The company refused to explain the reasons for the plant's shutdown.
The Ural Asbestos Mining and Processing Plant (Uralasbest, Sverdlovsk Oblast) suspended production on August 24, the Interfax-Ural news agency was told at the facility's general director's office.
According to the official version, the problems at the city-forming enterprise are connected with the decline in demand for chrysotile and other non-metallic building materials.
Around a thousand employees have been placed on part-time work. The company currently has a total of approximately 5 employees. Uralasbest produces 21% of the world's chrysotile, with 78% of its output exported. However, even back then, Uralasbest's management notified regional authorities of potential shutdowns and part-time work. While 811 layoffs were planned at the beginning of this year, only 400 were subsequently laid off as a result of "optimization." According to the National Labor Inspectorate of the Sverdlovsk Region, Uralasbest plans to lay off 421 workers this year. The mining and processing plant's trade union and its management traditionally remain silent on the production crisis.
It should be noted that, according to the latest information currently available from Rosstat, in the first quarter of 2015, the volume of industrial production fell by 2,7% compared to the previous year.
