The Irish food technology company ClonBio Group is considering the possibility of building a plant in Lithuania to produce vegetable proteins, a meat substitute, worth around EUR 250 million. The decision will depend on the position of the European Union (EU).
“Martynas Nagevičius, head of the ClonBio Group’s Lithuanian subsidiary Baltic Baltymas, said that the Irish company’s main shareholders will come to Lithuania next week to discuss the plans with the Minister of Economy and Innovation, Aušrine Armonaite.
He said that the company is considering only one option for the location of the factory in Lithuania – in Akmenė, next to the free economic zone, which has already been discussed with the Mayor of the municipality.
“This is probably the only site in Lithuania, an environmental impact assessment has already been launched there, and no alternative is likely to be considered. There was a meeting with the mayor a year ago and it was discussed”, said Mr Nagevičius.
“The ClonBio Group representative says that they are currently deciding where to expand – in the EU or in North America, which are competing to attract such investments, so the plans for the plant in Akmenė will not depend on the decisions in Lithuania.
Where to invest?
“In this case, it is a question of where to invest, whether in the EU or in North America, all the answers will not be in Lithuania, but in Brussels, what will be the attitude of the European Commission towards this investment, and there will be an application for support. The European Commission’s answer will determine whether the investment will be in the European Union or in North America”, said Mr Nagevičius.
He said that the US is making efforts to attract such investments: “The US has issued the Inflation Reduction Act, signed by the President, which heavily subsidises all green investments. The European Union is reacting by going after these subsidies”.
This wil be their second factory in EU
Mr Nagevich says that there is currently one ClonBio Group plant in the EU, located in Hungary. “This is their second factory, the first one was invested in Hungary, that project has been successful and they want to expand,” Nagevičius told BNS.
The plans call for the factory in Lithuania to create up to 200 jobs, to operate without fossil fuels, to generate all the energy it needs from wind, solar and biomass power plants, and to produce bioethanol, biomethane and organic fertilisers from waste.
The plant would process around 300 000 tonnes of barley per year and produce up to 60 000 tonnes of concentrated protein for the production of meat substitutes.