Nokia Press Bulletin Board

Düsseldorf, June 15, 2009 – Nokia, the North Rhine-Westphalian Federal State Government (NRW) and the City of Bochum today signed the contract for the “Growth for Bochum” program. By signing the contract, the partners of the program defined how they will allocate funds to help stimulate new investment and create long-term opportunities in Bochum and the surrounding area. 

The ultimate goal of “Growth for Bochum” is to accelerate the structural change of the Bochum region’s economy. The program is capitalized with approximately EUR 53 million and will support around 30 projects, with an emphasis on the health care sector, youth development and education.  

Notable projects supported by the program include a center of excellence for patient-oriented drug distribution, a forum for engineering projects, an initiative designed to help secondary school students succeed in landing apprenticeships, and a ‘summer school’ for third graders. The ‘summer school’ will help the children to improve their knowledge of the German language and develop their social skills, which can better equip them to take on the challenges of the job market they will face in later life as well as empower them to lead more independent lives. 

Other projects supported by “Growth for Bochum” cover IT technology, energy, environmental technology and engineering, and infrastructure – as well as entrepreneurship in the broader technology sector. In these areas, the program is supporting: 
·         business start-ups – in particular spin-offs by scientists working in academia – and the development and growth of new companies in the Bochum region that can create sustainable jobs.
·         companies planning to invest in the Bochum region which offer new long-term job opportunities for employees affected by the closure of Nokia’s production facility in Bochum. 

For example, one project receiving backing intends to establish a site where start-ups operating in the area of geothermal energy and energy-efficient building design can locate their businesses. 

The “Growth for Bochum” program was initiated by Nokia, NRW and the City of Bochum on the basis of a Memorandum of Understanding following Nokia´s decision to close its Bochum production site. Since then, much has already been achieved and decisive milestones have been reached. For instance, an international campaign to attract suitable investors that can create long-term job opportunities in Bochum and the surrounding region has been developed. Moreover, a buyer for Nokia’s facilities in Bochum has already been found in Thelen group, the real estate company. Thelen group is establishing a business park on the site that will also create new job opportunities.  

Today’s signing of the contract further strengthens the cooperation between the three partners.  

“More than a year ago we underlined our wish as a responsible business to cooperate with the federal state government and the City of Bochum in finding ways to support the region,” said Kristian Pullola, Vice President Treasury at Nokia and head of the “Growth for Bochum” team at Nokia. “The signing of the contract is a solid basis for sustainable growth and sustainable jobs as the city and surrounding area undergo structural change. This program is all the more important given the challenging economic conditions affecting the Bochum region today. We are delighted that the program will promote youth development and education.”  

Christa Thoben, Minister for Economic Affairs of the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia, said: “By signing this contract, Nokia, the federal state government and the City of Bochum are committing to work together to support sustainable employment in Bochum. We are delighted that the ‘Growth for Bochum’ program will support the IT-area, as well as engineering activities, education projects and the health care market. For us the health care market is an essential cornerstone of the structural change. A number of projects of the ‘Growth for Bochum’ program are a perfect addition to the planning of the health care campus.”   

Michael Bueltmann, a member of the management board of Nokia Deutschland, said he is pleased with the variety of projects sponsored by the “Growth for Bochum” program: “Obviously the program is receiving plenty of recognition. We could identify projects in a lot of future industries, which we considered worthwhile supporting; we appreciate in particular that support will be given to projects in youth development and education like the so called ‘summer school’ for third-graders to improve their language and social skills, and the secondary schools initiative to help students improve their chances when applying for apprenticeships.”   

The City of Bochum also welcomes the conclusion of the contract which ensures that the three partners create a long-term reliable contractual basis for the “Growth for Bochum” program. “The signing of the contract demonstrates that Nokia and the North Rhine-Westphalian Federal State Government are determined to help create the conditions necessary for Bochum to move ahead with the economic development. The first investments facilitated by the program, such as the project forum for engineering, help the city and the region in this regard,” said Dr. Ottilie Scholz, the Mayor of Bochum. 

Up to 1 000 employment opportunities will be created mid-term 

Scanbull site including R&D, production and sales to be established in Bochum 

With Scanbull Vertical Images AG, the first investor was found for the Bochum area. This investment takes place within the framework of the joint program “Growth for Bochum”, which the government of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and Nokia agreed on a few weeks ago. Scanbull is one of the world’s leading technology companies for 3D scanning systems, 360° scanning systems and software solutions and will open a production site in Bochum for its new 3D scanning product range. The investment creates new opportunities for the employees affected by the closure of the Nokia Bochum site. 

