Minth intends to invest in production of electric vehicle components in Serbia

Serbia and China-based Minth Holdings Limited intend to sign a memorandum of understanding on investments in manufacturing facilities for the automotive industry, electric vehicles, and solar power plant equipment.

In yesterday’s session, the Government of Serbia adopted a draft memorandum of understanding with Minth Holdings Limited to establish a new manufacturing facility in Serbia.

The project is for various purposes: the automotive industry and related industries, manufacturing electric vehicles and bicycles, parts for photovoltaic systems, and construction materials, and establishing a chain of suppliers for certain activities at the location in Inđija, the government said on its website. The town is just northwest of the capital, Belgrade.

The investment is estimated at EUR 870 million

The announcement states that the investment is planned to reach EUR 870 million and create 2,220 jobs within ten years.

Minth Automotive Europe already has plants in Serbian cities Šabac and Loznica, making car parts. It is building another one in Šabac to manufacture parts for electric vehicles. It recently received EUR 23.5 million in government subsidies to expand production in Loznica.

In addition, the Chinese company has entered into the procedure to secure a  EUR 200 million loan from the International Financial Corp. (IFC) to finance a EUR 598 million expansion program in Serbia and Poland, primarily for battery housing for electric vehicles, according to the World Bank Group’s member institution.

According to its website, Minth Group manufactures exterior and structural automotive parts. It has 22,331 employees distributed across 77 plants and offices in 14 countries on three continents. Its partners are 70 automobile brands.

The company added that it invested significantly in the electrification of the automotive industry, claiming it positioned itself as the world’s largest supplier of battery enclosures and body structure components.

Minth is partnering with InoBat in Serbia

The Chinese firm is a partner of Slovakian startup InoBat, which has chosen Serbia for a gigafactory for manufacturing and recycling batteries.

Rio Tinto is among the investors in InoBat. The Anglo-Australian company has been developing the Jadar lithium mining and processing project in Serbia. Following mass protests throughout Serbia and other forms of public pressure, the government decided to halt the project. However, over the last few months, top officials have suggested reviving the investment. In addition, three weeks ago, Rio Tinto voluntarily released preliminary drafts of environmental impact assessment studies for its lithium mining project.

Upon revealing in September that it intends to build the gigafactory in Ćuprija in the central part of the country, InoBat’s board member and CDO Tara Lindstedt said the company earlier signed a memorandum of understanding with Minth Group on collaboration across the battery value chain in Europe, starting with Serbia.

Jimmy Wong, managing director for Europe at Minth Group, asserted at the time that his company had eight sites in Balkan country.