Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., which is best known for electronics equipment produced under Panasonic brand-name, said on Friday that it would cover all the costs of the battery recall performed by Nokia, a large partner of Matsushita Battery Industrial Co.

“The estimated costs will be between Ґ10 billion and Ґ20 billion ($86 million and $172 million). The company will accrue those costs in the first half of 2008,” Matsushita said in a Friday press release, reports InfoWorld web-site. The costs include money Nokia had to spend on logistics and call centers as well as the replacement battery costs.

Earlier this month Nokia said it had identified that in very rare cases the Nokia-branded BL-5C batteries could potentially experience overheating initiated by a short circuit while charging, causing the battery to dislodge. There had been approximately 100 incidents of overheating reported globally with no serious injuries or property damage, Nokia indicated. Nokia is working closely with Matsushita and will be cooperating with relevant authorities to investigate this situation.

Nokia has several suppliers for BL-5C batteries who have collectively produced more than 300 million BL-5C batteries. According to Nokia, about 46 million batteries manufactured by Matsushita between December 2005 and November 2006 may be replaced at a customer’s request.

Matsushita has established a corporate lithium-ion battery customer support and management division to help deal with the impact of the recall, the company is reported to have indicated.