site.btaDefence Minister Asks TEREM – Holding Leadership to Draft Recovery Programme for Plant in Targovishte

Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov instructed the leadership of TEREM – Holding EAD, a wholly state-owned company that repairs and maintains military equipment, to prepare a recovery programme for the TEREM-Khan Krum plant in Targovishte, Northeastern Bulgaria, the Defence Ministry press service reported on Friday. The programme is to include short-term measures to allow for the regular delivery of wages and long-term measures to define the plant's portfolio in the future. Zapryanov, as well as Deputy Defence Minister Adelina Nikolova and the executive director of TEREM – Holding EAD, Kalin Dimitrov, visited the plant in Targovishte and talked to the workers protesting there.

Zapryanov said: "Our short-term task is to get your wages paid. The available funds are not enough, so the holding company will have to intervene."

He emphasized that according to the Public Enterprises Act, the Ministry of Defence cannot directly transfer funds from its budget to the plant and thus provide the salaries. On the other hand, 25% of the plant's assignments and revenues can be provided by the Ministry of Defence. Zapryanov committed his Ministry to assign additional tasks to TEREM-Khan Krum, which will provide revenue to the company.

The Minister told reporters that while the plant in Targovishte has a future but not with the size that it currently has. TEREM-Khan Krum is the only enterprise in the holding which has been running at a loss over the past two decades. Steps must be taken to increase the profitability of the workers' labour so that they are well paid. The holding is expected to draft and propose a long-term programme to solve its problems. Zapryanov said that the overall situation of the holding is to be analyzed in order to take personnel decisions.

After the meeting with the workers at TEREM-Khan Krum, the Minister held a meeting with the Mayor of Targovishte Darin Dimitrov and briefed him on the state of the plant.