A new scandal is shaking Germany. According to the newspaper Bild Zeitung, battery giant Northvolt paid two politicians 23,000 kroner to get a factory approved.
The bankrupt battery giant Northvolt is now faltering even more.
According to information in the German newspaper Bild Zeitung, the battery manufacturer has paid two politicians, the equivalent of 23,000 Danish kroner.
In return, the two politicians, who are also brothers, had to cede their hunting area, which was and is issued as the site where a new battery factory is to be built.
After the money was paid, the two German brothers, who sit on the same city council, voted to allow the factory to be built. This gave a political majority in favor of the construction plans.
But the way the permit was obtained is highly questionable, says German law professor Voelker Böhmer Nessler, whose specialty is public law at the University of Oldenburg.
– Since two members were biased and voted, the decision is not legally valid.
– Anyone who has their own interests at stake can no longer decide impartially for the common good.
– Because two biased council members voted, the decision on the development plan was not legally valid, says the professor.
Now Voelker Böhmer Nessler believes that the entire project could collapse. All it takes is for one citizen in the area to complain about the building permit. Because that would give the German Constitutional Court reason to look into the matter.
But right now the building permit is still there. And the construction plans continue, even though the parent company in Sweden is faltering because several of the largest investors have withdrawn or canceled huge orders for battery packs. Read more about it here .
Back in Germany, however, the leader of the De Gronne party, Robert Habeck, believes that the construction is already such a big scandal that it all needs to be stopped. This will mean that German taxpayers will have to cover a billion-dollar loss.
Northvolt has already had the Swedish tax authorities on its back. Last year, the authorities threatened to close the entire business because a payment of several hundred million kroner was missing. However, the money came at the last minute.
