Poland is to ‘sweeten’ a deal with South Korea’s LG Chem to build a major batteries production plant in the country for electric vehicles— with a grant reportedly worth more than $70 million, BBB can reveal.
A spokesperson for Poland’s entrepreneurship and technology ministry told BBB a contract for the grant would be signed soon, but declined to say whether the cash had been part of the agreement, announced in 2016, for LG Chem to set up the plant.
The ministry also declined to comment on the amount of the grant ahead of the signing— or to confirm or deny reports in the Polish media that the grant would be the “highest ever awarded” in support of a national economic investment project in Poland.
The battery plant is expected to be fully operational by the end of this year producing around 100,000 batteries annually.
And the project reinforces growing evidence of a Korean “land grab” of future European EV markets.
At the end of last year, SK Innovation announced plans to invest around KRW1 trillion ($920m) in building an EV plant in Hungary.
Last January, Hungary said it was also backing Japan-based lead-acid company GS Yuasa in its plans to build a lithium battery manufacturing plant in the country’s northeast, with a non-repayable grant worth around $1.8m.
