Romania tax agency seizes Nokia’s local production halls over unpaid customs taxes

Romania’s National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF) has recently seized Nokia’s production halls in Jucu, Romania, over unpaid customs taxes of about USD 10 million, according to ANAF’s president, Sorin Blejnar, quoted by Romanian Realitatea TV. “We’ve started a control in 2009 that was recently finished. The measure does not jeopardize the company’s business. It is a preventive measure’" said Sorin Blejnar. In September this year, Finnish producer Nokia announced its intention to close down its operations in Romania. Nokia’s production will be transferred from Romania to Vietnam, in a factory that will cost EUR 200 million to build. According to a company’s recent decision, the employees of the soon-to-be-closed factory at Jucu will receive three compensation salaries and a Nokia 500 smartphone, the model that was produced at Jucu, while senior employees will get seven or eight compensation salaries and the same smartphone. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com (photo source: Sxc.hu)