Nokia says to provide EUR 20 mln for German region

HELSINKI, July 3 (Reuters) - Cellphone maker Nokia (NOK1V.HE) will contribute 20 million euros ($32 million) to a regional development fund in Germany to settle a dispute over the closure of its Bochum factory, Nokia said on Thursday.

Nokia said it would also contribute the net proceeds of the sale of the Bochum production site to the "Growth for Bochum" package, and the state of North-Rhine Westphalia will also provide 20 million euros.

Earlier on Thursday, Nokia denied reports that it would repay subsidies to North-Rhine Westphalia, which had demanded repayment of 60 million euros after closure of the plant.

Nokia said that contributing to the development fund did not amount to repaying subsidies.

"This agreement with the North-Rhine Westphalia (NRW) government and the City of Bochum aims to create jobs and bring new companies to the Bochum region," Nokia said in a statement.

"As part of the plan, Nokia and NRW have also discussed the issue of the subsidies paid to the company in the late 1990s and both parties now consider this issue closed," Nokia said.

Nokia said in April that it agreed to a 200 million euro package for workers at the Bochum cellphone plant it closed, but the company repeatedly refused to pay back subsidies to the state. (Reporting by John Acher)