SOFIA (Bulgaria), January 31 (SeeNews) – The European Investment Bank will lend U.S.-based automotive efficiency services provider Johnson Controls 100 million euro ($136 million) to finance its 2011-2015 investment programme in Slovakia and Bulgaria, the bank said.
The loan will finance planned research and development investments at Johnson Controls Technology Centre in Trencin, in Slovakia, as well as advanced software development projects at the company’s Sofia-based Electronics Development Centre, the European Investment Bank (EIB) said in a statement on its website released on Friday.
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“The investments will contribute to further develop the competitiveness of the automotive sector that plays a vital role in the national economies of the countries of the central European region in terms of the contribution to the GDP [gross domestic product] creation and providing of employment possibilities," EIB Vice-President responsible for lending operations in Central Europe Anton Rop said in the statement.
The loan is EIB’s first cooperation with Johnson Controls, which works in over 30 locations in Eastern Europe and over 250 locations around the globe.
Johnson Controls stepped on the Bulgarian market in 2001 and opened its Development Center in Sofia in 2006. Technologies and software solutions designed in Bulgaria include driver information systems, infotainment and connectivity products, body electronics and the integration of software solutions to operate these products.
($=0.7347 euro)