Armenia’s largest chemical enterprise has recalled hundreds of idled workers and resumed its work after a nearly five-month stoppage blamed by its management on the global economic crisis.
The Yerevan-based Nairit factory halted production operations and sent the bulk of its 2,000-strong workforce on unpaid leave in December, citing a sharp drop in international prices for synthetic rubber, its main product. Its chief executive said on Tuesday that most of the Nairit employees have gradually returned to work this month and that the Soviet-ear facility manufactured at the weekend its first batch of rubber since the temporary shutdown.
Vahan Melkonian cautioned that Nairit is now operating at less than half of its capacity and continuing to make losses. “We have no trouble attracting credit,” he told journalists. “We have a different problem: how to reach a capacity level that will allow us to operate without losses?”
The factory’s relaunch appears to have been made possible by more loans attracted by its management in recent months. Melkonian refused to disclose the sums, saying only that Nairit will soon borrow more funds that will raise its total debt to nine local and foreign banks to $110 million. Nairit, 90 percent of which is owned by an obscure British-registered firm, claimed to owe $45 million to creditors in March.
In Melkonian’s words, the new loans have allowed Nairit to eliminate wage arrears and pay it’s a backlog of electricity bills totaling about $2.7 million. The Electricity Networks of Armenia (ENA) national utility cited the unpaid bills when it asked a Yerevan court in March to declare the chemical giant bankrupt. ENA confirmed on Tuesday that Nairit has paid the debt.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian stressed the socioeconomic importance of Nairit’s continued operations as he visited the plant located on the southern outskirts of Yerevan on Tuesday. “If Nairit operates, we will be among the world’s leading chemical states,” he said. “If not, the picture will naturally be different. That is why Nairit’s functioning is essential for the state.”
Sarkisian did not specify concrete steps which his government has taken or will take to support the troubled enterprise still using obsolete Soviet equipment. Some of its employees complained about low pay and poor work conditions.
“I have worked here for 50 years in very hazardous conditions but earn only 85,000 drams ($230),” one elderly worker told RFE/RL. “There are people making even less.”
Vahan Melkonian cautioned that Nairit is now operating at less than half of its capacity and continuing to make losses. “We have no trouble attracting credit,” he told journalists. “We have a different problem: how to reach a capacity level that will allow us to operate without losses?”
The factory’s relaunch appears to have been made possible by more loans attracted by its management in recent months. Melkonian refused to disclose the sums, saying only that Nairit will soon borrow more funds that will raise its total debt to nine local and foreign banks to $110 million. Nairit, 90 percent of which is owned by an obscure British-registered firm, claimed to owe $45 million to creditors in March.
In Melkonian’s words, the new loans have allowed Nairit to eliminate wage arrears and pay it’s a backlog of electricity bills totaling about $2.7 million. The Electricity Networks of Armenia (ENA) national utility cited the unpaid bills when it asked a Yerevan court in March to declare the chemical giant bankrupt. ENA confirmed on Tuesday that Nairit has paid the debt.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian stressed the socioeconomic importance of Nairit’s continued operations as he visited the plant located on the southern outskirts of Yerevan on Tuesday. “If Nairit operates, we will be among the world’s leading chemical states,” he said. “If not, the picture will naturally be different. That is why Nairit’s functioning is essential for the state.”
Sarkisian did not specify concrete steps which his government has taken or will take to support the troubled enterprise still using obsolete Soviet equipment. Some of its employees complained about low pay and poor work conditions.
“I have worked here for 50 years in very hazardous conditions but earn only 85,000 drams ($230),” one elderly worker told RFE/RL. “There are people making even less.”