‘We’ve been working literally with our last bit of strength, we’re unable to meet our contract liabilities, and the company has already suffered a lot of losses,’ Director of West Granite (a management company of Asbest Macadam Plant) Valery Padmrin said to UrBC. He says Sverdlovsk Region Railways stopped transporting their macadam on July 1, 2007, nearly bringing the company to a total standstill.

The plant’s Sales Department reports the company has suffered about 75 million RUR worth of losses since July 2007.

‘Sverdlovsk Region Railways says this is happening because they cancelled 50 freight wagons traveling to and from Asbest since it no longer made economic sense to keep them going,’ Mr. Padmrin said.

On July 24, 2007 some representatives of Asbest Macadam Plant were planning to organize a protest march next to Sverdlovsk Region Railways’ office in Yekaterinburg, but the city council wouldn’t allow a picket to happen.

‘A representative of our company is expected to meet President of Russian Railways Public Company Vladimir Yakunin in the near future in order to hand in a letter requesting for help and support that was signed by all of the plant’s workers,’ Mr. Padmrin observed.