Type
Internal restructuring
Country
Romania
Region
Centru; Brasov;
Location of affected unit(s)
Braşov (Braşov county, Centru region)
Sector
Manufacturing
Manufacturing Of Machinery And Equipment
Manufacture Of Machinery And Equipment N.E.C.
28 - Manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c.

1,923 jobs
Number of planned job losses
Job loss
Announcement Date
25 February 2007
Employment effect (start)
1 March 2007
Foreseen end date

Description

In November 2005, Tractorul UTB in Braşov (Braşov County, Centre Region) was set to make 1,455 employees redundant out of a total of 3,255 employees. The measures were approved by Government Decision no. 1412 of 17 November 2005. According to the provisions of the Government Decision, the employees made redundant beneficiated from social insurance measures and redundancy pay depending on individual length of service. Government representatives specified that the restructuring programme, which involves a technological reorganisation of the factory as well as personnel reduction, had been approved by the company trade union.

The Government meeting of 17 November 2005 also agreed to allocate an additional 15 million lei (over EUR 4 million) to subsidise the price for farming equipment. The funds will be provided from the 2006 budget of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development (Ministerul Agriculturii, Pădurilor şi Dezvoltării Rurale, MAPDR). The Prime Minister specified that these funds are not be understood as state aid granted to Tractorul UTB, but as a means of support for farmers.

The Authority for State Assets Recovery (Autoritatea pentru Valorificarea Activelor Statului, AVAS) negotiated the privatisation of the factory in four rounds.

Because the negotiations failed, the company with estimated debts to the state budget at the end of 2006 of approximately EUR 140 million, entered in liquidation process.

From a total of 2,000 employees of the company at present, approximately 1,923 employees will be made redundant: 1,800 in March –April and 123 by the end of August this year.

Tractorul UTB is the top manufacturer of tractors and farming machines in Romania.


Sources

  • 18 November 2005: Adevarul
  • 21 November 2005: Economistul
  • 18 November 2005: Ziarul Financiar
  • 18 November 2005: Gandul (www.gandul.info)

Citation

Eurofound (2007), Tractorul UTB, Internal restructuring in Romania, factsheet number 62689, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/62689.