RE: RE: Up 11% in oz26 Jun 2023 12:06
Translation posted on HC.
The Operational Program Just Transformation (OP ST), which was supposed to economically stimulate the coal regions with the help of European billions, is gradually showing cracks. It turns out that some selected projects do not meet the conditions for receiving support, and the regions will have to decide where to send billions of crowns. Because of this, the possibility that the lithium mining project at Cínovec, for which the giant ČEZ is applying for half a share, will receive billions of dollars in support is back in play.
Regions where coal was mined for many decades, the raw material on which the economic growth of the Western world is built, must now come to terms with the shift away from fossil fuels. That's why the European Union has prepared financial support for them, the program is "aimed at solving the negative effects of moving away from coal in the most affected regions". In the Czech Republic, this concerns the Karlovy Vary, Ústí and Moravian-Silesian regions, between which 41 billion crowns are to be distributed between 2021 and 2027.
However, this plan is starting to show major cracks. The regions, in cooperation with the government, have agreed that the money will also be directed to giant strategic projects, which should receive hundreds of millions to billions of dollars. The problem, however, is that some regions submitted projects to the call that did not meet the funding conditions, and therefore will not receive the money in the end. It is already clear that the Support, Employment, Transformation (POZATR) projects of the Labor Office and the planned gigafactory, i.e. a factory for the production of lithium batteries for electric cars of the ČEZ company, will not seek support in the Ústí Region.
"We are not abandoning the location or the gigafactory project, we will just look for other financial sources," ČEZ spokeswoman Soňa Holingerová told Litoměřický deník some time ago, adding that she will prioritize the lithium mining project at Cínovec. According to the energy company, the mining of the mineral necessary for the production of batteries is more suitable for OP ST. According to ČEZ spokesman Ladislav Kříž, the granting of a subsidy is crucial for the entire project. "It is a major transformational project. Failure to grant the subsidy would have a negative impact on the entire project, the grant of the subsidy is essential for the first phases of the project," he told E15.