“We are looking into this matter and engaging with the local authority to ensure it will be resolved satisfactorily,” Nokia Romania officials told MEDIAFAX.
Romania’s tax authority ANAF on Friday impounded Nokia’s assets in Jucu, northwestern Romania, for a $10 million debt the Finnish mobile giant has amassed in unpaid custom taxes.
“A check-up has revealed the company has $10 million in unpaid customs taxes,” said tax authority chief Sorin Blejnar, adding the measure does not impair the company’s ongoing activity.
The head of Romanian customs, Viorel Comanita, said the mobile company breached EU law by requiring tax exemptions for imports of electronic parts although the products were already assembled and came from outside the EU from countries like China, Taiwan and the U.S..
Nokia, which started making mobile phones in Romania in February 2008 following a EUR60 million investment, announced in September it is closing its production line in Romania by the end of the year and moving operations to Asia. Nokia will be laying off 2,200 employees in Romania.