Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Japanese cable factory moves production out of Bulgaria, citing high costs

The company moves production to its facilities in Moldova and Romania

The Sumitomo Electric Bordnetze factoriy in Mezdra, Bulgaria.
Photo: BTA

Japan's Sumitomo Electric Bordnetze plans to cease operations at one of its factories in Bulgaria, located in Mezdra, by 2025. Its second factory in Karnobat will continue to operate at reduced capacity, BTA reported. The decision comes as the company moves production to its facilities in Moldova and Romania.

The company said that its decision was due to strong competition in the cable assembly industry and high production costs in Bulgaria, especially rising labour costs, which have negatively affected the company's ability to allocate new serial production projects to its Bulgarian sites.

The Mezdra plant, which opened in 2008 and employs around 950 people, is scheduled to close at the end of March 2025. At the Karnobat plant, around 100 jobs will be optimised from February 2025. The plant currently employs 1,000 people.

Sumitomo Electric Bordnetze is a supplier of electronic wiring harnesses and components for the international automotive industry.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

IME: June 3 is the day when taxpayers start working for themselves

According to the Institute for Market Economics , today marks the so-called Tax Freedom Day , reported BNR’s correspondent Natalia Ganchovska. This is the day on which taxpayers stop working to pay their taxes and start working for..

published on 6/3/25 1:47 PM

Economy Minister Dilov: Bulgaria’s accession to the euro area will have a positive impact on the economy, people and business

“Bulgaria’s accession to the euro area will have a positive impact on the economy, the people, the business sector and the whole country”, said Minister of Economy Petar Dilov in an interview with public service broadcaster BNT. ''On January 1,..

published on 5/26/25 12:02 PM
ABTTA Vice-President Dimitrina Goranova

Tour operators and travel agents expect summer season hikes of 10% or less

The Association of Bulgarian Tour Operators and Travel Agents (ABTTA) expects tourism growth in Bulgaria to slow down due to the unfavourable economic situation in many of its source markets. It is not yet clear what effect Bulgaria's accession to the..

published on 5/21/25 1:33 PM