GIB EnergyX: EIA Documentation Processed in Line with Valid Legislation

Surany, April 24 (TASR) - An open and factual dialogue is the best tool for building trust and finding solutions together, and strategic projects shouldn't be subject to politicisation or short-sighted interpretations, said GIB EnergyX Slovakia, the investor in a battery plant in Surany (Nitra region), in response to the Environment Ministry's statement that it is taking steps to suspend the process of a mandatory environmental impact assessment of the battery plant in Surany. The investor supplied information to the Environment Ministry for the first time on April 22, 2025, and the so-called 'big EIA' for operating the battery plant in Surany only began based on that. The ministry stressed that its experts immediately assessed this information as insufficient. According to the ministry, there are fundamental shortcomings in the documents submitted by the investor. The company's management insists that the EIA documentation has been prepared in accordance with applicable environmental impact assessment legislation in force since January 1, 2025. "On the basis of the amendment to the Act on Environmental Impact Assessment and on Amendments and Additions to Certain Acts, the proposer is obliged in the case of a mandatory assessment to submit information on the proposed activity or changes to it without the need to prepare expert studies. The relevant expert studies will subsequently be prepared in accordance with the requirements of the scope of the assessment determined by the Environment Ministry and will appear as addenda to the assessment report," stressed the investor. According to its management, GIB EnergyX Slovakia is committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulatory rules at both national and European levels. The project is subject to multi-level control and each stage is based on the principles of transparency and public accountability. am/df