Kotlas world

A new holding is being formed in the forest industry

Shareholders of the Kotlas Pulp and Paper Mill (Koryazhma, Arkhangelsk Region) signed on Wednesday a short protocol on measures to ensure a stable socio-political situation in the region. A meeting of shareholders, which was attended by the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Basic Element Holding Oleg Deripaska, the President of the Banking House St. Petersburg Vladimir Kogan, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Continental Management Nikolay Makarov and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ilim Pulp Enterprise CJSC Zakhar Smushkin, organized by Arkhangelsk Governor Anatoly Efremov.

The signed protocol states that the shareholders of the Kotlas Pulp and Paper Mill agree “not to take force or other actions that go beyond the legal framework, not to initiate bankruptcy against Kotlas Pulp and Paper Mill OJSC and not to use the labor collective in resolving this conflict.” The governor’s intervention was dictated precisely by the fact that the dispute between the shareholders of the city-forming enterprise resulted in the plant’s workers going to barricades, blocking access roads, installing bars on windows, etc. The governor's first actions to resolve the conflict, it seems, were not unsuccessful - the parties not only sat down at the negotiating table and discussed differences for more than an hour and a half, but also agreed on certain rules of the game.

Anatoly Efremov assessed the current events positively: “A serious step has been taken towards a peaceful solution to the problem. The parties have given guarantees that no forceful action will be taken.” In addition, they promised to steadily fulfill the enterprise’s obligations to pay taxes, duties, payments to budgets of all levels, as well as stable payments of wages to workers. “The most important thing is that people at the Kotlas plant can work normally,” the governor emphasized. “The involvement of the labor collective in the forcible retention of the Kotlas pulp and paper mill is absolutely unacceptable,” says Arthur Myaki, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Problems of the North and Far East. “This negatively affects the work of the enterprise itself.” The participation of representatives of all branches of government in resolving the situation at the Kotlas Pulp and Paper Mill gives reason to expect that at least the relationship between shareholders will not negatively affect the work of the enterprise.

At a press conference after the negotiations (in which, however, Zakhar Smushkin refused to take part), Oleg Deripaska emphasized that the plant should not be allowed to go bankrupt. In addition, the head of Basic Element outlined the holding’s plans for the Kotlas Pulp and Paper Mill and in the forestry industry in general. According to him, the new shareholders of the plant (Basic Element, Continental Management and Banking House St. Petersburg have accumulated 61% of the pulp and paper mill shares) intend to invest in the reconstruction of production and the social sphere of the enterprise. In general, according to Mr. Deripaska, by the end of the year, Basic Element plans to build a company in the forest processing sector with a capital of $800 million. The Arkhangelsk Pulp and Paper Mill, of which the Banking House St. Petersburg is a shareholder, and the Kotlas Pulp and Paper Mill will become the basis new holding.

Ivan GORDEEV