Overboard!

The state must agree with Deripaska's decision to close part of the aluminum smelters

Oleg Deripaska cuts unprofitable aluminum capacities. Previously, he had already announced this event, and on August 27, Rusal announced the approval by the board of directors of the program for the complete or partial shutdown of four plants ...

Oleg Deripaska cuts unprofitable aluminum capacities. Earlier, he had already announced this event, and on August 27, Rusal announced the approval by the board of directors of the program for the complete or partial shutdown of four plants.

The black list includes the Theological Plant (BAZ) in Krasnoturinsk (Sverdlovsk Region), whose fate Vladimir Putin recently dealt with - obviously, the resuscitation measures prescribed by him were ignored. At BAZ, aluminum production will be stopped before the end of the year (alumina production will be retained). By 2015, the Volkhov and Nadvoitsky plants will be “fired”, by 2018 two buildings of the Novokuznetsk plant (NkAZ) will be stopped.

A non-profit business does not make sense, so the decision is logical. Too bad the list is short. To the chagrin of the millionth Krasnoyarsk, the list did not include KrAZ, poisoning the city. However, Deripaska has always consistently adhered to the categories of a very wild, original business. For him, only profit is significant. And if some kind of ecology interferes with her, so much the worse for her. And therefore, based on this distilled business logic, uncomplicated by any humanistic nonsense, the decision to close the above-mentioned aluminum production facilities is quite exhaustive.

The problem - not Deripaska's - is that three out of four enterprises are located in small, depressed mono-settlements (the exception is NkAZ). And all these enterprises employ people who cannot find other work. If the core assets can be sawn up and sold for scrap at a profit, then no benefit is expected from the personnel who serviced them. And there is a long tradition of leaving unprofitable people alone. How will it happen this time?

Theoretically, nothing at least a little dramatic happens. Not only plants and factories, but also cities, have died and will continue to die under them. Always, on all continents. This is an objective, natural process. In practice, this event, which is ordinary for many other peoples, inevitably turns into a tragedy for us. To the end of the world Although Rusal promised to employ all those laid off, incl. retrain them and (or) offer to move to other regions, in the mass of our people (labor) to this day it is not customary to migrate for capital. The plant was closed - expect a series of suicides, alcoholization of the population, an increase in criminality, and the wildest crimes that do not fit in the head, orphanhood and other excesses that accompany the "disposal of non-core assets."

In this connection, it is worth recalling several important facts. Both before the crisis and during the crisis, the state helped Deripaska. If we recall all the speeches made by Putin and other officials at the same time, we can conclude that they were concerned not so much with Oleg Vladimirovich's profits, but with social stability in the regions of his presence. With a business like Deripaska's, the authorities are unwittingly exposed to blackmail, and entire cities are held hostage. So what is the result of all these support measures received from the state?

As a result, Deripaska is still on the list of billionaires, and the electrolyzers are asked to leave.

Well, there is such a business. By the way, the measures of state support for Deripaska's business were successfully implemented, but, for example, the agreements on normalizing the situation at the BAZ, which were adopted by the federal and regional authorities after the last year's autumn crisis, were not implemented by business. So, Putin blessed the sale of "Rusal" by Viktor Vekselberg Bogoslovskaya CHP. But Putin's order was "slaughtered", and the price of aluminum smelted by BAZ exceeded the world price by $500 per ton.

Whether Deripaska wants it or not, even now his absolutely correct decisions to close factories look like blackmail. Judge for yourself: Rusal explains them by rising electricity costs against the backdrop of low aluminum prices. The timing of the closure of factories is associated with the end of long-term contracts for the supply of electricity. At the same time, it is reported that the closure of the Volkhov and Nadvoitsky plants can be canceled if the contracts are extended at a low price. What will happen next, we know. Rallies, protests, the appearance of the One who will destroy everything manually, “give me the pen”, etc. Social stability will be exchanged for low energy tariffs. Well, why is it really difficult to help Deripaska's business? We will add a dime to the tariff, and he will get a fortune, “ten old women are already a ruble.” Deripaska's entire fortune, his entire aluminum business has always been based on cheap current, cheap at the expense of other consumers. Krasnoyarsk residents, for example, never resented this, sponsoring Deripaska. Residents of other regions that weak?

Already this week, two rallies are planned in Krasnoturinsk, convened by the factory trade union committee and the committee "For Saving BAZ".

The state should stop saving Deripaska's enterprises. The state should agree with his intention to close the antediluvian electrolysis plants. And he should force the businessman to move from the declaration of goals to actions. And first of all - to real care for all those scheduled for dismissal.