Telex: Samsung poisoned its Göd plant workers for years with the Orbán cabinet’s help

An in-depth investigation reveals how the Göd Samsung plant did little to protect its workers from airborne carcinogenic cathode materials, and how it concealed from authorities that hundreds of employees were being put at risk week by week, month by month. According to Telex, government connections helped them, always sweeping problems under the rug. This continued until secret data collection was launched and nationwide public anger against battery plants began to rise.

Samsung in Hungary: from TV panels to batteries

Telex’s thorough piece details the numerous poisonings experienced at the Göd plant, including their governmental connections. The author spoke to many sources with direct knowledge of the case; in other instances, they deduced certain links from available materials, such as corporate minutes.

Göd is a charming small town on the Danube in Pest County, not far from Budapest, before the bend in the river, on the left bank. In 2001, during the first Orbán government, the South Korean Samsung established itself on the town’s outskirts, initially producing CRT screens, plasma TV panels, and mobile phone displays. There were no issues at first, until production was shifted to batteries and scaled up.

Manganese, nickel, and cobalt in the air

According to Telex, three extremely toxic, carcinogenic substances are used in powder form to manufacture the cathodes for the batteries: manganese, nickel, and cobalt. The factory’s mixing unit, which blends these powders, makes the workplace particularly dangerous; workers would have to enter in full protective clothing, i.e., as seen in films, completely shielded from the outside world. Moreover, the entire plant should be equipped with high-capacity air purification, since the fine powders become airborne during mixing, which is unavoidable.

However, none of these measures were adequate for the multinational. Telex’s sources say the air‑purification system from the CRT plant was retained instead of installing air‑filtration equipment suitable for battery production costing tens or hundreds of millions. As a result, these systems could filter out the 2.4-micrometre average particle size, but the nickel, cobalt, and manganese powders were far smaller, around 0.3 micrometres. There are also photographs showing that workers in the mixing section wore not protective suits but merely medical masks, offering little protection.

More than every tenth worker exposed

It’s no surprise that occupational safety checks uncovered numerous infringements, but under the relevant laws the company could only be fined 10 million forints. And that was merely the tip of the iceberg: internal investigations revealed even more serious poisonings that authorities did not know about. In one instance, the concentration of toxic dust exceeded the limit by 510 times, a fact confirmed by the company’s own minutes. Many people could have been affected. A batch compiled by the newspaper shows, “In 2022, of the plant’s 2,159 workers, 857 were tested, and among them 98 had quantities of chemicals exceeding the limit. That is 11 per cent of staff.”

After an opposition mayor was elected in Göd in 2019, the government, within a few months, designated the area a special economic zone, effectively making the Pest County Government Office responsible for ensuring the company complied with safety rules and did not imperil its workers’ health.

Samsung knew what the problem was – but did nothing

Yet safety inspections found the firm had known since at least 2021 that its air‑purification system was inadequate, and did nothing. Telex’s sources say this was because there were powerful supporters inside the government backing the investment, notably Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó by name. Consequently, although by spring 2023 the plant could have been shut down for repeated and serious breaches of safety rules and misleading the Hungarian authorities, nothing happened beyond a 10 million forint (EUR 26.534) fine.

Despite this, the plant did not invest in a remedy, even though 2021 and 2022 had seen enormous growth in production and sales of batteries, meaning there was ample capital for the needed improvements, Telex claims.

Secret data collection

The matter reached the government in spring 2023 after a third safety inspection. Before that, the Constitutional Authority (Alkotmányvédelmi Hivatal) had been examining and conducting secret data collection, as it believed Samsung was deceiving Hungarian authorities, a suspicion that proved well founded.

At a cabinet meeting, Antal Rogán, the minister who oversees intelligence services, proposed that Pest County Government Office suspend the plant’s operating licence. This did not happen, but they were granted a grace period until autumn.

Telex reports that management only truly panicked in spring 2023 when they learned the secret services were investigating and were told that “Viktor [PM Viktor Orbán – DNH] has taken the shield away from the factory,” i.e., they could no longer rely on unconditional government support.

Struggling sector

Following that, several air‑filtration units were ordered from home, and the investment began to bear fruit, with improved results thereafter, though positive readings continued to appear in smaller numbers.

In 2024, results again deteriorated; in 2025, safety breaches reappeared in another safety procedure, but the press largely ignored the story as it had fallen off the political agenda. The battery-plant issue was a major political topic in 2023, with huge protests against the CATL investment in Debrecen, which could have harmed Fidesz mayors in the 2024 elections, but this did not come to pass.

• Are guest workers at risk? Hundreds of jobs could go at Samsung’s battery plant in Hungary

Annuled permit

Meanwhile, production volumes began to fall as the entire sector has been in a tailspin since late 2023. National Economy Minister Mihály Márton and a regulatory shift meant that Samsung could be fined not just 10 million but 100 million forints. The stated rationale was to enable a tougher crackdown on companies that flagrantly circumvent Hungarian rules.

The Pest County Government Office says that although the plant’s environmental permit was annulled by the courts in autumn 2025, it could continue operating on a “reduced capacity” basis without a permit. What reduced capacity entails is not specified. The industry is indeed weak; Telex reports that by year-end last year the plant had laid off a further 800 subcontractors. In 2023, at the peak, total employment at the site reached as high as eight thousand.

You might have missed our previous article concerning Samsung in Hungary:

• Man electrocuted by 6,900 volts in Samsung’s Hungarian factory: South Korean accused disappears