The Miory Metal Rolling Plant has been in the spotlight since the first day of construction. This state-of-the-art enterprise produces tinplate of a thickness not manufactured anywhere else in the CIS. The plant in Miory was commissioned in 2020, and operated in 2021, but the business plan developed by the management was not fulfilled. Revenue amounted to about 90 million rubles, which is almost ten times less than planned, and the net losses were almost the same. No revenue, accounts frozen: last year the plant accumulated almost 400 million dollars in non-recoverable loans. Since August 2021, the plant has been idle.
— There is no such enterprise in the post-Soviet space; there are similar ones in Russia and Kazakhstan, but their technologies are outdated. Miory has the most modern plant. The President has set the Government a task: to ensure the stable operation of the plant and preserve the workforce. After all, this means 600 jobs – a huge number for a small district center, — emphasized Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Nazarov, who came to see firsthand how the package of measures for the socio-economic recovery of the enterprise, adopted in April, is being implemented on site.
The plant was included in the "Vitebsk" free economic zone, which allowed for minimizing taxes on land and real estate. Special preferential tariffs for electricity and gas were established for this enterprise. A special account was opened, into which funds were accumulated from revenue for salary payments, so that those demanding repayment of funds would not impose an arrest.
The plant has resumed operations, and there is positive momentum in production. However, it is impossible for a legal entity burdened with huge debts to conduct economic activities, so a decision was made to operate the production on a tolling basis. The Government has appointed a management company and provided it with credit resources under its own guarantee for the purchase of raw materials and consumables necessary to start the production process.
As Yuri Nazarov noted, all measures taken are solely to launch the enterprise. The Miory Metal Rolling Plant, as a legal entity, with such loan debts, which amount to about 376 million euros, cannot fulfill its obligations. Creditors appealed to the Vitebsk Regional Economic Court, which on July 12 opened bankruptcy proceedings under the insolvency procedure of the plant, i.e., a protection period has been introduced for this legal entity since that date.
The plant has taken a number of measures
to reduce costs, the management company resorted to non-standard solutions: the hydrogen station failed – a new one was purchased. The German company stopped access to the software of the main machine due to non-payment – and this problem was solved.
Yury Nazarov: The main task of the Miory Metal Rolling Plant is to achieve profitable operation
01/08/20220 views
From August 1, the wages of employees will be increased, assured the **crisis manager Igor Oshurkevich**:
— There was a disproportion in wage payments for certain categories of employees. A targeted approach to wage payments will allow raising them by 30 percent, but at the same time, the wage fund for the plant will increase by only 16 percent. In June, the average wage for the plant was 1360 rubles; after the reform, it will be approximately 1780 rubles.
In June, the plant worked fully for the first time, covering the entire volume of tinplate produced in 2021 in one month – about 5 thousand tons. Therefore, only now can the work be analysed, costs and expenses studied, and it can be seen what can be redistributed, reduced, or improved.
The crisis manager is convinced that the most important thing is people, without whom no enterprise can operate. Therefore, he decided to create a trade union organisation. The plant's own housing will be distributed differently, and other imbalances will be eliminated.
When the plant was being built, it was planned to supply tinplate to the European Union, but then came the sanctions. It had to be reoriented. Currently, the main consumers are the Glubokoye and Rogachev condensed milk plants, which use tinplate for packaging their products; there is great potential in Russia, and several contracts have already been signed.
With the help of the state, the crisis manager continues to take measures to ensure that the plant achieves stable and more efficient operation.
— By the end of the year, the task is to reach the production of tinplate of at least 8-9 thousand tons per month, and here it is possible to produce 12 thousand tons. For this, the enterprise is provided with raw materials and personnel. The main task of the plant is to achieve profitable operation. Then a decision will be made: the plant operates or there will be rehabilitation, bankruptcy, which is undesirable, — summarised Yuri Viktorovich.
Source: vitebsk-region.gov.by