The Swedish battery producer Northvolt, which had received 600 million euros in state funding, has filed for bankruptcy and initiated an insolvency procedure. The state of Schleswig-Holstein is guaranteeing half of the sum, while the federal government, i.e., the taxpayers, is covering the other half. The company’s insolvency has raised concerns about the implications for taxpayers and the Minister of Economics, Robert Habeck, is set to address the issue in a meeting on Wednesday.
However, the minister has unexpectedly classified a crucial report by the auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) as confidential, making it inaccessible to lawmakers. The report was prepared in December of the previous year, following the company’s insolvency filing and was meant to provide insights into the background and consequences of Northvolt’s bankruptcy.
The company had been touted as a future-oriented battery producer in Europe, aiming to meet the growing demand in the electric vehicle industry. In May 2022, the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection announced a grant of 155.4 million euros to Northvolt, which planned to establish a large battery cell production facility in Germany, likely in Schleswig-Holstein.
The CDU has summoned Habeck to a meeting of the Budget Committee, seeking answers on whether he had carelessly allocated the state funds for a Northvolt plant in Heide, Schleswig-Holstein. However, the lawmakers were informed that the crucial report would only be accessible under strict security measures in the Bundestag’s secretariat, rather than being made available for review.
The FDP’s Wolfgang Kubicki expressed surprise and concern, stating that the minister’s actions were in violation of the law. Habeck was accused of disregarding the rights of lawmakers to access information.
Andreas Mattfeldt, a CDU member of the Budget Committee, questioned the minister’s decision, saying that Habeck had based his support for Northvolt on a report that had highlighted the significant risks of the project. Mattfeldt wondered whether the minister had deliberately turned a blind eye to the risks or had simply made a mistake.
The report by the Bild newspaper highlights the consequences of Northvolt’s bankruptcy, stating that the federal government will have to pay 600 million euros, plus 20 million euros in interest, to the KfW, just eight months after the project’s start. The newspaper also quotes an unnamed Habeck spokesperson, who claims that the auditing firm PwC had conducted a due diligence review and deemed the risk acceptable.