site.btaWorkers of TEREM-Holding in Targovishte Protest Due to Unpaid Wages

Workers and employees from TEREM-Holding EOOD in Targovishte held a protest in front of the enterprise's factory in Targovishte on Thursday.

They were supported by the trade union leaders Nikolay Dyakov and Vasil Nikolov of the Podkrepa Labour Confederation. The workers are demanding payment of their due wages for November and December 2024, as well as clarity about their employment in the enterprise in 2025. They pointed out that even in 2024 there was a delay in the wages, but they were still paid regularly.

"The Defence Ministry does not care about us," Tsvetelin Stanoev, operator at the plant, commented to BTA, adding that the enterprise is directly related to Bulgaria's national defence. The factory in Targovishte employs 170 people.

A declaration adopted by the union organizations at the plant criticized the lack of vision for the future of the company and conditions that put the workers in the humiliating role of the working poor. The document will be sent to the Defence Minister, to TEREM-Holding EOOD Board of Directors chair and to the company's executive director.

The manager of the enterprise's factory in Targovishte, General Nikolay Karaivanov said that solutions are being sought regarding the payment of salaries in short terms. He stated that salaries have not been paid because the enterprise has not enough profit, as the contracts in 2024 barely cover the costs of the plant. He noted that the enterprise is intended for the repair of armoured vehicles and cannot be reoriented to civilian production. "At the moment we don't have large orders. Other factories can repair civilian equipment, we don't, as the army doesn't need to repair such equipment," he stressed.