The Nairit’s Workers will Receive Two Months' Salary

On November 27, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Yervand Zakharyan, in Nairit Plant CJSC, met with the leadership and the employees of the company.

The goal of the meeting was to present once again the government’s approaches to the staff of the plant, related to the situation in the plant, the factory restarting, as well as the wage debt repayment issues.

According to the Minister, there is a social tension existing in the Nairit Plant, for a long time, related to unpaid salaries and future fate of the employees.

The problems are always in the focus of the President’s and the Prime Minister's attention.

According to the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Yervand Zakharyan, the plant’s debt today has reached already to 102 billion drams, the 6 billion drams of which is the salaries’ debt, the 63 billion drams are loan commitments, the 20 billion is the debt to Yerevan TPP, the 8.5 billion is a budgetary debt, the 1.4 billion is the debt to the Gazprom Armenia company, and the 1.2 billion is a debt to the Armenian Electrical Networks company.

-The situation is really worrisome. The employees’ indignation, protest and demands are reasonable and fully justified. Over the last several years, the maintenance costs of the plant, as well as the salaries’ payments are realized by the funds of the companies of energy system (in the form of borrowings), putting these companies in a heavy financial condition, said the Minister.

As for the Plant’s restarting, the Minister said, that a technical audit will be carried out in the plant by the World Bank.

Up to the February of 2015, the World Bank’s representatives will visit Yerevan and will examine the relaunch possibilities with the plant’s professionals.

The Minister expressed hope, that the audit results will be announced in March, and in the case of a positive conclusion the government will appeal to Nairit Plant’s company's management staff, in order to hold an international tender for the plant restoring.

Yervand Zakharyan noted, that such a procedure is obligatory, because the government has about 10 percent stake in the Nairit plant, therefore, the legal decision-making jurisdiction vested only in the board of directors of the plant.

As for salary debts, the Minister said, that the next few days plant employees will receive 1 month salary, and so in December.

- We realize that by the RA Constitution we ought to protect your rights.

Both the Government and the Ministry are ready to be consistent, to be at your side and show appropriate support for the solving your problems, but the every step made by the government must be reasonable from the legal perspective, said Yervand Zakharyan to the plant's employees.

The Minister also noted that with the remaining issues related to the unpaid salaries should deal the Board of Directors.

The Minister Yervand Zakharyan also said, that the employees' reducing issue is in the frame of jurisdiction of the Board of Directors, too.

According to Yervand Zakharyan, during this period, the 178 employees of the plant have received a salary of 400 thousand AMD to 2 million 600 thousand AMD which is absolutly not justified in the current situation.