Slovenian car battery manufacturer Tovarna Akumulatorskih Baterij (TAB) has put on hold its project for the construction of a 50 million euro ($56.5 million) lithium-ion battery factory due to the global supply chain crisis, local media reported.
TAB has withdrawn from signing an agreement for state subsidies for the construction of the factory as disrupted supply chains and dilemmas in the purchase of key equipment pose great a risk for the company, Delo daily quoted CEO Bogomir Auprih as saying earlier this week.
The withdrawal from the agreement, which envisaged subsidies worth 4.1 million euro in 2021, 3.5 million euro in 2022 and 2.1 million euro in 2023, does not mean that TAB has terminated the project, the company has only postponed it until market conditions become appropriate, Delo quoted sources from TAB as saying.
In June, TAB said it established a joint venture with Chinese company Haidi Energy Technology for the construction of a lithium-ion battery factory which was expected to be launched in the first half of 2022. The joint venture, in which TAB holds a 74% stake, intends to build the factory on a land plot in Prevalje, northern Slovenia that it acquired from pharmaceutical company Lek.