The Banque de France announced on Tuesday the construction of a new banknote manufacturing plant in Vic-le-Comte, in Puy-de-Dôme, which will take over in 2026 from the current printing plant in Chamalières, some 30 kilometers away.
The General Council (equivalent to the board of directors, Editor’s note) of the Banque de France (…) unanimously adopted the construction of a new fiduciary printing press (…) on the site of its paper mill of Vic-le-Comte, indicates the central bank in a press release.
Considered for several years, the construction of this more modern printing press will cost 220 million euros. France will then have the most modern, efficient and ecological public banknote production center in Europe, specifies the Banque de France.
The objective is in particular to improve the working conditions and the competitiveness of the production of banknotes, mainly euros and CFA francs, and to guarantee the sovereignty of this sensitive production, according to the press release.
This is good news, reacted to AFP the union delegate of the CGT Banque de France Hugo Coldeboeuf, for the employees but also for the sustainability of the missions in the public fold.
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The union will however be attentive to the non-degradation of working conditions at the time of the move.
The printing works of Chamalires, more than a century old, had been affected on February 9 by a violent fire, without causing any casualties.