The investment of the Italian company Montante was announced in the summer of 2014, when it was promised that the company would start building a shock absorber factory in Bunardzik, but the Italians signed the contract with the government in December 2015 and, according to the announcements, the first stage of the investment should be implemented in 2016.
With the signing of the new contract the announcements regarding the initial investment and employment stabilized on 10 million euros and 100 new jobs, whereas previously the statements of the former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski contained information that the investment can amount between 30 and 40 million euros and that it would create 300 to 400 jobs.
The government web-site states “the Director of the TIDZ Directorate, Viktor Mizo, said that during the first stage 10 million euros are planned for investment and that the company will employ 100 people, and that in future stages their number will increase to 350-400.”
Bearing in mind that this is an belatedly implemented investment, at the end of 2015 Montante’s company in Macedonia, Europe Shock Absorbers, had almost no activities, did not have any employees and its noncurrent assets were zero denars.
At the end of 2015, three days before signing the Contract, the government to give Montante state aid in order to realize the investment, but the ministers, as with many such cases, do not reveal the amount of financial assistance. It is related to exemption from profit tax, exemption from employees’ personal income tax, customs and other benefits, as well as a grant for opening new jobs, the number and amount of which are hidden.
Montante Group is a multinational Italian company with 2,300 employees and an annual turnover of 800 million euros, which produced shock absorbers for trains, busses and other heavy vehicles. Its headquarters are located in the vicinity of Torino, Italy.