Nairit chemical plant employees rally to demand salary refund

PanARMENIAN.Net - Over 300 employees of Nairit chemical plant took to the streets to demand salary refunds. The refunds are pending 13 months with the last salary paid in June 2012, one of the protesters told PanARMENIAN.Net

As the plant press secretary Anush Harutyan, in turn, told PanARMENIAN.Net a meeting between the labor union chair and Energy Ministry is currently in progress.

The protesters will next be marching to the presidential residence unless the parties come to an agreement.

In early September, Russian oil major Rosneft agreed with Italian Pirelli to visit Armenia’s Nairit to assess possible lines of cooperation.

At the meeting with Nairit director general Hovhannes Akhinyan, Rosneft President Igor Sechin discussed potential possibilities of Rosneft participation in production of chloroprene rubber at Nairit.

Rosneft will decide on participation in the project after an audit, as well as upon completion of talks with the Armenian government.

According to earlier reports, Rosneft and gas producer Itera were in talks with the Armenian government to make investments in the country’s largest petrochemical plant.

Armenian Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Armen Movsisyan repeatedly noted that $400-500mln is needed to upgrade Nairit plant.

Nairit specializes in the production of chloroprene rubber. In 2006, 90% of Nairit’s shares were sold to British Rainoville Property Limited for $40 million.

The remaining 10% belong to the Armenian government. According to some estimates, a comprehensive upgrading of this facility will require hundreds of millions of dollars.

Nairit has been operating at minimal capacity since a gas price hike in 2010 made production unprofitable.