L_2008295EN.01003401.xml
| 4.11.2008 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | L 295/34 |
COMMISSION DECISION
of 30 April 2008
on State aid C 21/07 (ex N 578/06) which Hungary is planning to implement in favour of IBIDEN Hungary Gyártó Kft.
(notified under document number C(2008) 1342)
(Only the Hungarian text is authentic)
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2008/830/EC)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular the first subparagraph of Article 88(2) thereof,
Having regard to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, and in particular Article 62(1)(a) thereof,
Having called on interested parties to submit their comments pursuant to the provisions cited above (1) and having regard to their comments,
Whereas:
1. PROCEDURE
| (1) | By electronic notification dated 30 August 2006, registered the same day at the Commission, the Hungarian authorities notified a case of application of existing regional aid schemes in favour of an initial investment project by IBIDEN Hungary Gyártó Kft. The notification was made pursuant to the individual notification requirement laid down in paragraph 24 of the Multisectoral Framework on regional aid for large investments projects 2002 (2) (hereafter: MSF 2002). |
| (2) | The Commission requested additional information by letters of 13 October 2006 (D/58881) and 13 March 2007 (D/51161). |
| (3) | By letters registered at the Commission on 14 November 2006 (A/39085), 3 January 2007 (A/30004), 15 January 2007 (A/30441) and 27 March 2007 (A/32641) the Hungarian authorities asked the Commission to extend the deadline for providing additional information, which the Commission accepted. |
| (4) | The Hungarian authorities submitted additional information by letters registered at the Commission on 31 January 2007 (A/30990) and 15 May 2007 (A/34072). |
| (5) | On 11 December 2006 and on 25 April 2007, meetings were held between the Hungarian authorities and the Commission services where also representatives of IBIDEN Hungary Gyártó Kft. were present. |
| (6) | By letter dated 10 July 2007, the Commission informed Hungary that it had decided to initiate the procedure laid down in Article 88(2) of the EC Treaty in respect of the aid. |
| (7) | The Commission Decision to initiate the procedure was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (3). The Commission invited interested parties to submit their comments on the aid measure. |
| (8) | The Commission received four comments from interested parties:
| (a) | by letter dated 25 October 2007, registered at the Commission on the same day (A/38842); |
| (b) | by letter dated 22 November 2007, registered at the Commission on 24 November 2007 (A/39732); |
| (c) | by letter dated 23 November 2007, registered at the Commission on the same day (A/39711); |
| (d) | by letter dated 26 November 2007, registered at the Commission on 27 November 2007 (A/39740). | |
| (9) | By letter dated 4 December 2007 (D/54826), the Commission forwarded the observations received to Hungary which was given the opportunity to react. |
| (10) | The opinion from Hungary to the comments of interested parties was received by letter dated 4 January 2008, registered at the Commission on the same day (A/151). |
2. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE AID
2.1. Objective of the measure
| (11) | The Hungarian authorities intend to promote regional development by providing regional investment aid to IBIDEN Hungary Gyártó Kft. for the setting up of a new manufacturing plant for the production of ceramic substrates for Diesel Particulate Filters in the Dunavarsány Industrial Park, in the region of Central Hungary (Pest County), which is an assisted area in accordance with Article 87(3)(a) of the EC Treaty with an aid intensity ceiling of 40 % Net Grant Equivalent (NGE) for the period 2004-2006 (4). |
2.2. The beneficiary
| (12) | The aid beneficiary is ‘IBIDEN Hungary Gyártó Kft.’ (hereinafter: IBIDEN HU). The aided project aims to set up the second production plant within IBIDEN’s ceramics division of ceramic substrates for Diesel Particulate Filters in the European Union, besides IBIDEN DPF France S.A.S. in France (set up in 2001). |
| (13) | IBIDEN HU was established on 5 May 2004 by IBIDEN European Holdings B.V. (The Netherlands) and IBIDEN Co., Ltd. (Japan). IBIDEN European Holdings B.V. is 100 % owned by IBIDEN Co., Ltd., which in turn is a joint-stock company with many proprietors: companies (e.g. banks) and private entities. IBIDEN HU is 99 % owned by IBIDEN European Holdings B.V. and 1 % by IBIDEN Co., Ltd. IBIDEN DPF France S.A.S. has been owned by IBIDEN European Holdings B.V. by 100 % since the end of 2005.  |
