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SLOVENIA: No More Cigarettes from Tobacna |
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2004-05-04 10:47:35 |
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Cigarette maker Tobacna Ljubljana shut down its production facilities on Saturday, 1 May as a result of restructuring of manufacturing at its parent company Imperial Tobacco after EU enlargement. As a result 267 out of 500 employees at the Slovenian company will loose their jobs.
While production ends as of 1 May, sales and marketing departments will continue to operate. The property owned by Tobacna will meanwhile be sold, but the company officials say it is too early to talk about any details.
Imperial Tobacco Group, which became an owner of Tobacna Ljubljana after it acquired German company Reemtsma in mid-2002, decided to shut down three of its plants, apart from Tobacna also those in Hungary and Slovakia. The Ljubljana plant produced 5.8 billion cigarettes in 2003.
The bulk of the production intended for the markets of the European Union will be moved to the plants in the German cities of Berlin and Langenhagen. The changes will be carried over the next few weeks in a way that would not affect the production, quality, price or the availability of the products, Tobacna officials say.
The costs of the shutdown in the three countries have been estimated at 35 million pounds sterling (EUR 52m). The British-based multinational meanwhile expects to save up to 20 million pounds (EUR 30m) annually from 2005 onwards.
Asked what they have done to protect the workers, Tobacna officials say the workers can get all the information about redundancy procedures at an info office that opened at the company after Imperial Tobacco made its decision known last January. Tobacna has also organised workshops for redundant workers.
Tobacna has in addition informed the workers on the offers made by potential employees, while these have been offered expert assistance for reemploying workers. In cooperation with the Employment Office, a list of workers that will soon get a new job will be made, as will be a list of those who will be directed to register with the office after their notice is out.
The sacked workers will also get a severance pay on the basis of a programme dealing with the problem.
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seeurope.net |
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