Slovak government pledges automobile investment support

The Slovak government has expressed its willingness to give any new automobile investment a high level of stimulus. Following a meeting of ministers, the economics minister Vazil Hudak said “For us, it’s a strategic investment, so following an agreement with the minister of finance, we’re willing to provide a maximum level of state support. That means, that we’re talking about up to 8 or 9 percent of the total investment.”

He refused to say who the investor being considered is, but the investment is expected to result in thousands of new jobs. “We can’t talk about a specific investor, so we’re saying that there is interest from a very important investor from the automobile industry which is interested in investing in Slovakia. We’re in the final phase in which Slovakia and one other location, at most two, are being considered,” said Hudak. The daily SME reports that a decision is expected by September and that the investor in question is believed to be Land Rover, which would produce Jaguar vehicles.