Kratky Demands House Committee Session Over Surany Battery Plant (2)

Bratislava, 14 July (TASR) - The opposition 'Slovakia' party is demanding an extraordinary session of the House committee for agriculture and environment over the the battery factory project in Surany (Nitra region), with party MP Rasislav Kratky stating at Monday's press conference that the project does not meet basic EU standards, violates the law and poses an ecological threat to the region and its inhabitants. Kratky wants the committee to meet on Wednesday, 16 July. „I don't know whether they're trying to fool [Environemnt Minister Tomas] Taraba [a Slovak National party/SNS nominee] or the ministry officials (...) This is an attempt to commit fraud,“ the MP stated, adding that there are currently two main documents concerning this project. One is the technical report and the other is the document for the Environmental impact assessment (EIA) process. The opposition MP pointed to the fact that the amount of waste in the documents doesn't match. According to the him, the EIA document states over 8,000 tonnes of waste, however, the technical report refers to 75,000 tonnes. Kratky stated that based on the data from the technical report, the battery factory should be classified in a more stringent category of facilities and therefore be subjected to stricter inspections. The MP added that the data in the documents also don't match on a number of other issues. Kratky said that the Economy Ministry is purposely misleading and destroying the credibility of state institutions, adding that Taraba and Economy Minister Denisa Sakova (Voice-SD) should present credible project documentation to the public. GIB EnergyX, the company behind the battery plant construction, rejected the claims of data manipulation. “The key and fundamental document for the construction of the battery plant is the so-called 'comprehensive' EIA. This documentation uses precise and conservative data (data based on the highest possible load values and working with worst-case scenarios) which correspond to the specific production technologies and the plant’s maximum designed capacities,” stated the company. GIB EnergyX explained that the comprehensive EIA uses the most conservative data, meaning that the impacts are assessed under a maximum load scenario. According to the company, these figures are important to understand the potential environmental burden. In reality, the company expects consumption, emissions, and waste to be lower. The company also stressed that the project fully complies with all legislative requirements of Slovakia and the EU. „If GIB EnergyX wants to start construction procedures in this area, the law requires that the technical report submitted with the construction application aligns with the documentation of the 'small' EIA,“ stated the company, adding that to ensure that the legal requirements are met, some general data from the small EIA must be included in the technical report. lin