Scanbull develops, produces and distributes 3D scanners which, with the support of appropriate computer software, can gather objects of any size in three dimensions automatically and visualize them digitally for Internet, multi media, games and other 3D applications.  

Scanbull will take over some production and some office areas at Nokia’s former production site in order to set up product development, production, administration and distribution there. The company has confirmed that it will prioritize the recruitment of former Nokia employees where skills are well-matched and thus, work closely together with the transfer company established for the former Nokia employees.  

Scanbull is headquartered in Hameln and runs further production sites in Germany. Scanbull was founded in 2001 and has since enjoyed stable growth in the market for 3D scanning solutions. 

“Bochum offers us an optimum environment, both as a business location and also regarding the recruitment of potential employees. We are glad to invest here and we plan to create about 150 new jobs, as a first step,” Manfred Band, CEO of Scanbull, comments. Scientific institutions and companies cooperating with Scanbull in different areas will also use the new Scanbull site. This way a worldwide unique competence center on real 3D scans, 3D shop solutions up to 3D shopping malls is to be created in Bochum. 

Nokia has sought to make the areas needed by Scanbull available without red tape and Nokia will also lend a helping hand to Scanbull it its search for employees. “Already in January Nokia promised to act in a responsible manner in this difficult process of closing the Bochum site. Therefore we initiated together with NRW Government and the City of Bochum the “Growth for Bochum” program. We are very delighted that, with the investment of Scanbull, it has already been possible to achieve a first success,” says Kristian Pullola, Vice President Treasury Nokia and head of the “Growth for Bochum” team at Nokia. 

”The settlement of a future technology company in Bochum shows again the strength of this region. This enables us to look positively into the future; also because Nokia has kept its promise and is strongly committed to growth and alternative job opportunities in the region,” declared Christa Thoben, Minister for Economic Affairs NRW, today. 

Moreover, the City of Bochum declared itself satisfied with the decision of the scanning specialist from Franconia. Lord Mayor, Ottilie Scholz, is confident that other investors will follow: “We are glad that the ‘Growth for Bochum’ program is bearing its first fruits and the constructive collaboration is already noticeable here.”  

Gisela Achenbach, head of the Nokia Bochum works council, also welcomed Scanbull’s commitment and appreciated the fact that the company employs not only highly qualified employees: “In particular, we are happy that around 40% of the vacant jobs are slated for less-skilled colleagues.” 

The NRW Government, the City of Bochum and Nokia announced the program “Growth for Bochum” on July 3, 2008. The objectives are to stimulate growth, create new jobs and generate investment for Bochum and the region.

Closure by June 30, 2008

Nokia GmbH and the company’s works council have signed the social plan agreement on the closure of the Nokia Bochum site on April 23, following their agreement on the key elements of the plan on April 8.

The affected employees will be informed about the details of the social plan agreement by Nokia and the works council in a town hall meeting today.

The total amount of the social plan is 200 million euros – including severance payments and the establishment of a transfer company. Employees affected by the closure have the opportunity to move to the transfer and qualification company for 12 months, facilitating their search for new employment.

Thus, the aim to reach a fair and reasonable solution for all affected employees has been achieved. The Nokia GmbH Supervisory Board has decided on the closure of the Bochum site. The site will be closed by June 30, 2008 as planned.

JOINT RELEASE OF NOKIA AND ITS GERMAN EMPLOYEE REPRESENTATIVES 

Today Nokia and its employee representatives started negotiations on Nokia’s plan to close its Bochum site. Representatives of Nokia management in Germany and employee representatives met for an initial meeting and agreed to continue the negotiations over the coming weeks. The aim of the negotiations is to reach socially responsible, acceptable and fair solutions for the Nokia employees affected by the company’s closure plan.  

After the initial meeting ended, both parties confirmed that “the start of the negotiations was conducted in a good and open atmosphere with the shared aim to reach a satisfactory solution for all parties concerned as soon as possible”. 

It is mutually understood that these negotiations are to be conducted in a confidential manner and any further information about important steps or certain outcomes of the negotiations will be provided as soon as any important milestones are reached.  

Leading the negotiations from the employer side is Klaus Goll, Managing Director and Director of Labor Relations for Nokia in Germany, and from the employee representatives side is Werner Hammer, head of the Germany works council.

Nokia has submitted its statement to North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) Bank today regarding subsidies received back in 1998/99. The statement, which Nokia compiled after having access to the records of the NRW Bank and the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the State of NRW, underlines Nokia’s strong view that it has acted according to the terms of the subsidy grant, and any attempt by NRW Bank and the NRW government to recall subsidies is without merit. 