| (14) | The parent company IBIDEN Co., Ltd. is a multinational company that was established in 1912, as a company generating electric power, and has its headquarters in Gifu, Japan. Its operations can be divided into five segments whose shares in the 2005 annual sales turnover were the following: 50 % for the electronics division, 22 % for the ceramics division, 16 % for the housing materials division, 4 % for the construction materials division and 8 % for other small divisions (such as oil products, information services, synthetic resin, agriculture, livestock and fishery processing departments). According to the Annual Report of 2006 (5), the IBIDEN Group consists of 47 subsidiaries and one affiliated company, which is not active in the ceramic sector. In 2006 consolidated net sales were Yen 319,0 billion, operating income was Yen 43,6 billion, and net income was Yen 27,2 billion. In the same year, the group counted 10 115 employees in its business representations and factories all over the world. |
2.3. Investment project
2.3.1. The new investment project of IBIDEN HU in Dunavarsány
| (15) | The notification concerns the second phase of an investment project, which aims to set up a plant to produce ceramic substrates for Diesel Particulate Filters in the Dunavarsány Industrial Park. |
| (16) | By letter dated 1 April 2005 the Hungarian authorities, in line with paragraph 36 of the MSF 2002 (6), informed the Commission about the State aid granted to IBIDEN HU for the first phase of the investment project. |
| (17) | The Hungarian authorities indicate that the two phases of the investment by IBIDEN HU in the Dunavarsány Industrial Park have to be considered as a single investment project within the meaning of paragraph 49 of the MSF 2002: the two investment phases concern the same production site, the same company, the same product and they were started within a period of three years. |
| (18) | According to the information provided by the Hungarian authorities on the two investment phases, the production of ceramic substrates for Diesel Particulate Filters will take place in two newly built buildings of 24 000 m2 and 30 900 m2 respectively in the Dunavarsány Industrial Park. By 2007, four production lines will be installed in building I and five lines will be installed in building II. |
| (19) | By 2007 the project will create a total of 1 100 new direct jobs in Dunavarsány. |
| (20) | The Hungarian authorities confirm that no other products than those concerned by the investment project will be produced at the aided facility for five years after the completion of the investment. |
| (21) | In addition, the Hungarian authorities confirm that the beneficiary accepted to maintain the investment at the site for a minimum period of five years after the completion of the investment. |
2.3.2. Timing of IBIDEN HU investment project in Dunavarsány
| (22) | The works on the investment project have already started in October 2004. Production linked to the project started in August 2005 in building I and in May 2006 in building II. Full capacity linked to the project was expected to be reached in April 2007. Table I provides further details on the timing of the project: Table I Timing of the investment project
| | Start of project | Start of production | End of project | Full production capacity | | Phase I | 6.10.2004 | 1.8.2005 | 1.1.2006 | 1.5.2006 (1,2 million units annually) | | Phase II | 20.6.2005 | 3.5.2006 | 31.3.2007 | 1.4.2007 (a further 1,2 million units annually) | |
2.4. Costs of the investment project
| (23) | The total eligible investment costs of the project are HUF 47 570 933 882 (EUR 190,83 million) in nominal value. In present value this amount is HUF 41 953 072 670 (EUR 168,30 million) (7). Table II provides a breakdown of the total eligible costs by year and category. Table II Eligible investment costs (Phases I and II) nominal value in million HUF
| | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | Total | | Land | […] (8) | […] | […] | […] | […] | | Infrastructure | […] | […] | […] | […] | […] | | Buildings | […] | […] | […] | […] | […] | | Utility | […] | […] | […] | […] | […] | | Machinery | […] | […] | […] | […] | […] | | Eligible Investment | […] | […] | […] | […] | 47 571 | | Phase I | Phase II | Phase I | Phase II | Phase I | Phase II | Phase I | Phase II | | | […] | […] | […] | […] | […] | […] | […] | […] | |
2.5. Financing of the project
| (24) | The Hungarian authorities confirmed that the own contribution by the beneficiary exceeds 25 % of the eligible costs, which is free of any public support. |
2.6. Legal basis
| (25) | The financial support to IBIDEN HU is granted on the basis of the following two legal basis:
| (a) | The Ministry of Economy and Transport will give a grant on the basis of the scheme ‘HU 1/2003 — Earmarked Scheme for Investment Promotion’ (9). This scheme has as its legal basis ‘Decree 1/2001 (I.5.) of the Minister of |
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