Haier Tech Romania, part of Chinese household appliances manufacturer Haier, said on Friday it will start production at its 70 million euro ($84.8 million) refrigerator plant near the southern city of Ploiesti at the end of this spring.

Located in the Allianso industrial park in Aricestii Rahtivani, the 63,000 sq m manufacturing facility will produce built-in and standard refrigerators for the three brands of Haier's European division - Candy, Hoover and Haier, the company said in a press release.

According to Haier Tech Romania, works on the new production plant are progressing according to schedule.

After 2022, when it will reach maximum capacity, the plant will employ over 800 and will produce 600,000 refrigerators per year.

"We are pleased to have chosen the city of Ploiesti for our first refrigerator production plant in the EU. This project will make Romania a strategic hub for Haier Europe and will play a key role in our strategy to be among the top three leaders in the industry in Europe by 2023," Haier Refrigerators Europe director of technical operations and Haier Tech Romania managing director Alessia Ianni said.

Haier Tech Romania is a subsidiary of Haier Europe, which is a branch of Haier Group, a multinational home appliances and consumer electronics company headquartered in Qingdao, China.  Haier Group has over 65,000 employees working in 24 plants and five research centers around the world. 

($=0.8254 euro)