In order to attract Whirlpool to invest in Poland, the government offered the company state aid amounting to almost half of the white-goods producer’s anticipated expenditure of EUR 132 million.
Representatives of the government justified their actions by stating the threat of competition for foreign direct investment from the Czech Republic and Slovakia. However, it now seems apparent that the Czechs never really fought for the investment, while 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% of state aid in comparison to the investment value,” Erric Biondi, Whirlpool plant director in Poprad, revealed. Sebastian Mikosz, deputy president of the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAIiIZ), however, dismissed his claim as sour grapes. (Parkiet, p. 6) M.M.
From Warsaw Business Journal