At five o’clock in the morning, around 20 employees sent from Austria received a call from the Foreign Ministry to leave Ukraine immediately. The western Ukrainian city of Mukachevo is half an hour’s drive from the Hungarian border. In the morning, the Fischer people and all the Austrians from suppliers left the city and the country by car. “All Austrians are out,” reported Fischer Managing Director Franz Föttinger early in the morning.
On a weekly basis, an evaluation is now being carried out as to whether and how quickly Austrian managers and technicians can return to the country. The situation in the city is currently calm. All employees came to work in the morning. 500 local employees are currently employed in the ski factory. This has been in operation again since the beginning of the year. In October 2020, a fire completely destroyed the factory. A new hall with completely new equipment was built. Full operation has not yet been reached – that was planned for the beginning of next year. For the time being, further expansion and equipment work has been stopped – the employees of delivery companies, some of whom come from Austria, have also left the country. The reconstruction is covered by the insurance. Between 70 and 80 million euros were invested in the new production. There is “no alternative” to the fact that production in the factory should continue in the long term, says Föttinger in an interview with OÖN.
Source: Nachrichten
