Vale president says to fight Swiss tax dispute- paper

ZURICH May 19 (Reuters) - Brazilian mining company Vale SA has no plans to amicably settle a Swiss tax dispute, its president was quoted as saying in a newspaper on Saturday.

Switzerland is demanding that Vale pays five years in back taxes, the Tagesanzeigner newspaper reported earlier this year.

"We will fight for our interests, which we consider as legitimate," Vale SA President Renato Neves told Le Temps in an interview.

The paper said Switzerland was demanding Vale pay back 212 million Swiss francs ($224.58 million) in taxes.

Neves also said Vale's dispute with the authorities might act as a deterrent to other multinational considering Switzerland as a base.

"I imagine that this will drive to think twice before setting up shop here," Neves told the paper.

Switzerland's low tax rates, ample supply of skilled workers and location in the heart of Europe have made it a popular destination for multinational firms to set up headquarters.

It has also attracted a variety of major international firms such as Vale with tax breaks for holding corporations. ($1 = 0.9440 Swiss francs) (Reporting by Caroline Copley; editing by James Jukwey)