Polish CIECH hopes to keep alive Romanian soda ash factory

CIECH Soda Romania, the Romanian subsidiary of Polich chemical group CIECH, has decided to take further measures to keep all its workers and managers at the Govora soda plant in Romania, hoping that the facility will soon resume production if steam supply is provided, the company said in a statement.

"It is a serious commitment from us and we hope that all discussions on finding a steam source for our factory will materialize with real support. We call on the authorities and we hope that all political statements on collaboration and solutions will be followed by concrete results," said Witold Urbanowski, the general director of CIECH Soda Romania.

The only soda ash factory in Romania is in stand-by mode since September 18, 2019, after the price of industrial steam requested by state-owned CET Govora in its last offer was over 75% higher than under the previous contract. The offer is far beyond the possibility of the company to cover these costs, CIECH managers commented. In exchange, CIECH proposed to build a new steam production facility - but asked support in the form of a partnership from the local administration.

At the end of October, CIECH prepared an offer for the Ramnicu Valcea City Council, energy producer CET Govora and other local partners, to build together a new thermal power plant in Ramnicu Valcea.

“A cogeneration plant has several advantages, including energy efficiency, a reduced footprint on the environment and not least it can accomplish the needs of several industrial players. First of all, it must secure the delivery of steam at an optimal level, which means that it should meet certain conditions. At this moment we are considering different options. Of course, in the variant of a partnership with the authorities and the other economic agents, the problem of replacing the old, underperforming CET Govora could be solved, but this does not depend on us anymore,” Urbanowski said at that time.

(Photo source: Ciechgroup.com)