Billions in investment in new wind farm - has left small business owners in crisis

The small business owner “Roger” describes high hopes when he, and several other smaller entrepreneurs, would start working on the billion project in Viksjö outside Härnösand.

- It was the exact opposite, I have been working for free for several months, he says today.

"Roger" describes it as an economic rape. And he is not alone.

Assignment review can tell that some 30 companies today have unpaid bills of at least 60 million after joining the wind turbine.

Sven-Erik Hansson from Nynäshamn today stands with unpaid bills of close to eight million where the last payment came in September last year, he says.

- The money that would have been paid out to us subcontractors must be somewhere. Where have they been hidden?

At the bottom is a financial dispute between the major players in the project, the German contractor Nordex and the Swedish company Active Works - which in turn hired the smaller contractors.

The conflict flares up when the building is stopped following an inspection by the County Administrative Board, where several suspected environmental violations are discovered. Göran Solig, CEO of Active Works, states that everything has been done by order from Nordex.

- We didn't do anything in the park without them instructing us how to carry on, he says.

Active Works received a total of 123 million payments from Nordex at the time the construction stops. But now even the small businesses that work on the ground for Active Works are starting to demand their money.

But invoices remain unpaid. According to Active Works, the reason that Nordex did not pay enough for the work their subcontractors did in the park.

- We have paid 20 to 30 million more than we have received from Nordex, says Göran Solig.

Assignment review has asked for access to payments from Active Works, but Göran Solig refers to the ongoing dispute and does not want to report the figures.

Nordex, for its part, believes that they have paid Active Works according to the contract.

- I do not intend to comment on our internal calculations, but I do not know what they are based on these figures. We have paid Active, maybe even too much, for the work they have done. says Tim Carpenter, CEO of Nordex Sweden.

Small businesses working on the ground are entitled to compensation, even during the construction stoppage which has now lasted for about six months. One building stop that Nordex believes is Active Works responsibility.

- We have no obligation to pay Active for costs related to the stop. They've caused this stop, we think. That is the question that is now being disputed. For this reason, we have not reimbursed them for the costs that may have arisen when small local entrepreneurs have had to cancel their business.

Active Works and a related company are today threatened with bankruptcy for debts of several hundred million, a large part of which is to subcontractors in Viksjö. Both are undergoing reconstruction. Active Works has also initiated an arbitration process against Nordex.