Chemical plant
Privatization of Oltchim Râmnicu Vâlcea was requested by Romania's creditors: International Monetary Fund, World Bank and European Commission. The company doesn't have the financial resources to even pay its employees, and discussions with banks, in early-September, with an eye to supporting the company, didn't lead to any results. Chemical plant needs each month, about 40 million to operate. But, because debts, energy distributor Electrica announced the company that, starting on 15 September, it halts supplying electricity. Oltchim Râmnicu Vâlcea has debts of 2.6 billion lei, while its losses in recent years amounted to 1.2 billion lei. According to Remus Vulpescu, former leader of the Office of State Ownership and Privatization in Industry, plant losses amounted to €7-million per month, of which €3-million are just wages. The Romanian state is the majority shareholder, controlling 54.8% of the share capital of the company. The second largest shareholder of Oltchim is the German group PCC, holding a package of 18.31 percent of the shares. According to employees, German group would follow plant's closing. The plant's 3,500 employees are on strike for several weeks, while 15 of them are on hunger strike.