The companies, which received state aid via the scheme intended to support investments in regional development by job creation, will create more than 3,300 jobs, according to Finance Ministry data.
A number of 23 companies of the 33 that applied for state aid in May 30 – June 10 had their application approved and will receive the money to make their investments. In all, the companies will get almost 100 million lei (EUR22.4 million), while the budget available for this round is RON250 million, according to the data on the Finance Ministry website. This is not the only state aid scheme in place.
Most money will go to call-center company Webhelp Romania, which promised to hire about 460 people if it gets a RON16.9 million state aid. Automotive component manufacturer Yazaki, too, got state aid. It requested about RON15 million to create more than 800 jobs in its manufacturing center in Braila, its latest facility in Romania.
Two other significant projects are those of a cable TV service company UPC, part of US-held Liberty Global, which established two new companies for the purpose, UPC Services and UPC External Service. In all, the government approved more than RON11 million state aid for the two UPC companies, which will create more than 300 jobs.
The list of companies whose state aid application was approved also include several Romanian-held companies, such as Patisgal, a food industry company in Galati and Gylcor Tex, a textile company in Calarasi. Those that sought state aid were mostly foreign companies, though the law does not distinguish between Romanian and foreign-held companies.
The list of the companies whose applications were turned down includes Bitdefender, which planned to create 182 jobs in several Romanian cities, according to the Finance Ministry and Deloitte Tehnologie, which promised to hire 630 people in a technology center in Bucharest and sought RON5.6 million lei aid.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)