Opposition LMP has called on the government to cease state subsidies for battery plants, arguing that in addition to damage wrought on the environment, the Hungarian economy had become vulnerable to the industry becoming outsized. Economic data indicate that the industry has declined, Örs Tetlák, a national board member of the green party, told a press conference, noting that car production, including battery production, had fallen by 18%. Further, government subsidies, he insisted, had weakened and distorted the structure of the economy. The government, he said, had already spent more than 1,500 billion forints (EUR 39bn) of taxpayer money on subsidizing the location of battery plants in the country, adding that the money could have been better spent on energy-saving, renewable energy and sustainable food production.