THE GERMAN steel giant ThyssenKrupp has postponed its decision to invest heavily in Slovakia, the Hospodárske Noviny daily reported in late February.
“We were looking for a production site in the automotive business in the region of eastern Slovakia,” Cosima Rauner from the press department of ThyssenKrupp told the daily. “Because of the current economic situation we have re-assessed this. We have put off the final decision for the next few months.”
While the German company gave the sovereign debt crisis as the official reason, the daily reported that it was also waiting for the new government to form in order to discuss potential investment incentives.
ThyssenKrupp was planning to invest €98 million in Slovakia and employ 1,200 people. But Slovakia offered it an investment stimulus of only 30 percent of the total investment, none of which would be in the form of direct financial assistance. On the other hand, Poland is reportedly offering incentives of up to 50 percent of the total investment, half in cash.
