Nokia: hell no we ain’t gonna pay back that $92 million

So, just how did the German threat of legal action fare with the Finns? Well, it seems that Nokia (NYSE: NOK) couldn’t care less (or couldn’t care more, depending on how you look at it) about North Rhine Westphalia’s demand for repayment of subsidies. As you might recall, the German state bank, NRW.Bank, recently called upon Nokia to pay back subsidies issued to build the Bochum factory, with accrued interest, no less. The refund demand amounts to a cool $92 million (which, translated into Euros, should be enough for a nice car).

The German state contends that Nokia violated the terms of the subsidies in their failure to create a minimum number of permanent jobs. And, Nokia has summarily rejected the argument, saying that it provided the necessary paperwork back in the day and that officials had no problem doling out the subsidy monies, so Nokia had a right to those subsidies.

Further, North Rhine Westphalia’s own people are against the German ultimatum. The Bochum plant’s works council is complaining that the German demand for repayment of subsidies is interfering with negotiations over  replacement jobs and severance pay.

So, the question is, will North Rhine Westphalia pursue Nokia in court? The Finns are presumably stretched pretty thin in their massive legal battle with Qualcom, so now might be a good time to file suit. That is, if Germany has legal ground to stand on.

[Via: TelecomPaper]