Minth has new facilities for the production of batteries for electric vehicless

Twenty thousand square metres of space within 50 kilometres of Škoda Auto in Mladá Boleslav. It had to be finished ideally within half a year. One of the world's 100 largest car parts manufacturers, the Chinese MINTH Group, was looking for premises in the Czech Republic for its new plant for the production of battery chassis for electric vehicles.

We identified a total of eight options and shortlisted three of them. Although there was no option available on the market that met all the specified conditions, the best solution was the premises in Prologis Park Úžice, whose commercial conditions were very interesting. Moreover, the project was still under construction at that time, so it was possible to intervene in the premises for the production part and to adapt it partly for the client's operations.

The permitting process for the new factory was also a major part of the work. The MINTH Group has more than 50 plants worldwide, but so far only one in Europe, in Serbia. In the Czech Republic, the permitting process was more complicated than the Chinese company was used to. There was an environmental impact assessment for one production hall, a change of construction before completion, and a new building permit to deal with. We worked with the developer on all of this. In addition, the whole administration had to be combined with the process of applying for an investment incentive. We connected our Chinese partners with lawyers who have experience in this area. We then took over part of the agenda ourselves.

"This project was also interesting for me from a technical point of view. Components from Mignen CR, the domestic branch of the MINTH Group, are for example in the Škoda Enyaq electric car. Moreover, the entire factory is robotic and represents a plant with high added value," says Matěj Indra, who was in charge of the contract.