No progress in the battle for Kia land near Žilina

FRIDAY’S meeting between Economy Minister Pavol Rusko and the owners of the land for the planned Kia factory near Žilina did not bring any progress, representatives of the petition committee said.

The land owners insist on their plots being reclassified from agricultural land to building plots, which will, according to Economy Minister Pavol Rusko, only be possible to finalise in late August after the issue of a relevant territorial decision.

However, that will surely suspend the purchase of the land and cause a delay in the construction work for the Korean carmaker. Moreover, the cost may increase by hundreds of millions of crowns, the news wire TASR wrote.

According to the minister, the owners do not have an official expert opinion that would enable them to ask for more than the maximum of Sk148 (€3.7) per square metre offered by the government.

The Žilina Investing company that is buying the land from the government has managed to settle 70-80 percent of the entire 220 hectare area for Kia Motors and Hyundai Mobis. According to its project manager Stanislav Vinc, the company has already started preparing documents for the potential expropriation of the remaining plots.

According to the Financial Times daily, Kia leaders have already warned the Slovak government that it still has time to move its new factory to another country.