Romania’s Finance Ministry selects 23 companies to get EUR 22.4 mln state aid

Romania’s Finance Ministry will grant state aid to 23 companies active in industry, consultancy, IT, and call-centers, but it has rejected the request of ten companies, including Bitdefender, Faurecia, Deloitte, and KPMG. In total, 33 companies have applied for this year’s state aid scheme, but only 23 had their requests approved, according to a list published by the Finance Ministry. These companies will create 3,300 new jobs via investments that will partly be financed with state money. The winning companies will get about RON 100 million (EUR 22.4 million). The largest amount will be granted to call center company Webhelp Romania. The company said it would create 460 jobs if it received a state aid of EUR 3.7 million. Japanese car parts producer Yazaki will get EUR 3.3 million for creating over 800 jobs in its production center near Braila, the newest unit opened in Romania by the firm. Cable company UPC will get a state aid of EUR 2.4 million for creating 300 jobs through two companies. Engineering company Assystem Romania will also receive some EUR 2.3 million for an investment that will create 258 new jobs. German groups Bosch and Star Transmission (Daimler) will get lower sums. The two groups have previously received significant state aid for their investments in Romania. However, not all applicants were successful. IT company Bitdefender wanted to open 182 jobs in several cities in Romania, but its request was rejected. So was the demand of the consultancy Deloitte Technology, which planned to hire 630 people in a technology center in Bucharest. It asked for EUR 1.2 million. Automotive producer Faurecia Romania, industrial gas producer Linde Gaz Romania, IT group EBS Romania, and consultancy firm KPMG Delivery Center also failed to get state aid, according to the Finance Ministry’s list, which is available here. Companies in Romania can apply for state aid until end of August editor@romania-insider.com