The Parliamentary Commission agreed to sell the land for the Jizera factory

In accordance with the procedure resulting from the special act of July 2021 specifying the conditions for the sale of plots in the Jaworzno Economic Area (JOG) and the Euro-Park Stalowa Wola Strategic Investment Park, the sale of land in Jaworzno and Stalowa Wola depends on obtaining the necessary consents of the Parliamentary Environmental Protection Committee, natural resources and forestry.

Pursuant to this Act, the local governments of these two cities must exchange State Forests for areas where forest management will be possible.

At the end of September this year. At the New Mobility Congress in Łódź, the results of the tender conducted by the Katowice Special Economic Zone and the city of Jaworzno were announced, as a result of which the owner of a 117-hectare plot in the Jaworzniki Economic Area (JOG) for PLN 128 million is to be ElectroMobility Poland (EMP). The Izera electric car factory is to be built on the plot.

The Mayor of Jaworzno, Paweł Silbert, submitted a request to the commission to issue a positive opinion on whether the entity applying for the purchase of land fulfills, among others: provisions of the special act regarding the type of activity conducted and the purpose of the project.

Silbert, who was present at the committee meeting on Thursday, explained that the application was submitted during the current term of the Sejm, because the money that the local government will obtain from the sale of land will go to next year’s city budget, which must be presented by November 15.

– For me, it is extremely important whether I will be able to present a draft budget in which the money from the sale of these lands will cover the city’s current and property expenses in 2024, or whether I will have a large deficit that I will have to cover with some loan instrument. It is, of course, more advantageous to have a budget surplus, and we will have such a surplus after the sale of these lands, than to struggle budget deficit – said Silbert.

During the discussion, KO MPs Urszula Zielińska and Gabriela Lenartowicz emphasized, in their opinion, the unconstitutionality of the July 2021 special act. – That is why we will not take part in the vote, we want you to be aware of what you are doing, because it will be accounted for – Lenartowicz said to the MPs. .

KO MP Wojciech Saługa pointed out that “the entire Izera project is based on the KPO, which the government of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki does not want.”

In turn, the vice-chairman of the committee, Anna Paluch, from PIS noted that the election campaign was over. She added that, according to the act, the exchange of land between the State Forests and the local governments of Jaworzno and Stalowa Wola must be approved by the commission. In her opinion, local governments have done a tremendous job attracting investors and MPs should appreciate it.

Deputy Minister of Environment Edward Siarka, who was present at the committee meeting, assured that the land received by the State Forests from local governments is suitable for afforestation. Siarka pointed out that the act was adopted by the Sejm and signed by the president, so it is consistent with the constitution. The deputy minister noted that the committee’s approval was recorded to make everything transparent. – So that MPs can look at these applications themselves – he said.

Silbert, responding to the MPs’ doubts, emphasized that the construction of the Jizera factory is “a panacea for the transformation of the region that we must carry out.”

– We want to be wiser about the damage before the mines are closed due to EU regulations. We want to protect people from a catastrophe, so that it won’t be like in the early 1990s, when unemployment in the region was around 20 percent. Poland, regardless of who governs it, will have to meet the goals set out in the KPO, and the construction of the Izera factory meets one of these goals. If someone says they won’t do it, they won’t build a factory, they won’t get money from the KPO, argued the mayor of Jaworzno.

The MPs unanimously gave a positive opinion to the motion of the president of Jaworzno.

ElectroMobility Poland (EMP) was established in October 2016 and was an initiative of four Polish energy companies: PGE, Energa, Enea and Tauron, which each acquired 25 percent. share capital. The value of the share capital was PLN 70 million.

At the end of July 2021, the State Treasury signed an investment agreement with ElectroMobility Poland regarding the acquisition of new EMP shares worth PLN 250 million. “The signing of the agreement and recapitalization of EMP enables the next stage of development of the project of the Polish electric car brand. The existing shareholders of the company remain minority shareholders with shares of 4.325% each, the share of the State Treasury is 82.70%.” – the company reported then.

Prototypes of Polish electric cars were presented in July 2020. The director of technical development of the ElectroMobility Poland product, Łukasz Maliczenko, explained then that the Izera would come off the production line in the third quarter of 2023. Previously – at the turn of the second and third quarter of 2021 – a factory and a production line were to be built.

At the beginning of the year, the company’s representatives presented completely different dates in the Sejm. The construction of the Izera electric car factory in Jaworzno is scheduled to start at the beginning of 2024, and the production of the Polish electric car is scheduled to start in December 2025. Sales are scheduled to start in 2026.

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