A rescuer from the State Emergency Service of Ukraine extinguishes a fire at the Flextronics plant of the American company Flex in Mukachevo. The plant was hit by a Russian missile attack on the night of August 21. Photo: Main Department of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in the Transcarpathian region
The Flex plant in Mukachevo, which Russia fired missiles at on July 21, was one of the largest American investments in Ukraine: since 2012, the parent company has invested $65 million in the construction of three production lines. Ukrainian officials are trying to convince the company to stay in Ukraine. They also see an opportunity to use the situation on the diplomatic track
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“Task #1 is to convince Flex to stay in Ukraine. Task #2 is to involve their lobby in the process of obtaining security guarantees for Ukraine,” said an interlocutor in diplomatic circles on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue after the Russian missile strike on the American Flex International plant in Mukachevo on August 21.
The company is one of the world leaders in contract electronics manufacturing, its shares are listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange. Products from its Transcarpathian Flex factory were sold to Google, Nike, Lenovo, Philips and Nespresso. In a release on the consequences of the attack, Flex emphasized that the company had no connection to military production. “We are already interacting with US government officials and institutions,” the statement said, without specifying details.
