Deputy PM Kornelia Ninova met with representatives of metallurgical industry in Bulgaria

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Industry, Kornelia Ninova, met with representatives of the metallurgical industry to discuss the pressing problems facing the sector and the opportunities for state support.

Metallurgists expressed concerns that the industry is currently operating below its capacity compared to the normal European level, and if this trend continues, it will lead to bankruptcies. In their view, state intervention is urgently needed not only to restore pre-Covid crisis production levels, but also to create more jobs, because many were shed during the pandemic.

In their words, regulating the market, through appropriate quotas, limiting imports from third countries and scrap exports, is the way for Bulgaria to have a strong steel industry that can fully meet the needs of the domestic market.

Minister Ninova set up a team with representatives of the Ministry of Economy and Industry, the Ministry of Environment and Water, and the Ministry of Finance to develop a mechanism to support energy-intensive industries.

"The European Commission has given such an opportunity to the member states and Bulgaria should use it in the interest of its economy," Ninova said.

She pledged to soon initiate a meeting with scrap metal traders in Bulgaria, as well as to look for mechanisms to support state-owned enterprises in this direction, thus also strengthening the circular economy.

"You have my full support. It is important for me that national production increases its capacity and that we find the right measures to regulate the domestic market," Minister Ninova said.

The metallurgists thanked her for being able to respond to their problems at short notice, both with regard to the Ordinance on Ensuring Healthy and Safe Working Conditions in Ferrous and Nonferrous Metallurgy and the pressing issues. The meeting was attended by representatives of the Bulgarian Association of the Metallurgical Industry, the Metallurgists' Union of CITUB trade unuon and the Metallurgy Union of the Confederation of Labour "Podkrepa".