Aqua Lorenzo Kft. receives 2.8 billion HUF in EU subsidies

Aqua Lorenzo Kft., a company owned by Lőrinc Mészáros, has received more than 2.8 billion forints in EU subsidies to develop its bottling plant in Albertirsa, Hungary. The investment, part of a larger 7.7 billion forint project, aims to upgrade technology, improve energy efficiency, and expand production capacity, including the installation of a solar power plant.

Documents obtained through public data requests reveal that the application process involved significant administrative hurdles. The Hungarian State Treasury requested a total of 36 corrections across three separate rounds before the subsidy was approved. Issues identified included insufficient price quotes, missing documentation for innovative packaging, and discrepancies in company names on documents.

The project, which includes doubling the production capacity for aluminum cans and increasing PET bottle capacity by over 30 percent, faced delays. While the original completion target was December 2022, it was retroactively adjusted to July 2024. Additionally, the company faced delays in submitting its final payment claim after the support document was issued.