Workers from Bulgaria's steel giant Kremikovtzi are resuming the week with organised protests in Sofia on Monday, November 10 2008. A rally was scheduled to begin at 10am at Alexander Nevski Square.

Union demands for compensation amid the massive financial woes facing the steel plant have not been met, and the unions today will demand the resignation of Economy and Energy Minister Petar Dimitrov.

Union leader Ludmil Pavlov said: "We are resuming our protests because the decisions and agreements we had reached in our previous meeting with the minister again fell on deaf ears. His statements vary from week from week and nothing has changed. There has been no positive resolution for the fate of the factory as of yet, and the minister continues to throw excuses at as. As far as the court ruling goes - this is just another trick up the sleeve of Mr. Dimitrov, who continues to steer Kremikovtzi to closure".

"I cannot accept that the decision to oust (court-appointed bankruptcy trustee) Ana Milenkova, which was taken on October 31, was not made public until November 5. We will continue to protest and will do so every day if necessary until we are assured what exactly is happening with the plant and the investors and the salaries of the workers for August, September and for November.

"This time we will not go home and we will not go away. We have no more trust in the minister, and we demand that he resigns forthwith. If he truly cared for the plant, for the workers and their families, he would have stayed in Bulgaria until the resolution of the problem and not leave and go on a holiday to Argentina and Mexico with the President" Pavlov said. 

Dimitrov said on November 7 that Kremikovtzi appeared to be not salvageable. Cabinet-led talks to find a company willing to operate the steelworks reached a dead-end, while decision-making at Kremikovtzi was made impossible when Milenkova, one of two bankruptcy trustees, was removed by court order earlier in the week.

Any decision at Kremikovtzi has to be approved by both bankruptcy receivers to be legally binding. Dimitrov said that he and Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev would ask Prosecutor-General Boris Velchev to launch an internal investigation to clarify why the receiver was removed. Albeit unstated, the implication was that the investigation would result in the reinstatement of the receiver.