2024-09-17 10:38:22
The IT giant Intel actually wanted to build a chip factory in Saxony-Anhalt as soon as possible. But the plans have now been halted for the time being, the company announced.
The bad news for the state of Saxony-Anhalt came early on Monday evening. It was announced that the IT giant Intel wanted to stop its projects in Germany until further notice. “We will pause our projects in Poland and Germany for about two years due to the expected market demand,” said CEO Pat Gelsinger after the stock market closed in New York. “We recently increased our capacity in Europe through our production facility in Ireland, which will remain our most important European hub for the foreseeable future.”
The investment freeze applies particularly to the Magdeburg site, where Intel actually wanted to start building a large chip factory this year – and create 3,000 jobs and the corresponding infrastructure in Saxony-Anhalt. The huge production complex, called “Megafab”, was supposed to make domestic chip production less dependent on deliveries from Asia. But that is not going to happen for the time being.
The company also announced other measures such as a sale of real estate. The announcements are part of an austerity program that Intel has announced. Intel is currently in a difficult situation because it is a highly competitive market.
After the Intel measures became known, there was also a fight within the federal government. The government had already promised the company up to ten billion euros in subsidies if it actually settled near Magdeburg. Now the traffic light coalition is apparently arguing about how to use the freed-up funds. Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) wants to use the subsidies that are not needed at first to plug the holes in the budget. Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) wants to prevent exactly this and keep the funds in the KTF climate fund.
“All funds not needed for Intel must be reserved in the federal budget to reduce open financial issues,” Lindner wrote on the short message service X. “Anything else would not be responsible politics.” There is a gap of twelve billion euros in the draft budget for 2025, and the government does not yet know exactly how it will be closed. The traffic light coalition is counting on fewer funds being spent than originally planned. According to government sources, four billion of the total ten billion euros were earmarked for Intel this year.
Robert Habeck apparently has other ideas about what should happen with the money originally intended for the Intel settlement. “We will now discuss together how we can use unused funds sensibly and carefully and use them for the good of the country,” he said.
People close to his ministry said that the money had to stay in the KTF and could not be used for the core budget. The KTF finances numerous climate projects that are particularly important to the Greens. Following a ruling by the Constitutional Court last year, 60 billion euros were cut from it. Since then, the traffic light coalition of the SPD, Greens and FDP has been fighting even harder for money.
The news from the USA is also bitter for the state of Saxony-Anhalt. In August, the state’s Prime Minister Rainer Haseloff was confident that construction of the factory would start on schedule at the groundbreaking ceremony for one of the access roads to the site on which the factory was to be built. The first building permit for the factories in Magdeburg was already issued a few weeks ago. This was preceded by several months of reviewing a 2,000-page building application and a hearing with associations and municipalities.