“BB Bulgaricum has the best monthly performance in June and July in the last five years, employee salaries have been increased and there is no tension between employees and management. This is what the Minister of Economy and Industry Dr Petko Nikolov said during a hearing in Parliament.
The Minister of Economy pointed out that after taking office he had witnessed tensions between the then CEO of the company, the production base in Vidin, in Sofia, suppliers, various traders and trade unions. He said the dissatisfaction and tension was due to short-sighted leadership by the CEO. “In this context, we changed the entire management of El B Bulgaricum, we increased salaries, we calmed down the unions who were on strike readiness, we terminated a large number of civil contracts and we opened communication, both with retail chains and international partners,” Minister Nikolov said.
He said that there will most likely be a new contract between ElB Bulgaricum and the Japanese company Meiji in September or October. “If things actually go well, we will have a new contract for this new production facility, for the new strains, which will be a guarantee for an extremely profitable development of this enterprise,” Minister Nikolov added.
Dr. Petko Nikolov said that by his order of July 15 an inter-ministerial working group was formed with the task of preparing a reasoned opinion in relation to the negotiation process in order to ensure maximum protection of the rights of Bulgaria and El Bi Bulgaricum, as well as to achieve the objectives of the project for strategic partnership between the company and the Japanese Meiji.
The working group includes experts from the Patent Office, the SANS, the SAC, the BB Bulgaricum and the Ministry of Economy and Industry. “Several meetings have been held so far and we are about to finalise a draft contract, which will be submitted when the representatives of Meiji come,” Minister Nikolov said.