Slovakia’s biggest tyre and rubber products producer, Continental Matador Rubber, is requesting the Slovak government for over EUR 14.5 million in tax relief, as the company moves forward with its expansion investment.
The company plans to modernise and expand its production plant in Puchov over the next four years, promising to generate some 324 jobs already this year. The company is projecting to produce 10 million car tyres a year, which will all be exported and so will pump up Slovakia’s foreign trade balance.
The original company Matador was set up in 1905, but only started producing tyres in 1925, making it the first tyre-maker in former Czechoslovakia. It was nationalised in 1945 and was only transformed into a private company in 1993. Continental bought a 51% stake in the company in 2007, after which it gradually increased its share in the company until it had gained 100% in 2009.