The Prime Minister: A Belgian company wants to invest 1.1 billion euros in the production of batteries for electric cars in our country
The investment is expected to be completed in three places - Stara Zagora, Burgas and Plovdiv and take 3 to 5 years
A new large-scale investment in the amount of 1.1 billion euros will be realized in Stara Zagora, Burgas and Plovdiv. This was announced by the Prime Minister Academician Nikolay Denkov after meeting with the president and founder of the Belgian company "ABEE" (Avesta Battery & Energy Engineering) Noshin Omar. The Minister of Innovation and Growth Milena Stoycheva, the Minister of Finance Asen Vassilev, the Minister of Economy and Industry Bogdan Bogdanov and the Belgian Ambassador Frederic Meuris also took part in the conversation. This was announced by the government information service.
The investment intention is to produce a new generation of batteries that are widely used in the automotive industry. It will be implemented over the next 3 to 5 years, and its three main elements will be built in stages. A research and development base will be built in Plovdiv, where the highly qualified specialists from Bulgaria will be prepared for the project. The largest share of the investment will be realized in Stara Zagora, where it is planned to have a factory for the production of lithium-ion batteries.
The plant will have the opportunity to increase its production capacity from 10 to 20 gigawatts per year. The third component is related to the extraction of metals to be used in the production of batteries. Thanks to the investment, more than 1,000 jobs will be created.
"We are talking about a circular economy - the three components complement each other," pointed out Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov. For his part, the president of the "ABEE" company, Noshin Omar, pointed out that it is a production with a low carbon footprint, which fully fits into the European effort to combat climate change. Recycling will also be done in an environmentally friendly way. The ambition of the investors is to create the largest research center in Plovdiv, which will put Bulgaria on the innovation map.
"The realization of such an investment is of strategic interest for Bulgaria - both in terms of the technologies that will be applied, and in terms of the development of the regions," said Prime Minister Academician Nikolay Denkov. The Prime Minister was adamant that this is one of the ways for Bulgaria to move from a "cheap labor" economy to a high added value economy.