EditHungarian investigative media exposes ongoing scandals at Samsung’s Göd battery plant
For years, Átlátszó has documented a litany of environmental breaches, worker health risks, and alleged government complicity that have plagued this facility
As a media partner of Átlátszó, Hungary’s leading independent investigative outlet, EUalive highlights their in-depth coverage of the persistent controversies surrounding the Samsung SDI battery factory in Göd.
For years, Átlátszó has documented a litany of environmental breaches, worker health risks, and alleged government complicity that have plagued this facility, drawing renewed attention through recent revelations and public discourse. This issue gained fresh prominence with 5 March and a 7 March posts from Anita Orban, TISZA party’s foreign policy expert and a figure speculated to be Hungary’s future foreign minister, who amplified concerns about systemic failures at the plant.
A factory in Hungary has been notified by the Hungarian authorities one to two weeks in advance of inspections to remove excess hazardous materials.
It has been revealed that serious environmental and occupational safety standards have been violated in several factories in…
— Anita Orban (@_OrbanAnita) March 5, 2026
What happened at the Samsung factory in Göd is unacceptable. Violations of environmental and workplace safety regulations cannot be tolerated, and compliance failures like these must never occur in Hungary again.
The TISZA government will be a responsible government that will…
— Anita Orban (@_OrbanAnita) March 7, 2026
The Göd factory, a key player in Hungary’s push for electric vehicle battery production, has been a flashpoint since its establishment in 2017. Átlátszó’s reporting reveals a troubling history of regulatory violations, starting with the controversial expansion that involved clearing a protected forest in 2019 to accommodate growth. Local residents protested the decision, citing inadequate environmental assessments and changes to zoning laws that favored industrial development over community interests.
This set the stage for escalating concerns about pollution and safety.
By 2024, Átlátszó uncovered alarming air pollution data: between 2019 and 2022, the plant emitted 88 tonnes of fetotoxic solvents, including N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP), a reproductive toxin linked to health issues in workers and nearby residents.
Internal documents and official reports highlighted heavy metal contamination in workers’ systems, with exposures to nickel, cobalt, and manganese dust far exceeding legal limits – in some cases, up to 510 times the permissible levels.
These toxins, classified as carcinogenic, posed severe risks, including poisoning incidents where exposure surpassed limits by over 200 times, as reported in a 2023 case.
Átlátszó’s investigations also exposed procedural lapses in oversight. In May 2024, a court revoked the factory’s 10-year environmental permit following a lawsuit by the local nonprofit Göd-ÉRT Association, which argued that operations failed to meet Hungarian and EU standards.
The ruling mandated a suspension of activities, yet the plant continued under appeal, with the permit eventually reinstated by Hungary’s supreme court in February 2026 amid mounting political pressure.
This decision came just as leaked intelligence reports confirmed the government’s awareness of the issues since at least 2022, including cover-ups where authorities pre-notified the factory of inspections, allowing excess hazardous materials to be temporarily relocated.
Further escalating the narrative, Átlátszó revealed in February 2026 that Samsung’s management lobbied the Hungarian government to restrict the outlet’s access and investigations, shortly before Átlátszó faced scrutiny from the Sovereignty Protection Office.
This move underscored the tensions between independent journalism and vested interests, with Átlátszó persisting in its role as a watchdog despite attempts to silence it.
Anita Orban’s recent X post echoes these findings, detailing how the government allegedly facilitated violations by aiding in inspection evasions and ignoring reports of worker exposure to toxic substances. She described the situation as a “failure of oversight and accountability,” emphasizing that protections for workers, residents, and the environment fall below European standards. Orban’s statement, which has garnered significant engagement, aligns with Átlátszó’s long-standing documentation of the scandal, bringing it into the spotlight ahead of Hungary’s April 2026 elections.
The Göd controversy is emblematic of broader issues in Hungary’s industrial strategy, where economic growth – bolstered by foreign investments like Samsung’s – often clashes with environmental and public health priorities. Átlátszó’s rigorous, evidence-based reporting has been instrumental in holding authorities and corporations accountable, from pollution metrics to legal battles. For more details, readers are encouraged to explore Átlátszó’s full archive on the topic, including their English-language summaries at english.Átlátszó.hu.
Caption: Drone photo of the Samsung plant in Göd [Átlátszó]
Updated: March 8, 2026 - 10:25
