Miners’ protest comes to an end

Jiu Valley miners end underground protest and resurface after agreement with government on payment of owed salaries.

Mihai Pelin, 24.02.2021, 14:00

The miners in Jiu Valley,
Romania’s biggest coal extraction site and located in the central-western part
of the country, ended their underground protest that lasted several days after the
authorities in Bucharest found a solution to pay the salaries which the
Hunedoara Energy Complex did not pay on time. A decision was adopted that allows
for the payment of owed salary rights in the case of insolvent companies as
well, as is the case with this energy complex, which has been in a critical situation
for more than a year. Following this decision, the miners will receive their last
month’s salary and some of the sums owed for meal and transport vouchers.

The almost 70 miners who protested
underground decided to resurface after a trade union leader went down into the
mine with the document signed by the authorities. After days underground, one
of the miners needed medical assistance. Another miner said he decided to join
the protest on his very last at work before retirement. Protesters say that
leaving aside the solution found this time, many problems remain, such as a shortage
of materials and equipment needed for working underground, something that cannot
be resolved without investments.

The solution found by the
government this time ensures the miners’ salaries for the next three months,
while their company needs to reorganise and propose a long-term plan. According
to the energy minister Virgil Popescu, work on this plan started last year and
may be finalised in a month and a half. He added that the process is in its
final stage and that it lasted so long because of the legal bureaucracy that
had to with the insolvency procedure, and which involved legal challenges, a court
action against the declaration of bankruptcy and the rejection of the challenge
in court. The minister underlined that the company basically doesn’t have
enough funds and that the coal production can no longer cover the costs.

The Hunedoara Energy
Complex, which has been undergoing a process of insolvency for a long time,
recently benefitted from state aid, being artificially kept functioning despite
running huge losses. The company found itself unable to pay salaries and cover
other service costs owing to the cut of the January subsidy for Lonea mine,
which is in the process of being closed. In 2018, the European Commission found
that the Hunedoara Energy Complex received incompatible state aid worth some 60
million euros in the form of four loans financed by public funds. The Commission
says Romania must recover the aid granted illegally and the corresponding interest
rate. In 2019, despite the Commission’s findings, the government in Bucharest
again decided to grant the complex state aid by erasing all its debts. To date,
this emergency order is yet to be enforced. (CM)