Nokia to refund German state EUR1.3 million due to plant closing

Nokia has settled its plant closure dispute with the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia by agreeing to repay EUR1.3 million in grants it received to open the plant. Nokia announced earlier this year that it would be closing its Bochum plant and moving the production to Romania.

The Bochum plant closure resulted in an expected loss of 2,300 jobs and had a large economic impact on the area. Nokia had previously attempted to dissolve the dispute by setting up a 'Growth for Bochum' fund totaling EUR20 million. This fund was designed to encourage and finance entrepreneurs in the areas of mobile telephony and information technology.