Staatssteun: Commissie keurt de €65 miljoen investeringshulp van de Slowaakse overheid aan Samsung Electrics LCD Slowakije goed (en)

The European Commission has authorised, under EC Treaty state aid rules, around €65 million of aid that the Slovak authorities intend to grant to Samsung Electronics LCD Slovakia s.r.o., belonging to the Korean Samsung Group. The aid is intended for the setting up of a production plant for the assembly of liquid crystal display (LCD) TV modules in Voderady, Slovakia. The Commission's assessment found that the measure complied with the requirements of the Regional Aid Guidelines of 1998 and the conditions of the Multisectoral Framework on regional aid for large investment projects (see IP/02/242). The high-tech project, with a total investment of nearly €300 million, will contribute to the regional development of Western Slovakia by creating around 1200 direct jobs and attracting further investment by component suppliers and subcontractors into the area, liable to give rise to more than 3700 indirect jobs.

Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said: “The Samsung project will create new jobs in Voderady and Western Slovakia region and contribute to its economic development. It will also increase Slovak and European competitiveness in the rapidly expanding consumer electronics sector which until recently was located mainly in South East Asia.”

Samsung Slovakia's investment project is aimed at setting up a plant in Voderady, to produce LCD TV modules of sizes between 32'' and 52''. These LCD modules will be sold to a number of LCD TV manufacturers, both belonging to the Samsung group and unrelated customers, for their final assembly into LCD TV sets.

The project is to be carried out in Western Slovakia, a region eligible for aid under Article 87(3)(a) of the EC Treaty as a region with an abnormally low standard of living and high unemployment.

Construction work on the project started in 2007 and will be carried out until the end of 2011. The aid will be granted in the form of direct grants and tax reliefs.

The project will directly contribute to the creation of 1200 jobs. However, Samsung's project will also produce positive indirect spillovers by attracting further investment to the region from component suppliers and subcontractors which will lead to the creation of more than 3700 indirect jobs.

The Commission's investigation found that the measure met all the compatibility criteria foreseen in the 1998 Regional Aid Guidelines concerning, inter alia, the incentive effect, the nature of investment covered by the project, the eligible costs, the 25% own contribution of the beneficiary to the financing of the investment and the respect of cumulation rules.

The measure was also found to respect the conditions of the 2002 Multisectoral Framework on regional aid for large investment projects as the aid intensity for the project is below the maximum allowable ceiling of 23.92%; Samsung's market share remains below the 25% threshold on the markets for flat panel display modules, both before and after the investment and the additional production capacity created through the project remains below 5% of the apparent consumption of the products concerned in the European Economic Area (EEA).

The non-confidential version of the decision will be made available under the case number N 847/2006 in the State Aid Register on the DG Competition website once any confidentiality issues have been resolved. New publications of state aid decisions on the internet and in the Official Journal are listed in the State Aid Weekly e-News.