The workers in the state dairy company “LB Bulgaricum” are on strike alert. They are demanding an increase in their salaries, BSP leader Cornelia Ninova announced from the parliamentary rostrum. She asked the Economy Minister Bogdan Bogdanov whether the salaries of the workers will be raised and whether corruption is being covered up.
The requested salary increase of 45% this year would bring “LB Bulgaricum” to bankruptcy, Bogdan Bogdanov answered her. According to him, if the union’s request is accepted, it will generate a total annual cost of remuneration in the company of BGN 8 million.
A meeting was held with the trade union organization of KNSB and these data were presented to them. The Minister of Economy claims that there is an understanding on the part of the workers about the difficulties that “LB Bulgaricum” is facing.
The average salary in the state-owned company in January was BGN 2,746, which is a growth of 33% in two years, said Bogdanov.
In the production base in Vidin, the cost of the company for one employee for 2023 amounts to BGN 32,308. This is an average of BGN 2,692 per month with an average salary for the region of BGN 1,398, the economy minister pointed out.
He pointed out that the employees are also given additional bonuses, the amount of which has been increased. Food vouchers from BGN 100 have been raised to BGN 200, and for March 8, women receive BGN 200 each. Easter supplements are also paid. In 2022, they were BGN 1,420, and for this year the employees will receive BGN 1,866 each, said Bogdanov.
Is the company making a loss or making a profit?
Kornelia Ninova, however, stated that wages in the company were low, and the explanation given by the new management to the workers was that the enterprise was making a loss. This is a lie because public accounts show that “LB Bulgaricum” is profitable, said the BSP leader.
The Minister of Economy said that the previous two managements of the company – from the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023, despite the increased operating costs of BGN 3 million, unjustifiably reduced the final price of the products by 60%. Thus, the total loss of the company stores of “LB Bulgarikum” was over BGN 450,000, Bogdanov pointed out.
According to him, there is already a result of the reform started in the company from the middle of 2023, of the successful renegotiation, as well as of the termination of the concluded disadvantageous contracts for the company.
“Preliminary activity data for February show that for the first time in almost a year, the company will make a profit from its operational activities, and sales will exceed BGN 1 million on a monthly basis,” said Bogdan Bogdanov.
The new director threatens the workers
Kornelia Ninova said that the workers at “LB Bulgaricum” do not have any dialogue with the new management of the company and with the director Ivo Lilov. He only threatens them that if they speak publicly and share their problems, he will close the enterprise in Vidin, the BSP leader said.
According to her, executive director Lilov appoints new people in the administration to managerial and other positions with salaries of BGN 3,500. At the same time, he claims that there is no money to increase the salaries of the workers who actually earn the company’s income, Ninova said from the parliamentary tribune.
She also asked how suddenly the prices of the milk products of “LB Bulgaricum” jumped by 60%, and the placement of the production fell by 50% – i.e. market share fell by 50%. Does it have anything to do with the targeting of corruption scandals between several managements of the state company, who accused each other of pushing their companies as suppliers of milk, and that from abroad, with degraded quality, Ninova asked. She was outraged that one of the directors had allowed himself to urge Bulgarians to be careful about what they buy, because the quality of Bulgarian milk may have deteriorated.
According to the Minister of Economy, the previous two managements of the company, from the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023, despite the increased operating costs of BGN 3 million, unjustifiably reduced the final price of the products by 60%. Thus, the total loss of the company stores of “LB Bulgarikum” was over BGN 450,000, said Bogdanov.
According to him, however, the reform that began in the company in mid-2023 was already yielding results. However, the long period of poor pricing policy, lack of products in the store network and disrupted supply chains create serious difficulties for the company and require time and additional efforts to overcome them, said Bogdanov.
According to him, the connection between the Research and Development Center and the production facilities has already been restored. Thus, the implementation of the program for launching new products into production is also underway.
The state-owned company currently works only with first-quality Bulgarian milk from Bulgarian farms, strictly monitoring the indicators and does not allow the use of any enhancers, stabilizers and milk powder, said the Minister of Economy.
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