IVANO-FRANKIVSK, Sept. 7 - Italy's Antonio Merloni is planning to open a plant in Ivano-Frankivsk in October to manufacture washing machines under the Ardo brand, Roman Tkach, head of Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Administration, said at a local government meeting.

Antonio Merloni has already invested EUR51 million in building and equipping the plant, he said.