The authorisation procedures surrounding the installation of the yoghurt company Fage are far from over. The European study concerning the environmental impact presented to the municipal council of Bettembourg this week has only complicated matters.
The report states that traffic would increase in the region with the company's arrival. The municipality, already suffering from heavy car and lorry traffic, would expect an increase of around 15%.
The yoghurt production has equally received criticism for the enormous consumption of water, the equivalent to a city of 20,000 inhabitants. A new treatment plant would need to be constructed in close proximity to the site, which would also serve to increase the price of water for residents.
The company has owned a plot of land in the industrial zone "Wolser" since 2016. The Greek firm paid 2 million euros per hectare to the Luxembourg government, purchasing 15 hectares in total.
Despite this favourable position with the state, it has fallen to the local municipality to reclassify the land in order to proceed with constructing the factory. According to the mayor of Bettembourg, the PAG is incomplete, as is the sector plan, and the list goes on. The factory is not set to open any time soon.
Fage International established headquarters in Luxembourg in 2012, and has been paying taxes here since then. Since the company's arrival in the Grand Duchy, it has paid an estimated 450,000 euros, with the Minister for the Economy Étienne Schneider previously announcing an expected sum of 50 million euros.
