Chinese bus manufacturer Yin Long Group plans to start manufacturing electric buses at the Serbian Ikarbus factory, according to a local report.
According to SeeNews, the managing director of Ikarbus, Aleksandar Vicentic, said: "Yin Long has serious plans for Ikarbus. It will retain the existing production programme and will expand it by producing electric vehicles that it plans to offer to the countries in the region, and then to the rest of Europe and the world."
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Last week, Dragan Stevanovic, state secretary at the economy ministry, said Yin Long Group had repaid Ikarbus' outstanding debt and would soon take control of the company.
Yin Long would acquire Ikarbus through its subsidiary Lanzhou Guangdong New Energy Automobile (LGNEA), local broadcaster RTS said.
The Chinese investor would take control of Ikarbus after the company's restructuring plan was approved by the commercial court, Vicentic added.
"In the first six months after the takeover, I expect the company to hire about 100 workers," he said.
According to the report, Ikarbus operates a factory in Belgrade's urban municipality of Zemun with capacity for 250 vehicles a year. The company currently produces low-floor and articulated city buses, as well as intercity buses.
