Poland Offered Whirlpool State Aid to Invest in the Country Apr 16, 2004

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In order to attract Whirlpool Corporation, a Benton Harbor, MI, U.S.-based white goods maker, to invest in Poland, the Polish government offered the company state aid amounting to almost half of the white-goods producer's anticipated expenditure of 132 million euros (approx. U.S. $158 million).

Representatives of Poland's government justified their actions by stating the threat of competition for foreign direct investment from The Czech Republic and Slovakia. However, it appears that the Czechs did not fight for the investment, and the Slovaks ignored the firm.

Representatives of Whirlpool admit that the main reason for choosing Poland was the amount of state aid offered it.

"Slovakia offered less than 1 percent of state aid in comparison to the investment value," Erric Biondi, Whirlpool plant director in Poprad, Slovakia revealed. Sebastian Mikosz, deputy president of the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAIiIZ), however, dismissed his claim as sour grapes. (Parkiet)

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