Greek dairy company FAGE has abandoned plans to build a new yoghurt factory in Luxembourg.
On 17 September 2020, FAGE informed Luxembourg's Ministry of the Economy of its decision to step back from the project after the public prosecutor opened an investigation into the company’s balance sheets. On 21 September, the company confirmed its decision during a meeting at the Economy Ministry in Luxembourg.
The €277 million project was expected to create some 300 jobs in the long-term and proceedings had been ongoing for the past four years.
The project had generated controversy among environmentalists and neighbouring municipalities over its foreseen water requirements: the plant was expected to require 2.5 million litres per day.
FAGE will now sell back the fifteen-hectare land in the Wolser industrial zone to the Luxembourg government at the purchase price (€30 million).
Luxembourg's Minister of the Economy, Franz Fayot, regretted the decision, stating: "The project would have contributed to the development of the regional economic fabric suffering from the current crisis. National and European industry are currently going through a difficult phase which must be resolved in a determined manner. Preserving the existing industrial fabric and strengthening it through the establishment of new industrial activities at the cutting edge of technological and environmental progress remain more than ever one of the priorities of the Ministry of the Economy”.
