“Should we not get the state aid, we have several options under consideration. We will not give up the investment, but we are highly likely to take it to another country. Another option is to cut the investment amount to a level we can manage ourselves,” Mircea Cirt told ZF.
The total value of the project submitted by ATP Trucks Automobile, part of ATP group, stands at RON90 million and the sum asked for as state aid amounts to RON43 million.
The new investment would envisages hiring several hundred people. At present, the group has 120 employees in this unit and the development plan includes going beyond 450 employees.
At group level, ATP in 2019 generated overall turnover of EUR86.2 million and in the first pandemic year its business shrank by almost a third. However, in 2021 turnover rose to a little above EUR80 million.
Mircea Cirt is not highly upbeat about getting the state aid and believes such support schemes should be revised as to more strongly sustain Romanian entrepreneurs.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)