The CEO of Chiquita Brands International (NYSE: CQB) is yet to give a clear message about whether US$22 million financial worth of incentives from local and state governments will be paid back if the company moves its headquarters, the Charlotte Observer reported.

Photo: AJ Maritan, via Flickr Creative Commons.

The company was given the incentives by local and state governments, with a promise they would be paid over an 11-year period on the conditions that around 400 jobs would remain in the North Carolina capital, and reportedly that its headquarters would remain there too.

However, if a merger with Ireland-based Fyffes Plc (ESM: FFY) is approved by U.S. and European Union authorities, the deal would entail moving the headquarters to Dublin.

In March, a Chiquita representative said the incentives were based on the value of the job creation of employees, and he dismissed claims the company would leave the southern city behind.

The Charlotte Observer noted that CEO Ed Longergan "left open" the possibility that some of the money would be paid back.

"It's not helpful for me to speculate on where that might end up," Lonergan told the publication.

"What we want to do is get aligned with the people that run the community to ensure we’re upholding the commitments that we made. And if we’re not, then we should accept the consequences of that," he was quoted as saying.

"We don’t want anything we don’t deserve."

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