KAZANLAK, (BM) – The Bulgarian state weapons company Arsenal Kazanlak will lay off 2000 workers. The plant has lodged a notification yesterday with the Employment Agency and the Kazanlak Labor Office about the forthcoming staff update as of April 29 this year.

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This was announced by the General Manager of the company Eng. Nikolay Ibushev, quoted by the company press center, learned BulgarianMilitary.com.

He states that there are now almost 9,000 employees in the weapons factory. The dismissed employees will benefit from the most favorable options for benefits provided for in the legislation, the collective agreement and the financial position of the company.

The reason for the company’s management, together with the unions in it, to take an unpopular and extremely difficult step is the fall in orders to Arsenal, as a result of the extremely difficult and unpredictable situation on the international markets in recent months.

Among the main reasons are the decline in international barrel oil prices, which has a direct negative impact on traditional buyers of Arsenal’s products and their budgets. The result is a contraction in defense spending and a sharp reduction in orders and contracts, which directly affects defense industry firms such as Arsenal-Kazanlak.

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The second major cause is the worldwide coronavirus pandemic and the need for serious health care costs and investments. This also seriously shifts the focus of interest from the company’s traditional partners, which is also reflected in a decline in orders, the company said.

The third reason is the problems encountered in the cross-border international transport corridors, which leads to a delay in the supply of tools, chemicals and other necessary materials for production, as well as for the shipment of finished products.

Arsenal – Kazanlak is a 100% export-oriented company that relies on and only exists from external orders. At the moment they are very reduced and do not allow to maintain the current number of employees in the company, says engineer Nikolay Ibushev.

He states that on the basis of the financial estimates and the additional situation of force majeure, it is imperative to release about 3 thousand people from the membership of the largest company in Bulgaria, with the largest number of employees.

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It is recalled that just a week ago, Arsenal announced it was suspending work and all 9,000 people employed would be on paid or unpaid leave.

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