Nokiaaa‚¬a„¢s Jucu assets seized by tax authorities

Newsroom 14/11/2011 | 11:35

The National Agency of Fiscal Administration (ANAF) has seized Nokia’s assets in Jucu, Cluj, citing the Finnish company’s unpaid debts of USD 10 million, the president of the agency, Sorin Blejnar, told Mediafax newswire.
“Following an inspection, it became clear that the company has unpaid debts from customs taxes worth USD 10 million,” said Blejnar.

At the end of September, Nokia announced that it would slash its production in Romania and close down its Jucu factory by the end of the year. Upon making the announcement, Stephen Elop, president of the group, said the company was looking for potential investors to buy the plant.

Nokia started production at Jucu at the beginning of 2008, having invested EUR 60 million in the plant. The company was producing feature phones, not top-of-the-range smartphones, in Romania, which is why it made the decision to close down the factory and move production to Vietnam, where it will invest EUR 200 million in a new facility.

Last week, Nokia and leaders of local trade unions signed an agreement establishing the compensation for the former employees of the facility. The package, called Bridge, includes three months’ salary for each worker plus an extra month’s earnings for every year of service, help with re-training and financial support for ex-employees who want to start their own business, said officials.

The deal differs markedly from the compensation the Finnish mobile giant paid out when it decided to close down its plant in Bochum, Germany and switch production to Romania.
Nokia paid its Bochum workers for the following 12 months, at a cost of over EUR 200 million, according to an article in German publication Der Spiegel.
The compensation packages for the Jucu employees will be paid out from April.