site.btaDefence Repairs Group TEREM Expected to Submit Structural Adjustment Plan by August 10

State-owned defence repairs group TEREM Holding has been asked to draw up a restructuring and optimization plan and submit it to Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov by August 10. During question time in the National Assembly on Friday, Stoyanov answered a question raised by MPs Nezhdet Shaban and Dzhem Yamenov of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms concerning the TEREM-Khan Krum plant in the northeastern town of Targovishte.

Stoyanov said that the holding group is expected to make structural adjustments involving release of redundant buildings, sale of surplus fixed assets and steps to upgrade machinery, renovate infrastructure and minimize costs.

The Defence Ministry is in the middle of talks with companies to sign contracts with the TEREM-Khan Krum plant, he said. The Ministry has notified the Public Enterprises and Control Agency about the possibility to change the plant's category from A1 to A2, which will allow it to take on public functions and use additional funding. Stoyanov has talked with potential contractors about possible business deals under the EU SAFE mechanism.

The last time that Khan Krum workers received regular wages was in January, he noted. He added that the Defence Ministry met with the management board and trade unions twice in June. Wages were paid once again in June, but they had to be financed through loans taken out by TEREM Holding.

The amount of work at the Khan Krum plant has diminished as orders for the repair of Soviet-era armoured and other vehicles have decreased, Stoyanov explained.

He said the Defence Ministry needs TEREM-Khan Krum because it is the only plant in Bulgaria which has the technological capacity and an adequately skilled staff to overhaul T-72 and T-55 tanks. Being part of the national defence and mobilization readiness system, the plant in Targovishte is of strategic importance, Stoyanov said.

It might take between one and three years to restructure the Khan Krum plant, but this would be too long, he noted. The process should be sped up, he said, adding that a decision will be made shortly on how to continue the reform.