BRATISLAVA, October 3, (WEBNOVINY) — Slovak Finance Minister Peter Kazimir suggests delaying by a year the Cabinet decision on provision of investment incentives for investors. This is because next year the minister wants to focus on fiscal consolidation. „We are striving to redirect any provision of tax relief mainly to 2014 and beyond. You know very well that we are struggling with revenue shortfalls, and so quite naturally we are trying to negotiate with concrete applicants for incentives to move the incentives to following years. I’m trying for 2013 to minimize them to as little as possible, preferably to zero, “ Finance Minister Kazimir explained the lengthy decision-making on potential granting of state aid to investors that has been on the Cabinet agenda for the past three weeks without any concrete decision announced.
The Cabinet has twice postponed the discussion of the provision of investment incentives for the nine investors. They concern the companies Magneti Marelli, Mondi SCP, Samsung, Bekaert Slovakia, Delta Electronics, Continental Automotive Systems Slovakia, Muehlbauer, Ekoltech, and Fagor Ederlan. These investors are planning to invest a total of EUR 338 million in Slovakia by the end of 2017, and create or preserve almost 1,900 jobs. The government is asked to provide them income tax holiday totaling more than EUR 101 million.
SITA