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Yesterday, senior representatives of the Ministry of Development highlighted the danger of closures of large enterprises due to the high cost of energy. On the occasion of the unpleasant development of events and imposition of the “availability mode” on 95% of workers in the steel company Halivourgiki for six weeks, they said that "this is not something which we have not expected - we have been afraid that it would happen..."

Recognizing that the cost issue is a priority for the government, however, they noted that the EC and the Troika have the word for the reduction of costs, but they must comply with the difficult situation.

Although it was introduced by law, the formula of the Ministry of Environment, which provided that households would not bear costs, but that they will be divided among electricity producers, was rejected - the Troika considered this state aid...

Responsible ministries

Responsible ministries do not seem to be absolutely united, however, since each of them sees things differently.

For example, the Ministry of Development claimed that it was trying, together with the Ministry of Environment, to make it possible to inform that they would meet the Joint Committee for Industry (the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Development, the Ministry of Employment and the Ministry of Environment) in the coming days in order to resolve disputes. At the same time, there is no such information available at the Ministry of Environment.

The Ministry of Development argues that negotiations with Gazprom are continuing, and the new prices will be reduced, adding, however, that "the scope of profits of the state-owned gas company should be limited."

The Ministry of Environment emphasized the issue of the reduction of the delivery price of natural gas from Russia and reminded that they were the first to raise the question of limiting the profits of the gas company. As for the interruption of electricity consumption during periods of system overload by major consumers, negotiations with the European Commission are still continuing.

The fact is that the situation on the energy market is chaotic. At a critical time for the country, and due to the delay in all sectors because of the May European elections, it is unpredictable what will happen afterwards - the industry is threatened with collapse.

Companies Alouminio tis Ellados, LARKO, Viohalko, Sidenor, Halivourgiki and others are driven to the wall. Via their organization Union of industrial users, they have warned that a year after their meeting with the Prime Minister on this issue, nothing has happened and none of the measures promised by the government have been taken.

Especially in the case of Halivourgiki, everybody understands (even unions) that the high cost of energy makes its products uncompetitive abroad and because of the collapse of the construction sector, the domestic market is nearly non-existent. It should be noted that the steel industry has yet another problem: because of the low consumption of natural gas, the mode of choice is not valid and the company cannot buy gas directly from the state gas company, and intermediaries further increase the cost.

The situation of Halivourgiki

Yesterday, a press release of the management of Halivurgiki announced that because of the economic situation and the expectation of positive developments, after 6 years of continuous crisis, the company has chosen to implement the availability mode on workers instead of laying them off, and the goal is to survive and retain its functioning.

According to decision makers of the company, despite the dramatic reduction of consumption since 2008 and major damage, Halivourgiki has not reduced the income of workers, nor their other preferences, and is the only company in the industry which has not resorted to lay-offs.

"The company has exhausted all of its economic capacity in order to maintain its employees’ standard of living... Even bearing in mind the damage amounting to millions in 2013, it has announced additional incentives and applied the voluntary redundancy measure. It has also signed a collective agreement, as opposed to the climate of the era."

The Public Power Corporation DEI: “reverse” in the case of Alouminio

Pending the decision of DEI on 28 February in connection with the price of Alouminio, the State Electricity Company has shifted into reverse on certain issues, or at least its exit from the lawsuit it has brought against temporary mechanisms for the wholesale market’s functioning has shown so.

In particular, DEI has filed annulment requests to the Supreme Administrative Court against the Cost Recovery mechanism. Since last November, the Deputy Minister of Energy has informed the Supreme Administrative Court that he will be against DEI’s annulment request. The Power Corporation subsequenty withdrew its termination request, but it has not withdrawn its annulment request. This happened as late as 31 January, before the final decision of the court.

The steel industry - on razor's edge

Since the beginning of the crisis in 2008 to the present day, steel demand in Greece has decreased dramatically. According to the management of Halivourgiki, demand has reached a level of 300,000 tonnes per year from 2.5 million tonnes per year, i.e. 8 times less. Respectively, the company's production, turnover and sales have decreased and losses have increased and currently they amount to hundreds of millions of euro.