and about 1,100 employees.

Given Romania’s deep economic crisis, AB-InBev has not fared much better. Flagging beer sales have made AB-InBev sell its central and eastern European operations, including Romania, to CVC Capital Partners. Additionally, the brewer decided to temporarily suspend production at its Blaj bottling plant, from 1 October 2009 to end-March 2010. The company has stated that the decision was taken to improve the supply-demand ratio, avoid permanent layoffs and maintain a competitive edge.

Canadean forecasted a 6 percent decline in beer consumption for 2009.