Back wages of Nairit Plant workers to be paid within 3 days

The payment of back wages of workers of Yerevan-based Nairit chemical plant will start within the next one or 3 days, Armenian Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Yervand Zakharyan said during a briefing today.

“There is no reason for concern,” he said.

To remind, on June 9 Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan received a group of Nairit Plant’s workers. He said that during the consultation held by the Armenian president, it was decided to find financial resources to pay Nairit staff’s back wages for recent years. The PM said that Energy Minister Yervand Zakharyan was instructed to set up a commission for calculating the wages and that the debt would be repaid by July 15.

Yet on July 17 the plant workers again gathered outside the Armenian government after staging a series of protests to demand repayment of their back wages. Panorama.am learned from Anush Harutyunyan, a member of the group coordinating the protests of Nairit employees that a decision was made to stop rallies until late July and wait for repayment of salaries. She said that meanwhile, they would sign agreements about a waiver of fines to be paid in case of back wages. Now the plant workers demand that their back wages be paid out in a lump sum within 1 -2 days.

Since late 2014 Nairit Plant workers have staged protests which are backed by some Armenian political forces. They demand repayment of their back wages for the last 4 years – a sum of 5.7 billion drams. On February 6, 2015 the plant announced 1700 lay-offs.