The Ignalina nuclear power plant causes headaches only for the workers – Respublika.lt

Changes raise questions

Ilona NEKROŠIENĖ, Chairman of the Independent Trade Union of IAEsaid that the only advantage of changing the status of the power plant is a simpler write-off of assets, although this issue would be easier to resolve with a separate Government resolution.

“However, what is more worrying is that, in our opinion, risks are emerging that could become threats even before the approval of the financial perspective (from 2028). First of all, when changing the status, employees must be informed and have the right to report their objection to work at UAB. In this case, the employer must dismiss the employee with severance pay.

Many employees apply to our trade union, planning to use the opportunity to leave their jobs, because they do not want to work at “uabe” due to the lack of stability, safe environment and perspective, – said the president of the trade unions. – People are worried even now, when the company has the status of a state enterprise, and UAB the status provides for greater powers of the board in disposing of assets, finances, and making administrative decisions.”

She also drew attention to the fact that the board is already taking unreasonable decisions that seem to be difficult to control by the ministry.

“This year, the board, not having clear criteria, did not approve the 70+ percent provided by the company. a report on the fulfillment of strategic indicators. The consequence of this is a significant reduction (from 8 to 3%) of the wage revision fund, which means that, taking into account inflation, the consumer price index and other factors, wages throughout Lithuania will increase by an average of 10%, but the NPP employees will only be revised 3 percent, – the figure was named by I. Nekrošienė. – Because last year, the salary of the company’s leading employees and board members (about 30 of the company’s more than 1,600 employees) was revised from 30 to even 100 percent. The employees still hoped that the minister of energy Dainius Kreivys would correct this mistake of the board. Unfortunately…”

She drew attention to the fact that in 2020 The Seimas abolished the nuclear power plant decommissioning fund. “Now all NPP income from property sales, rent, etc. goes to the state treasury. When destroying the fund, the Ministry of Energy and the management of the company argued that it is necessary to accumulate funds for a deep landfill, and the administration of the fund is expensive,” said the head of the trade unions.

Another big threat, according to her, is the continuous decommissioning of nuclear power plants.

“Preparatory works are currently being carried out to dismantle the reactor, which should be completed by 2027. Negotiations on the financial perspective from 2028 are starting now and we are hearing from the responsible managers that options are being considered to stop the continuity. Consequently, the future outlook for closure funding becomes murky. It is unlikely that Lithuania will use its budget funds to carry out two expensive projects at once: decommissioning and the construction of a deep burial ground (the cost of this project was already EUR 2.5 billion according to 2005 calculations), – warned I. Nekrošienė.

She reminded that the nuclear power plant closure project also has a great social significance.

“Utena region, Visaginas – has the highest unemployment rate, even up to 30% compared to big cities. the salaries of residents differ. Visaginas – is a largely urban, multi-apartment city, where utility services are quite expensive – another concern was named by the trade union leader. – We believe that the company, the ministry and the government should properly set priorities, and when solving the closure financing issues, focus primarily on the timely implementation of the main projects (currently, the dismantling preparation projects are lagging behind) and the justification of their implementation costs. This has a direct impact not only on the social well-being of the Lithuanian region, but also on the security of all Lithuania and EU countries when handling nuclear and radioactive waste.”

It is advisable to communicate directly

Jurgita Norvaišienė, the representative of the Ignalina nuclear power plant (IAE), assured that the accusations of trade unions are not justified.

“The company aims for justice, motivation, honesty, reduction of salary imbalances and transparency in the use of funds by organizing the payment of employees’ work, reviewing the basic salaries of employees and distributing the salary fund. in 2023 the base salary revision fund for employees accounted for 5.7 percent. planned basic salary funds for employees, i.e. 1035 thousand. Eur (not including employer’s taxes). On average, the base salary increased by a total of 6.11 percent last year. (115 EUR): managers – 8.81 percent. (320 EUR); specialists – 6.03 percent. (130 EUR); workers – 5.92 percent. (82 EUR), she said. – Among the most important strategic directions, IAE intends to aim for the average salary of employees to match the market median. that is, in 2023, it was aimed to maintain the 25th percentile according to the market. It has been achieved at all but the highest levels of office.”

Commenting on the reasons for the departure of employees, J. Norvaišienė emphasized that employee turnover in organizations is a natural process.

The representative of the IPP pointed out that the situation in the company due to the planned change of status is not “uncertain”: “The company’s activities are carried out on the principle of cost compensation, that is, they are subsidized by the EU and Lithuanian budget funds. The EU funds intended to finance the decommissioning of the IPP and related costs consist of the IP (Ignalina program ) and the funds of the International Ignalina decommissioning fund, and the funds of the Ignalina program administration in Lithuania. Funding is allocated according to the financial perspectives, and we currently have funding for the financial perspective of 2021-2027 will negotiate the amount allocated for the closure in the new financial perspective. IP funds finance the annual activities of NPP decommissioning and related expenses (for wages, energy resources, purchase of goods, services and contractors’ works) and expenses for targeted projects.”

Finally, she indicated that IAE has not received any complaints or appeals from employees on issues that have reached the editorial office. “On all these issues, we encourage the employees of the NPP to contact the personnel or communication departments of the company directly, hoping that they will receive information more quickly through the mentioned channels”, – concluded J. Norvaišienė.