OREANDA-NEWS. February 27, 2009. Lack of orders, lay-offs and salary debts have made the situation within the Murmansk oil company Arktikmorneftegazrazvedka critical.

As BarentsObserver earlier reported, the Murmansk oil company Arktikmorneftegazrazvedka (AMNGR) is experiencing hardships. For the first time in ten years, the company entered January with a negative profit. The company’s two jack-up rigs “Kolskaya” and “Murmanskaya” are both lying idle in port, leading to a loss of 83 billion rubles in incomes every month.

Now the situation at the enterprise is said to have become critical. Many workers have been laid off, 500 workers are put to work part-time and salary debts to company workers have increased. The workforce is in a pre-strike position.

Speaker in the Murmansk regional parliament, Yevgeny Nikora met in Murmansk with Presidential Representative Mikhail Motsak to discuss the situation at AMNGR. They stressed the need for immediate measures to normalize the situation and calm the personnel. Authorities will be cooperating with trade unions and the regional branch of the party United Russia in trying to keep highly qualified specialists from leaving AMNGR. Which measures these are, is not yet known.