THE FRENCH carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen signed a contract on investment cooperation with Slovak state officials giving the firm tax breaks and subsidies worth Sk4.2 billion (100 million euro), or 15 per cent of the worth of its promised 700 million euro Slovak factory investment.
Such tax breaks are a very sensitive issue with the European Union, which forbids state assistance to firms in the steel and automotive sectors. However, EU officials have yet to comment on the aid Peugeot has apparently received from Slovakia.
In mid-January Peugeot chose west Slovakia's Trnava as the site of a massive factory to be completed by 2006 and to produce over 300,000 cars a year.
3. Feb 2003 at 0:00 | From press reports of TASR and SITA
