The Minth Automotive Europe Company, based in Loznica, Serbia, has been operating for 10 years. In addition to subsidies exceeding €10 million and land in Loznica, its “sister” company, also part of the Minth Group, received state incentives as well.
Over a four-year period, the state provided more than €37 million to companies within the Minth Group, as well as free land valued at €1.44 million, according to calculations by Nova Ekonomija.
Initially, in 2020, Minth Automotive Europe received €7.84 million in state incentives to build a parts manufacturing plant in Loznica. The entire amount was paid to Minth in three instalments by 2022.
Then, in 2024, Minth Automotive Europe once again signed a subsidy agreement with the Ministry of Economy, this time worth €23.5 million, to construct another factory for producing automotive components in Loznica.
Although this state aid was granted under a formal scheme, it had to be reported to the Commission for State Aid Control, since the amount exceeded €10 million in dinar equivalent.
Under the subsidy agreement, Minth committed to hiring 700 new permanent employees by the end of 2024. It also pledged not to reduce the total number of permanent employees below 1,019 for five years after the project’s completion and not to reduce the value of its tangible and intangible assets.
This investment in Loznica represents a greenfield investment and involves the construction of a production facility, purchase of machinery and equipment, and their installation for production purposes, covering the period from 2022 to the end of 2024.
The company committed to investing €183.6 million in tangible and intangible assets through this project.
“The start of construction was in January 2022. Out of the total planned investment of €183,651,882, €39,936,000 was allocated for constructing a building covering about 100,000 square metres, €143,675,882 for purchasing new equipment and machines, and €40,000 for investments in intangible assets and licences,” the Commission stated.
Even though it received funding to build the factory, Minth had already, back in 2019, signed an agreement with the City of Loznica for the disposal of undeveloped construction land owned by the state, valued at nearly €1.44 million.
Minth also purchased additional land under a separate agreement for the disposal of undeveloped building land. The fee for this parcel amounted to €571,946.
Thus, for Minth Automotive alone, between 2020 and 2024, the state provided €31.4 million, plus land worth €1.44 million.
Alloy-Tech, part of Minth, also received subsidies
The company Alloy-Tech Europe LLC, based in Šabac and affiliated with Minth, signed a subsidy allocation agreement with the Ministry of Economy on 30 November 2021.
As a result, United Alloy-Tech Europe received incentives totalling €6.4 million for a project involving the construction of a new factory for the production of automotive parts through aluminium casting in Šabac.
“Given that Minth Automotive Europe Loznica and United Alloy-Tech Europe Šabac are part of the Minth Group, it follows that these market participants are legally connected entities. Furthermore, taking into account the registered activities of these entities (manufacture of other parts and accessories for motor vehicles), the Commission concludes that the investments are being made in the same or similar industry. Considering this, as well as the fact that the cities of Loznica and Šabac fall within the same NUTS-3 statistical region and that work on the new project began within a three-year period, the Commission determined that the subject project and the previously described projects constitute a single investment project, in accordance with Article 16, paragraph 3 of the Regulation,” the Commission stated.
A simple calculation shows that during this period, the state has actually invested a significant sum in the Minth Group in Serbia – a total of €37.8 million.
Minth tops subsidy payments in Q1 2025
In Serbia, under subsidy agreements for domestic and foreign investors, a total of 4.2 billion dinars – around €36 million – was paid out in the first three months of this year. The largest share went to Minth Automotive in Loznica. In the first quarter of 2025, Minth received €22.22 million.
As the national budget for this type of support in 2025 stands at 23.8 billion dinars (approximately €203 million), this means that by the end of the first quarter, 17.88 per cent of the funds had been disbursed.
It was noted that this is a significantly higher budget execution rate compared to spending on infrastructure projects of national importance for the Republic of Serbia, as only 0.07 per cent of the funds allocated for the National Stadium were spent in the first quarter.
The Ministry of Economy has already disbursed subsidy tranches to 14 companies this year, with the largest payment going to Minth Automotive.
Minth Automotive had already received €7.8 million in three tranches from 2021 to the end of 2022 for the first phase of investment in the Loznica complex. In the first quarter, it became the leading recipient of state support by amount received.
(Nova Ekonomija, 08.08.2025)