The work meeting held today with the Minister of Economy Bozhidar Loukarsky at “VMZ” AD, town of Sopot, resulted in finalizing of negotiations about signing an agreement on repayment of the principal obligations of “VMZ” duties to Sopot Municipality amounting to 2,684 million BGN within 6 months.
Minister Loukarsky stated that no later than tomorrow, 325 thousand BGN will be paid to the account of the private enforcement agent, which will release municipal housing from public sale.
“With the implementation of the agreement, we hope that the real estates, property of Sopot Municipality, will be prevented from public sale, which presents a significant risk to the municipality and to some of the tenants of public housing at the moment”, he added.
The funds are provided through a complex multilateral deal with contractors of “VMZ”. Ministry of Economy and “VMZ” hope for fruitful future cooperation with Sopot Municipality and expect the creditors of the municipality to show understanding too, and to facilitate the implementation of agreements achieved. The payment of company’s liabilities to the municipality will be implemented through bank transfers to the account of the private enforcement agent.
During the meeting, Minister Loukarsky discussed the condition of VMZ “Sopot” with the company’s management and set out the following priorities and goals for the coming 2015:
- Complete provision of company’s work through orders during the year for which the company will have the assistance of both the Ministry of Economy, including services of trade economic relations, and the state company “Kintex”.
- Positioning of “VMZ” as an important factor in the export of special products and maintaining its role as a major employer at the regional and national level.
- Joining efforts to reduce “VMZ” indebtedness and to increase the levels of added value, including through upgrading of the product range.
During his visit, Minister Loukarsky set requirements for the Management of “VMZ” to implement all necessary measures towards providing safe and healthy labour conditions for company’s employees, as well as taking preventive measures to avoid industrial accidents.