Nokia agrees to to pay German state €1.3 million to end Bochum plant dispute
By Will Park on Monday, July 28th, 2008 at 2:14 PM PST In Announcements, Financial, Nokia
Nokia (NYSE: NOK)’s really on a good-will tip recently. Following on their announcement that they’ll be helping the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) “stimulate growth, create new jobs and generate investment for Bochum and the neighbouring cities” through the “Growth
for Bochum” program, Nokia has agreed to pay €1.3 million to NRW in hopes of settling the Bochum dispute once and for all.
Germans in the NRW area are still understandably upset after Nokia decided to close the Bochum plant and move its handset manufacturing operations to Romania, in an effort to find lower labor costs. The Bochum plant closure left some 2,300 Germans out of a job during the cold, winter months. And, Germany’s NRW has been out to get as much financial compensation out of Espoo as possible.
So, in an effort to finally squash the conflict, Nokia will be paying off the NRW with an additional €1.3 million. Nokia already put up €20 million to get the “Growth for Bochum” initiative off the ground, and it seems the Finnish handset manufacturing giant is looking to finally put an end to the job-cutting bitterness that has plagued Nokia’s PR team for too long. The €1.3 million payment caps off the already mentioned €20 million investment and the €200 million that they already ponied-up to the NRW over the Bochum plant’s closure.
