Intel changes investment plans and suspends construction project of factories in Germany and Poland for two years; This decision is a result of the deterioration of the company’s overall financial situation, the Ministry of Digital Affairs reported.
As reported in the MC announcement, in a conversation with Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski, Intel chief Pat Gelsinger provided information that the company is suspending until 2026 its investment plans related to the construction of previously planned semiconductor factories in Germany and Poland. This decision is a result of the deterioration of the company’s overall financial situation.
Since February, the Ministry of Digitalisation has been carrying out the pre-notification process for state aid for investments in the construction of a semiconductor plant. As Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Affairs Krzysztof Gawkowski said on 13 September: “The European Commission has informed Poland that there is a green light for the notification of state aid to Intel”. The amount of the planned public aid, spread over the years 2024-2026, would amount to more than PLN 7.4 billion.
As the ministry reported at the time, the government’s approval and notification of the state aid allowed the conclusion of an agreement between the State Treasury, represented by the Minister of Digitalization, and Intel, specifying the detailed rules for this aid. The process of granting public aid to Intel was carried out on the basis of a government program called the “National Framework for Supporting Strategic Investments in Semiconductors”.
In announcing Intel’s change of plans, the Ministry of Digital Affairs assured that “Poland is open to intensive support for further investments in semiconductors in the coming months. The experience and work carried out in cooperation with the European Commission allow for efficient implementation of such projects in the future.”
In June 2023, Intel announced a total investment of approximately $4.6 billion to launch a semiconductor integration and test plant in Miękinia, near Wrocław. The company announced that the new facility will employ approximately 2,000 people. It was emphasized that Intel’s decision also means thousands of vacancies at suppliers and temporary jobs during construction works.
Intel then announced that the new plant near Wrocław, combined with the existing silicon wafer production plant in Ireland and a second planned silicon wafer production plant in Magdeburg (Germany), will help create the first comprehensive and technologically advanced semiconductor integrated circuit supply chain in Europe, the first of its kind in Europe.
Entering the microprocessor producing sector, that is, the countries that produce them, is entering an elite group. There are only a few countries like this in the world.
— commented on this information in an interview with PAP in June last year. the then head of PAIH, Paweł Kurtasz. He emphasized that the plant will produce a finished product, not components.
When asked about the launch date of the new factory, he said that “the investor must receive, and PAIH helps him with this, a notification from the EU regarding this project”.
From there, it will take approximately 2 years to get the plant up and running; then it will have the potential to start working.
– Kurtasz concluded.
In late July this year, Puls Business, citing Bloomberg, reported that Intel intends to lay off thousands of employees to cut costs and fund ambitious activities aimed at “recovering from declining profits and losing market share.”
Asked by the PAP to comment on this matter, PAIH spokesman Marcin Graczyk said that the Polish Investment and Trade Agency did not see any threats to Intel’s planned investment.
We do not see any threats to Intel’s announced investment near Wrocław. We are in good and continuous contact with the investor and do not see any changes in the planned implementation.
– he said in an interview with PAP.
Intel, headquartered in Santa Clara, Silicon Valley, California, USA, is a new technology company founded in 1968 and one of the largest semiconductor manufacturers in the world. The American company listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange produces, among others: processors for personal computers, as well as IT solutions and hardware for data centers, artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles. Globally, the company employs more than 121,000 people, including in the European Union – approx. employees.
The opposition’s response
Intel is suspending major investments in Europe for two years – including the construction of a plant in Poland – due to the company’s global financial problems. Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger informed me about this. In recent months, we have been working on preparing strategic investments in semiconductors. Last week, we received the green light from the European Commission to submit an application for state aid to Intel. This experience allows us to efficiently implement similar projects and we will work on this in the future.
– wrote the Minister of Digital Affairs, Krzysztof Gawkowski
Politicians from the United Right commented on this information.
Intel is pulling out of Poland. The PLN 20 billion investment has been put on hold. I wonder if the same fate awaits the simultaneously planned and even larger investment in Germany, which has received huge subsidies from the EU…
– Sebastian Kaleta wondered.
There will be no construction of an Intel factory near Wrocław. The project was supposed to create two thousand jobs…
– recalled Michał Dworczyk.
There will also be no construction of an Intel factory. They will plow everything up
– observed Marcin Romanowski.
You are the anti-midas. What you don’t touch becomes… unfortunately, that is the conclusion that comes to mind.
– wrote Jan Kanthak.
Krzysiek, don’t joke. You didn’t deliver. You’re reporting this at night, when we have the flood of the century. Is that supposed to cover up your incompetence? I hope you explain this in depth in the digitization committee, because the style and timing leave a lot to be desired.
– emphasized Dariusz Stefaniuk.
And you’re writing about this at night so that as few people as possible will notice? Insolence and weakness
– this is an entry by Szymon Stachowiak, chairman of the PiS councillors’ club in Płock.
