Engaged in negotiations to save Northvolt’s battery plant project, the Quebec government is insisting it will not add any more money to the project or give up its guarantees on sums invested in the troubled Swedish company.
This is the government’s response to a Radio-Canada report suggesting that Quebec might be prepared to lose some of the hundreds of millions of dollars invested in subsidiaries to save the project’s parent company.
One of the company’s main creditors, investment bank Goldman Sachs, is demanding access to the assets of foreign subsidiaries, including those in Quebec, as collateral as a condition for reinvesting funds and saving the company.
A source close to the matter confirmed the information to La Presse Canadienne on Tuesday morning, suggesting that Economy Minister Christine Fréchette would be in favour.
A government spokesperson later questioned where that information came from.
“Quebec taxpayers are being asked to guarantee the investment of a major New York bank in …