Hunger strike at "Oltchim"

23 employees of the "Oltchim" plant are on hunger strike, starting on Tuesday, according to Corneliu Cernev, union leader, who went on to say, that at the moment, only 7-8% of the plant is still operational.

Corneliu Cernev said: "23 people are on hunger strike, starting yesterday (ed. note: Tuesday). They have set the hunger strike themselves, this has not been organized by the union, we just support them. Other people may join as well. Innocent people will die here, and minister Vosganian (ed. note: Varujan Vosganian, the minister of the Economy) is playing unions. He is probably waiting for 100 people to go on hunger strike to get a move on. Our hands are tied, there is nothing we can do."

The Oltchim plant is now in insolvency. The request for the beginning of this procedure was approved on January 30th by the court of Vâlcea.

Approximately 200 employees of Oltchim protested in front of the plant on Tuesday, after activity stopped at the three departments where production had resumed in November 2012, due to the lack of raw materials.

Meanwhile, the minister of the economy Varujan Vosganian keeps giving assurances that the solution the government is going with is the privatization of the company.

Varujan Vosganian reiterated the intention of the Ministry of the Economy to privatize the company as a first solution, together with Arpechim Piteşti, at a meeting with leaders of unions in the petrochemical and chemical industry, according to a press release sent yesterday.

During the talks, minister Varujan Vosganian told the union representatives the conclusions of the first talk he had in Brussels, in the beginning of the week, with Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia, concerning the possibility of an aid of 20 million Euros for Oltchim in order to allow it to continue its operations.

Yesterday, BURSA reported exclusively about Tuesday's meeting between Varujan Vosganian and Joaquin Almunia.

In order to get the greenlight from the European Commission, the Romanian authorities need to prove that Oltchim has never received another state aid before, such as subsidies for the electricity it consumed or tax exemptions, according to sources close to the situation.

In yesterday's meeting with the unions, the Minister of the Economy informed the union leaders that he has taken all the necessary steps to save the plant, and that he has many meetings scheduled for this purpose.

The plant of Vâlcea needs about 45 million Euros in working capital to resume production at a 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.

Securing the working capital for the plant is vital for the success of its reorganization through insolvency.

The trustees in bankruptcy of Oltchim are Rominsolv, a company owned by the lawyer Gheorghe Piperea, and BDO Business Restructuring, part of the network of international group BDO.