The world’s largest battery manufacturer, China’s CATL, plans to raise HUF 1.3–1.5 trillion through a share issue on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and invest most of the fresh capital in Debrecen, hvg.hu discovered in the company’s public investment prospectus.
According to the company’s plans, the proceeds will finance the first and second phases of the giga‐investment in Debrecen. The entire project will cost €7.3 billion, of which CATL has already spent €700 million (approximately HUF 283 billion) from its own funds. Although the Hungarian government has promised €800 million in support (in the form of tax and infrastructure incentives), these cannot yet be activated without EU approval, so CATL has so far not drawn on any tax breaks or state funds.
The plant is being built in three stages, with full completion planned for 2028. The first module‐production line was already commissioned in May in a temporary hall, but the real breakthrough will come this autumn when the test run of the cell‐production line—the core of the manufacturing process—gets underway.
Local civil groups have challenged the plant’s environmental permit, and the case is under legal review, but CATL insists that construction complies with all regulations. The second‐phase permitting process will also start this year, and they expect to continue earthworks and archaeological surveys already in progress.
Jobs—But for Whom?
CATL says it would employ around 2,000 workers by year‐end, of whom roughly 500 might be guest workers from the Philippines. Current staff number 650, less than 30% of whom are foreign. The goal is that in the long term the majority of employees will be Hungarian, but an industry downturn (a 41% drop in battery production) means growth is lagging behind plans.
The Debrecen investment is a project of national economic importance and carries symbolic weight: a Chinese‐financed, extremely costly, and partly state‐supported plant is being built in a city that is a key political stronghold of the Hungarian government. CATL aims to make Debrecen its European manufacturing hub—while the project’s social, environmental, and political acceptance remains deeply divisive.
