Serbia’s Largest Petrochemicals Co May Halt Production Over Crude Oil Shortage a Jun 24, 2009 14:56 CET Story SeeNews - The Corporate Wire:
BELGRADE (Serbia), June 24 (SeeNews) – Serbia’s largest petrochemicals producer, HIP Petrohemija, may halt production due to a crude oil shortage, local broadcaster b92 reported on Wednesday.
A shutdown scenario, which could pan out as soon as Wednesday, started to loom two months ago when the management warned HIP Petrohemija was operating at minimum capacity, b92 (www.b92.net) reported.
Although HIP Petrohemija ships most of its crude oil from abroad, the imported quantities are not sufficient so the company resorts to Serbia’s oil monopoly NIS as an additional supplier.
A working group comprising two officials each from NIS and the government, trade union officials and Petrohemija officials have concluded that the way the company has been operating until now is unsustainable and that it will suspend production at 1200 GMT, b92 reported, quoting the head of Petrohemija’s trade union Pravda, Zlatko Bekic.
The government in Belgrade, as a 51% shareholder in Petrohemija, will discuss possible solutions for the company's problems next Thursday, Bekic added in the article.
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