Without a doubt, Nokia created jobs at the Bochum factory: since 2001 Bochum has employed an annual average of some 3,200 Nokia and third-party employees. The conditions of the state aid granted to Nokia for the expansion of the Bochum plant in 1998/1999 called for Nokia to provide 2,860 jobs, thus Nokia over-fulfilled those job creation requirements. 

Throughout the period in question Nokia submitted via Deutsche Bank documents to NRW Bank in an open and transparent manner, disclosing all relevant facts including information on types and number of jobs created as well as on how the subsidies were used. Based on this, and based on some documents filed in the records Nokia has been able to review, Nokia assumes that all parties had a similar understanding about the job creation status and terms, and all agreed that Nokia had fulfilled all the terms. Until January 2008, no concerns were raised about Nokia’s reports to the company, neither from NRW Bank nor the NRW government.  

As previously communicated Nokia also made significant investments in Bochum. Since 1999 it has invested more than 350 million euros in the site, well above the amount stipulated in the agreement.

JOINT MEDIA STATEMENT 

The working group established by Nokia and Germany’s North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) government met for the first time today following Nokia’s January 15, 2008 announcement that it plans to close its site in Bochum. 

During the meeting the parties discussed a number of ideas on how Nokia and the NRW government could encourage and support employment initiatives and entrepreneurial activities in the Bochum area. The purpose of these discussions is to find ways to create alternative employment opportunities for affected Nokia employees as soon as possible. This was the first of several such meetings the two parties expect to have on the matter. 

“We welcome the formation of this working group, which has shown us that Nokia sincerely wants to contribute to the future development of the Bochum area,” said Dr. Jens Baganz, NRW Secretary of State. “The activities of Nokia and the NRW government will contribute to the economic development activities that we have been conducting in the region for many years.” 

“Nokia expects to continue discussing with representatives from Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia and the federal German government in order to find good solutions for the future of the Nokia employees,” said Kristian Pullola, Nokia. “It is important now that this working group with the NRW government takes decisive action in order to produce concrete proposals that we can start implementing promptly.” 

The NRW team will be headed by Dr. Jens Baganz. The other NRW representatives in the working group are Dr. Patrick Opdenhoevel, NRW Minister-President’s Office, Head of Division Government Coordination; Marina Weichhardt-Hilgers, NRW Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy, Head of Unit Preservation of Enterprises; David Scrimgeour, Consultant, Munich; and Dr. Martin Grimm, Real Estate Consultant, Essen. 

The Nokia team will be headed by Kristian Pullola, Vice President & Nokia Treasurer. The other Nokia representatives are Juha Äkräs, Senior Vice President, Human Resources; Michael Bueltmann, Senior Legal Counsel, Nokia GmbH; and Maximilian Kammerer, Vice President, Customer Care. The Nokia team reports to Rick Simonson, Nokia’s Chief Financial Officer and a member of the company’s Group Executive board. Mr. Simonson, who has significant experience in supporting industrial and technology initiatives in their different phases, has been appointed by Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo to oversee Nokia’s future role in the region. 

The NRW government and Nokia have been receiving expressions of interest from investors, both German and foreign. Potential investors should make contact with either NRW officials or Nokia directly.

The parties had a constructive discussion about the future of Nokia’s Bochum site and agreed to start the negotiations on February 20, 2008 
 
Nokia’s Germany Works Council representatives met with Nokia senior managers in Helsinki today to discuss Nokia’s earlier announced plans to close its Bochum site.

During the discussions, which were conducted in a constructive spirit, the parties discussed the forthcoming negotiations between the Nokia Germany Works Council and Nokia’s management in Germany, while employee representatives presented several alternatives for the future of the Bochum site. These included increased automatization in production and a change of focus for the Bochum site. Nokia’s management concluded that the proposed alternatives were not feasible and would not meet the required efficiency targets or support Nokia’s overall strategy.

In the meeting various options for employment in Bochum were discussed. Works Council representatives and Nokia shared the aim of finding innovative solutions for the future of the Nokia employees in Bochum. Both parties agreed that the key focus will be to find alternative employment for Nokia’s Bochum personnel in companies that are well-established and have long-term business targets.

Both Nokia and the Nokia Germany Works Council representatives agreed that their close collaboration about new employment opportunities will continue. As a next step, a working group comprising representatives from Nokia and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia will meet on February 14, 2008 to discuss innovative solutions for the future of of the Nokia site in Bochum.