The Russian mining and steel producing group Mechel has announced that on November 27 the President of Romania Traian Basescu carried out his second working visit within the space of a couple of days to its Romania-based subsidiary Mechel Targoviste, in furtherance of his program of visits to the country's major enterprises in order to see their operations at first-hand in the current economic situation.
During his previous visit to Mechel Campia Turzii, made on November 25, President Basescu expressed interest in the operations of the plant and made inquiries regarding the support the plant would like to receive from the government.
Moreover, during his latest visit, President Basescu described his plans for the stimulation of the Romanian consumer market, which include the implementation of national programs to construct bridges, roads and other state infrastructure, to be financed from the state budget and from European funds. In addition, the government plans to extend bank loans to Romanian citizens and businesses, and to reduce the tax burden in the form of accelerated VAT refunds, the temporary reduction of the profit tax rate and deferring obligatory payments to the budget. On the other hand, the management of Mechel Campia Turzii stated that the company will maintain existing jobs and professional staff at all its facilities.
Within the same scope, last week President Basescu visited ArcelorMittal Galati, the Romania-based subsidiary of the world's largest integrated metals and mining company ArcelorMittal, which is also facing lack of demand from the domestic market, to which it had been supplying about 30 percent of its production.