BERLIN/KIEL (dpa-AFX) - Due to the financial crisis at Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt, BSW leader Sahra Wagenknecht is demanding an explanation from Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) in the Bundestag. The possible damage of up to 620 million euros is dramatic in view of the budget problems, explained the chairwoman of the alliance Sahra Wagenknecht. "Those who let themselves be celebrated like Scholz and Habeck at the ground-breaking ceremony for the battery factory must not duck away now, but must put their cards on the table."

The ailing company, which is building a factory near Heide in Schleswig-Holstein, has filed for reorganization proceedings under US insolvency law. Northvolt had received around 600 million euros from the state-owned bank KfW, for which the federal and state governments each provided half of the guarantee./vsr/DP/ngu