After months of playing poker, the contract for the construction of a new Intel chip factory in Magdeburg has been sealed. The German government organized a photo opportunity on Monday to mark the signing of an agreement in the presence of Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Intel boss Pat Gelsinger. Further details were not given.
The amount of the subsidies for this project was controversial until the very end. Intel had referred to higher costs. According to a report by the Bloomberg agency, the financing amount was recently discussed to be increased to ten billion euros, although German Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) had opposed it. Originally, the German federal government had pledged 6.8 billion euros. The government initially did not confirm the subsidy amount.
It also remained unclear whether Intel would also spend more money. People familiar with the negotiations had raised this in advance, referring to EU grant law issues. The project was originally budgeted for 17 billion euros. Bloomberg reported, citing those familiar with the plans, that Intel will now invest $30 billion.
On track for global expansion
The American chip group is expanding globally: in recent days, Intel had announced the construction of a $ 25 billion (about € 23 billion) factory in Israel. “This is the largest investment ever made by an international company in Israel,” said Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s prime minister. Intel also wants to invest about $ 4.6 billion in Poland: there will be a factory for testing and assembling processors in Wroclaw.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
