Swedish battery start-up Northvolt has been denied financial support from the Swedish government as it is uninterested in taking stake in the company.
The Swedish Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, said on Monday that the country will continue striving to lead the green transition with new companies such as Northvolt, but will not take stake.
Kristersson said: “There is no question of the Swedish state going in and becoming a shareholder. Right now, the ball is in the court of Northvolt’s shareholders,”
The battery manufacturer is Europe’s greatest hope of tackling leading global companies in the sector such as BYD, Tesla and Panasonic, reported the FT.
In addition, Northvolt will be shutting part of its gigafactory in Skellefteå in northern Sweden and cut jobs despite raising over $15 billion since launching in 2017.
Kristersson continued: “We don’t involve ourselves in the business plans of individual companies but we do want to be a good place for this kind of industry.”
