Furious protest of the employees of Oltchim at the Ministry of the Economy

About 100 employees of Oltchim and of the Arpechim petrochemical platform protested angrily yesterday at noon in front of the Ministry of the Economy. The employees have demanded the security of their jobs at Oltchim, the payment of the overdue wages and have accused the members of the government of having lied to them.

When asked why this protest was organized, considering that the unions of Oltchim had talked to the Minister of the Economy, Varujan Vosganian, just one day earlier, union leader Mihai Diculoiu told us: "The meeting had already been scheduled some time ago. We didn't want to cancel it because the employees are unhappy with the fact that the authorities aren't doing anything to come up with concrete solutions for the plant".

Protests have been going on at the headquarters of Oltchim Râmnicu Vâlcea for several days, and 24 people went on hunger strike. The strikers and protesters of Oltchim are unhappy with the fact that the Ministry of the Economy isn't "moving" fast enough when it comes to the capital infusion which would ensure the resumption of production.

Yesterday, the County Council of Vâlcea has announced that CET Govora will no longer supply electricity to Oltchim starting on February 15th.

Also yesterday, Minister Varujan Vosganian said that the supply of Oltchim with electricity will not be halted, because the plant has secured its financing to pay for its energy until the end of the current month. Concerning the requests of the unions and the protests, the Minister of the Economy said that, over the course of the last few days, he met with all the decision making factors of the Oltchim platform: "One of the lesser unions said that it can't postpone the picketing of the headquarters of the Ministry of the Economy. Since I became a minister, the salaries have been paid on time. Today (ed. note: yesterday) and tomorrow (ed. note: today) the overdue wages for last year will be paid. Nevertheless, I don't think that making wage demands right now is opportune".

The unionists have delayed by one or two years the protests which they should have started when Oltchim began to lose money".

He reminded that in mid-March the bankruptcy trustee and the executive management of Oltchim will be appointed, and by June, the strategy for the privatization of the chemical plant will be completed.

The plant of Vâlcea needs about 45 million Euros in working capital to resume production at an operating capacity of over 65%. The authorities want to grant Oltchim a state aid of 20 million Euros, as well as state guarantees through EximBank for loans of 25 million Euros. Ensuring working capital for the plant is vital to ensure it will successfully exit insolvency.