At a conference of the Philip Morris corporate leadership in Lausanne, Switzerland, the Kharkiv Tobacco Factory was named the best of its European subsidiaries in terms of job safety and labor protection.
US interest in the statutory fund of the Kharkiv Tobacco Factory is over 99.5%. Is this good or bad for Ukraine? The Day's correspondent visited KTF to answer this question.
American capitalism becomes apparent right inside the gate. A visitor is issued a badge attesting to his status and is politely asked to part company with any Kharkiv-made cigarettes in his possession.
Every shop is kept spotlessly clean. Liudmyla Polishchuk, head of the quality control laboratory, says that previously every employee has to shake out his/her gown after leaving the shop. Now tobacco is supplied through pipelines and whenever exposed due to production specificities, all tobacco dust is removed by powerful ventilation systems and dust collectors. The tobacco dust is not wasted. It is packaged and sold to agricultural producers to combat certain plant diseases. Every employee is also issued what is termed "individual protective gear", just in case, as required by standing orders. And standing orders are upheld in a typically Western way, very different from the traditional approach in Sovdepia. Not only production facilities, but also those for recreation, showers, and everything else is up to US standards. Most of us would have to spend our lifetime savings to have our bathrooms designed and equipped like at this factory.
And the people. The factory employees act and look somehow different from the rest of us. They are calm and efficient. No back wages, of course. Every payday is kept on schedule (0 on the average, which is very good, considering local prices and living standards), along with special ration tickets for the factory canteen and two cartons of cigarettes per capita as a monthly bonus. They have two resorts. All this is in black and white in the collective bargaining agreement signed between management and the local union. The latter is not waging any socialist competitions, of course. Instead, it monitors the agreement's performance, meaning that all vacancies are quickly filled and people are anxious to have their jobs and do them well. And the local job market competition is severe.
Philip Morris invested million in personnel training (out of million put into the tobacco factory project). Engineers and workers were sent for on-the-job-training missions to company-affiliated enterprises in Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and St. Petersburg. Refresher courses are encouraged even now (e.g., an employee wishing to improve his/her English receives a bonus).
Hence, what has American capitalism brought this inherently Ukrainian enterprise? Well-paid jobs for 400 residents of Kharkiv, sizable state budget revenues (last year the factory paid Hr 56 million in taxes and duties, making up approximately a quarter of the city budget income). Oleh Diomin, head of the City Administration, called the factory the most law-abiding taxpayer. Last year, 492 Ukrainian enterprises worked under KTB contracts, meaning another several thousand jobs. And the factory sponsors Kharkiv's Metalist soccer team.
A journalist remembering the old Soviet cliche about Soviet people having their own special pride to uphold is hard put to eulogize things Western. Is this an outdated stereotype? Most likely, for the time has come to consider ours not those with a Ukrainian passport and Swiss bank account, but those doing business in Ukraine and paying Ukrainian taxes. Using this criterion, KTB is very much the domestic producer. Not a single kopiyka from its incomes has been sent overseas illicitly. So far all revenues have been invested in production and upgrading technology. Thus, another -20 million will be added this year.
Philip Morris is to build another tobacco factory in Ukraine, worth 0-200 million. The Board has not as yet decided on the particular city, but even now it is clear that another thousand Ukrainian citizens will receive well-paid, secure jobs.
So is Philip Morris good or bad for Ukraine? The answer is clear, even though the Health Ministry's warning about the potential hazard of smoking remains valid...
Photo:
In the Kharkiv Tobacco Plant they not only make money but work the American way
