DMD FIN, the owner of struggling engineering company PPS Detva Holding, will donate Sk2 million to company unions in order to partially pay off wage arrears. The unions will split the money among those employees whose families are in the most dire financial need.
PPS has not paid employees since January, and had its utilities cut off in March for non-payment, leading to a month-long strike by the plant's 1,200 employees, as well as the mass resignation of the board of directors. In late April a new board of directors announced plans to slash the firm's payroll from 1,200 to 280, and on May 9, PPS was placed under bankruptcy protection. PPS debts currently exceed Sk1.8 billion, of which approximately Sk60 million comes from employee wages.
DMD Fin, the majority shareholder in PPS, has agreed to pay out all Sk15 million in January wage arrears within 60 days of the beginning of bankruptcy protection.
