The recent meeting of Chelyabinsk Region recession-fighting committee was devoted to the problems of Katav-Ivanovskiy Mechanical Plant and to the measures taken to improve the financial and economic situation and to protect the workers’ rights.

The company’s General Director Yuri Kozhevnikov said the plant’s orders had shrunk considerably against the ante-recession level as early as the fall of 2008. Their storehouses had over 100 million RUR worth of produce. However, the plant found itself unable to attract new orders due to lack of operating assets, as all the cash was directed to paying back various loans. So, only 370 workers out of 896 are currently working a normal five-day week.

Governor of Chelyabinsk Region Petr Sumin said he was dissatisfied with the policies adopted by the plant’s director and by its proprietor.

‘The company has been going through hardships for nearly a year. This is long enough for the owner to come up with some new ways of solving the enterprise’s problems. Nearly a thousand workers find themselves in a very precarious situation with no job prospects. We are willing to help the company, but the plant management must take a proactive position, too,’ he noted.

Governor Sumin asked the recession-fighting committee members to organize his meeting with the plant owner Vladimir Litvinov. The meeting has been scheduled for December 7, 2009.