ŠKODA TRANSPORTATION GROUP WILL PRODUCE SIGNIFICANT EXPORT CASES IN FINNISH OTANMÄKI WORKS FACTORY – HUNDREDS OF NEW JOBS CREATED IN UPCOMING YEARS

“Škoda Transtech's Otanmäki factory is going to play a significant role in the delivery of the trams for the RNV (Mannheim) and suburban trains for the Latvian national carrier PV,” said Zdenek Majer, Senior Vice President Global Sales Škoda Transportation and Chairman of the Board of Škoda Transtech at the Otanmäki Works factory on Tuesday at the occasion of the visit of the Minister of Transport Mrs. Sanna Marin. According to Majer, these contracts will create a few hundreds of new jobs in the upcoming years. “Finland is an important domestic market for the entire Group and domestic orders from municipalities as well from the national carrier VR are very important for stable employment of the Otanmäki factory in the future,” added Zdenek Majer.

According to Lasse Orre, CEO of Škoda Transtech, production in Otanmäki for Latvian orders will start in 2021 and will last until 2024. Prior to that, the order backlog must be maintained from domestic orders, so that we can ensure full employment at Otanmäki Works.

“New orders also mean the need for further recruitment. Access to skilled workforce is not easy, thus, a significant amount of conversion training in the region of Kainuu is required,” says CEO Orre.

Some of the professionals also come from abroad, which is why Škoda Transtech hopes that employment opportunities in Finland will be improved constantly for foreign workers.