site.bta150, Not 314 Jobs Will Be Lost at Vidachim - Energy Minister

150, Not 314 Jobs Will Be Lost at Vidachim - Energy Minister

Vidin, Northwestern Bulgaria, March 16 (BTA) - One hundred and
fifty workers, rather than 314, will become redundant at
Vidachim, it emerged after Bulgarian Energy Minister Temenouzhka
Petkova met here on Monday with the management and staff of the
Vidin-based enterprise. "The State will mobilize all its
resources to help things work out and not leave 300 families
without work," Petkova said after the meeting. At the end of
last week Vidachim informed the labour office in Vidin of a
collective dismissal of 314 workers due to a reduced volume of
production. "The Electricity System Operator will hold a cold
reserve availability auction at the end of April. Vidachim can
bid in this auction, and if it wins, it will be able to generate
revenue in future, too, which will enable part of the people to
keep their jobs," the Energy Minister said.

At the end of last year, Vidachim, which is the largest
enterprise in Vidin, incurred a tangible risk of stopping work
because of an undersupply of coal for its TPP as the plant owed
nearly 19 million leva to the National Electric Company (NEK).
More than 300 Vidachim workers were expected to become
redundant on Monday, and the enterprise to close down for lack
of work.

Under recent amendments to the Energy Act, NEK no longer
purchases electricity generated by industrial plants and heating
utilities unless it is from high-efficiency cogeneration and
within quotas set by the regulator. All other quantities will
have to be sold on the free market. Previously, NEK was under an
obligation to purchase all electricity produced by plants
contracted for compulsory purchase, even though this production
exceeded the regulator-fixed quotas, as a result of which the
company built up a huge deficit.

"Vidachim's core business is manufacturing rubber articles, not
electricity production. Anomalously, the enterprise now mainly
generates electricity instead of making rubber goods. That's why
the State is committed to encouraging the production of rubber
articles," Petkova added. She specified that of 54 million leva
earned by the enterprise in 2013, 52 million came from
electricity sales to NEK.

"We all want Vidachim to stay in business, and because we abide
by the law, we shut down the TPP in Vidin on the night of March
12 to 13," Vidachim Board of Directors Chair Sevdalina Dimitrova
said after the meeting. "NEK owes the enterprise 11 million
leva, and we in turn owe this money to suppliers and workers,"
Dimitrova said. On Monday NEK remitted 2.4 million leva to
Vidachim.

The tyres that the plant in Vidin manufactures are not
competitive, even though they sell at cost price.