July 12 (SeeNews) - Moldova's anti-trust body said that Orhei municipality has granted illegal state aid of 268.3 million lei ($13.78/13.77 million euro) to the local subsidiary of German-based car parts manufacturer Sumitomo Electric Bordnetze (SEBN).
An investigation has found that Orhei municipality located in the Balti Free Economic Zone, has waived the payment of rent owed by SEBN for a plant and a land plot, the Competition Council said in a statement last week.
The value of the rent of the factory and the land is estimated at 268.3 million lei.
According to the competition authority, Orhei municipality has submitted notifications in regard to the planned state aid but approval was impossible because the documents were incomplete.
SEBN announced on Monday that it has challenged the anti-trust body's decision in court, local economic portal Mold-Street reported.
SEBN opened an electric cable systems plant in Moldova in 2017, following a 30 million euro ($30.01 million) investment.
Sumitomo Electric Bordnetze is a supplier of electronic wire harnesses and components for the international automotive industry headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany. In 2006, Japanese group Sumitomo Electric Industries acquired Volkswagen Bordnetze - a joint venture set up twenty years earlier by German companies Volkswagen and Siemens - which has been operating as Sumitomo Electric Bordnetze since then.
($=0.9996 euro)