An investigation by the European Commission that started in 2008, has led to the withdrawal of a €11.6 million EU grant for the construction of Sovello’s first ‘String Ribbon’ PV manufacturing plant in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The European Commission said that influence of the shareholder Q-Cells had been significantly greater than its 24.9 % share holding, which meant that the ‘SME Bonus’ given to small and medium size enterprises did not apply to Sovello, formerly EverQ.
Sovello pointed out that 1200 jobs have since been created and that the grants awarded have been employed for the purposes intended.
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The company said in a statement that it refuted the supposition by the European Commission and had yet to decide if it would take legal action to contest the decision.
