"There Are Huge Problems at Hrodna Azot, Almost Half of the Production Can Be Stopped"

The employee told us what is really happening at the enterprise.

More and more often, there are reports that emergency situations and accidents occur at Hrodna Azot. One of the main workshops Ammonia-4 stops. The website Charter97.org talked with an employee of Hrodna Azot about the working environment at the enterprise, as well as what could be the reason for the shutdown of the workshops.

- As far as we know, most of those who disagreed, those who joined the strike, were from Ammonia-3 (the name of the workshop - ed.) and not the 4th. Stops at Ammonia-3 are not as frequent as at 4. Frequent stops at Ammonia-4 are associated with equipment fatigue. The last time the shutdown was related to the compressor, this is a serious problem. I heard that we need to buy a new one.

A couple of years ago, I heard there were blocking issues. Even people worked without blocking in order to prevent the workshop from stopping.

- What is the current situation with personnel? Is the staff fully staffed?

- Recently a job fair was held in Hrodna, and about 80 people were required at Hrodna Azot. These are just those vacancies that were thrown out at the fair. I know there is a huge problem in the software shop, that is, with the programmers. The problem is quite serious because only people of the older generation remained there. If a person is an intelligent programmer, then he will not go to work for Hrodna Azot. The salary of a young programmer is 900-1000 rubles, which is not money for their profession. Working for an enterprise where there are no salary prospects is a so-so job.

- The US imposed sanctions against Belarusian enterprises, including against Hrodna Azot. How hard can this hit the enterprise, and what do the workers think about it?

- The Hrodna Azot strike telegram channel constantly reports that the company is looking for carriers of its products, where it will not be indicated where these products come from. Therefore, there is a problem. If they stop buying or if the sales volume decreases, then Hrodna Azot will start working for the warehouse. Someday, the warehouse will overflow, and they will have to sell cheaply through some kind of front office.

There is a scheme here to sell not through Hrodna Azot but through some kind of Belograbert. He takes Azot's products, packs them under his own brand, and sells them. I don’t know how the money is distributed, but it turns out that these products are already coming from another “office,” which is not under sanctions.

We do not yet know whether Russia will reduce the volume of gas supplies or increase its prices. Let's just say that the urea products are not in danger yet. As for oil, there is a problem here. If there is no oil at the enterprise, then there will be no benzene, which means that it will be necessary to buy it because other Belarusian enterprises will not be able to produce it. The prices will be higher, and it is not known how this will affect the quality.

- Is this discussed between the workers?

- In the smoking room, it is discussed. What can you expect? They will be transferred for a four-day work week, for example, they will stop Ammonia-3, and only Ammonia-4 will work. The same is with the production of caprolactam - stop half of it and work with one branch.

- As a simple worker, do you feel the rise in prices? Is inflation felt?

- Of course, I feel it every day. This is not sarcasm, that is, you come to the store and remember what the prices used to be for anything. We are not talking about bread, for which prices can rise by a pretty penny per day, even if by two a week, this is not much, but if you count in old money, it turns out that it costs 2,000 rubles, and this is serious. For example, a herring, in my opinion, has risen in price by 40 percent. If before it cost 2.20 rubles, now it is 2.80 or even jumps to 3.

It’s unpleasant that you go to the store, and your standard check already about 60 rubles, and it’s just, roughly speaking, to buy bread and milk.

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