The Czech government is negotiating with the German carmaker Volkswagen that the company would build one of its planned factories for the production of batteries for electric cars in the Czech Republic. The Minister of Industry and Trade, Karel Havlíček (for YES), told today’s Hospodářské noviny (HN). According to him, the negotiations on the Volkswagen plant are tied to the previously announced project of the ČEZ energy group, which recently published considerations on the construction of a battery factory in northern Bohemia.
Volkswagen, which also includes the Czech carmaker Škoda Auto, announced on Monday that it plans to have six battery factories in Europe by 2030. He stated that one could be in the Czech Republic. “We are talking about it intensively, it is linked to the ČEZ Gigafactory project, which I consider to be one of the priorities and a key investment in the coming years. We must not miss this opportunity. We want to make a decision this year, we are regularly informed by ČEZ and either me or people from the team of the Ministry of Industry are in negotiations with potential key investors in the emerging consortium, “said HN Havlíček.
Last year, the Minister announced that CEZ Group was considering building a factory for lithium batteries for cars in northern Bohemia in the next few years, which he described as the Gigafactory project. Together with investors from the automotive industry, the company wants to use lithium from the Cínovec area in the Ore Mountains for the production of batteries. “A partnership with a local manufacturer such as Škoda would be natural, but we cannot comment on such negotiations now,” said Pavel Cyrani, CEZ’s Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Havlíček told the daily that the Czechia can provide direct support and tax benefits for the Volkswagen factory. Petr Knap, a partner of the consulting company EY for the automotive industry, has previously stated that when considering these investments, in addition to tax incentives, labor costs and their qualifications, the investor will also look to the state to support electromobility. “And here in our country (in the Czech Republic) he will find a very below-average to negligible scale in the EU,” he said.
Source: CTK and Hospodářské noviny
Photo copyright: Volkswagen AG
