Volkswagen SK Lays Foundation Stone for New Logistics Centre

Bratislava, October 27 (TASR) – Volkswagen Slovakia and Volkswagen Group Real Estate Slovakia on Thursday laid the foundation stone of a new logistics centre adjacent to the Volkswagen car plant in Bratislava.

The ceremony launching the construction of one of the largest and most modern logistics centres in Slovakia was attended by Vice-premier for Investments and Informatisation Peter Pellegrini and Economy Minister Peter Ziga.

Some of the latest technologies in the sector will be installed at the logistics centre, including automatic collators with a capacity of 200,000 files for small assembly parts. Fully automatic collators will be able to serve 1,360 files per hour.

Part of the logistics centre worth around €150 million will be reserved for storing high-voltage batteries for electric car model the Volkswagen Up! and hybrid vehicles.

“The automotive industry is the backbone of the Slovak economy and one of its pillars along with the electronics industry,” said Pellegrini, noting that the car industry provides almost 40 percent of Slovakia’s GDP and 25 percent of the country’s exports.

“It’s always a piece of good news for the Government when a company like Volkswagen decides to invest further in Slovakia. Thanks to such investments, Slovakia will probably long maintain its position as a global powerhouse in car production per capita,” said Pellegrini.

The logistics centre should begin operating at the end of 2017. VW Slovakia, with its more than 10,800 employees making it one of the biggest employers in the country, has produced more than 4.5 million cars since 1991 when it set up its factory in Bratislava.