LEONI has invested in excess of 146 million euros in its facilities and equipment since 2009. The company currently employs around 10,000 people in Serbia and plans to increase that number when its Kraljevo plant begins operating at its full capacity. One of the 15 largest exporters in Serbia, LEONI also has a network of approximately 500 domestic suppliers
Serbia has great potential in terms of human capital, its work culture and ethics that are valued. This represents the foundations on which LEONI bases its plans for further growth. Around 10,000 employees comprise the loyal team that supports LEONI in completely challenging and important projects for its faithful customers.
You entered the second decade of your operations in Serbia with great results and, we assume, major plans…
– The growth of our operations in Serbia comes with great responsibility, both towards the premium customers that we supply and towards the thousands of people that we employ. Our plans are focused on the completion of works at our fourth production plant, in Kraljevo. In addition to this, we are focused on introducing and developing new projects at our other three factories, in Prokuplje, Malošište and Niš.
The plant in Kraljevo will be our largest factory in Serbia, covering an area of 52,000 square metres, while it currently occupies 34,000 square metres. Construction of that additional 18,000 square metres of the plant is currently underway. This factory has 1,500 employees at present and we are working hard on boosting employment, so that we will have around 5,000 workers there by the end of 2023.
We are continuing to offer employees secure jobs and career opportunities within the framework of the automotive industry for the world’s leading brands.
Are you aware of your contribution to the development of the country’s economy?
– LEONI has been contributing to raising the standard of living and reducing the unemployment rate in the area of its business for the past 11 years. Over the course of those 11 years, LEONI has contributed more than 92 million euros to the budget of the Republic of Serbia, in taxes and contributions on the salaries of its workers. LEONI expects to become the largest employer in Serbia’s manufacturing industry, and Serbia will be the only European country in the global network of the production capacity of LEONI with four production plants.
Leoni is recognised as a company that cares about the community. How much do you invest in social programmes, health, sports and culture; and how much do you invest in the education and training of your employees?
– LEONI is proud of its commitment to social responsibility in Serbia and the continuous improvement of its employees. We are happy to respond to activities that support the engagement of young people in the fields of sports and culture; we care about the communities in which the company operates, and where our employees live and work. Our participation as donors and humanitarians in projects is aimed not only at furthering the development and well-being of the community, but also at placing an emphasis on the importance of our employees’ participation in activities of this type. We have excellent cooperation with health institutions in the municipalities in which we operate, and we have our own new health clinics at our plants in Prokuplje, Malošište, Niš.
We are particularly proud of our investments in our employees, advancing their knowhow and skills, as well as their continuous professional development. We have a wide range of internal training courses and skills programmes that employees go through in their workplaces, and to date we’ve invested as much as 800,000 euros in external training. We consider our people as our greatest and most important resource when it comes to the good business operations and excellent results that we’ve been achieving for 11 years already.