May 31 (Reuters) - The European Commission on Friday approved Italian state aid measures worth 2 billion euros ($2.16 billion) to support chipmaker STMicroelectronics set up a new semiconductor manufacturing facility in Catania, Sicily.

The aid will take the form of an approximately 2 billion euro direct grant to support an investment worth 5 billion euros in total, the EU Commission said in a statement.

($1 = 0.9243 euros) (Reporting by Diana Mandiá, editing by Tassilo Hummel)