The Ministry of Industry has approved subsidies amounting to 56 million euros for the so-called decarbonization hub that must reindustrialize the space left by Nissan in the Barcelona Free Zone. The hub, led by QEV and BTech, will also receive a loan of approximately one million euros.
The amount of the approved aid is approximately half of what had been assigned to it in the Electromobility Part, which was 107.8 million euros. The reason is that the hub has not been able to gather sufficient guarantees to guarantee public aid, as was perceived, and has had to renounce part of the subsidies. Consequently, he has also been forced to shrink his project, with the hope of being able to opt for Part 2 next year, which has already been announced by the Minister of Industry, Reyes Maroto.
The approval of the aid by the Ministry of Industry has taken place after an in-depth review of the documentation sent on Monday by those responsible for the hub, after days of hustle and bustle and tense negotiations with the administrations and banks. Among the participating banks are CaixaBank, Banc Sabadell, Abanca and Andbank. Except Andabank, which is the one that contributes the most, with 32 million in guarantees, the other banks participate in the operation with a counter-guarantee from the Institut Català de Finances (ICF), which thus minimizes the risk.
The ICF offered to directly guarantee up to 40 million euros, but this option was rejected by the Ministry of Industry, which considered that the bases of the Perte (strategic plan for recovery and economic transformation) would be violated. His argument is that public aid cannot be endorsed with public aid and even less through an organization that does not have a bank record.
Once this procedure is cleared, the next step should be the award to the Australian group Goodman of the former space occupied by Nissan in the Free Zone. Goodman proposes in his offer an agreement with the hub.
