Mechel Târgovişte has resumed operations

Mechel Târgovişte has resumed its operations, after having halted its activity for the winter holidays, on December 25th, when its employees entered technical unemployment.

According to Mechel"s union leader, Mihai Toma, during that period, the company"s 3000 employees stayed at home and received only 75% of their wages.

Toma has clarified that there are two reasons behind the halting of the plant"s operations. The economic crisis led last year to a decreased number of orders, and in January, the halting of gas deliveries from Russia also impacted the metallurgic activity, by delaying the resumption of the activity of the Târgovişte based plant.

The Mechel Târgovişte steel plant had a net profit of 115 million lei (31,6 million Euros) during the first three quarters of 2008, five times higher YOY, as turnover increased by over 62%.

The company"s share capital is 172,13 million lei, split into 68,85 million shares, with a nominal value of 2,50 lei.

Given its production field, Mechel Târgovişte is the only Romanian producer of steel for tools, quick steel, electrotechnical tape and has a large inventory for export, in particular special steel.

The plant was acquired in 2002 by the Swiss Company Conares Trading, which later became the operator of the Russian metallurgic group Mechel.

The main shareholders of Mechel Târgovişte are Mechel International Holdings AG, which holds 86,60% of the share capital and SIF Oltenia (SIF5), with a 8,92% stake. Also, 4,05% of the company"s shares are held by the Authority for State Assets Recovery (AVAS).