AVESTA's Kichevo battery plant stalled by paperwork two years after cornerstone
TIRZ says construction was halted after project changes and AVESTA is completing urban and technical documentation before work can resume.
Nearly two years after a ceremonial cornerstone was laid, the planned AVESTA battery factory in Kichevo remains on hold while the investor completes paperwork, the TIRZ authority says. There is still no firm date for when construction in Kichevo will resume; TIRZ reports only that project documentation is being finalised.
Investment paused over documentation; no state aid deal yet
TIRZ says AVESTA has been working on the urban planning and technical documentation required to obtain approvals and to continue building production capacity at the TIRZ Kichevo site. Construction that began last year was stopped after changes to the project required additional documentation, the authority explained.
The state aid contract with the company has not been signed. TIRZ’s answers show that the investor has been trying for almost two years to gather the paperwork needed to move the project forward.
While there is no precise restart date for Kichevo, TIRZ indicates preparations for the investor’s plans in Shtip are expected to begin at the end of this year or the start of next year.
AVESTA has also cancelled a planned investment in Bulgaria, a decision TIRZ attributes to the company’s commitments here. The deal with AVESTA was originally signed in Brussels during the previous government.
The announced plan foresaw an investment of around 40 million euros and the creation of 600 new jobs. The investor was reported to have intentions to recruit technical staff from the Oslomej thermal power plant in Kichevo and had held talks there.
In recent years several foreign manufacturers have left the country: Aptiv pulled out, German firm BMZ took similar action, and the American company Dura has shut its doors.
Photo: press material from the event
