Turkmenistan: Thousands of Russian Jobs Dependent on Turkmen Tractor Order

Nearly 3,000 manufacturing jobs in Russia are hanging on a Turkmen order for tractors.
Executives at the Alttrak tractor plant in Altai Krai, a Siberian district bordering northern Kazakhstan, indicate that the heavily indebted plant will have to close if the Turkmen government order for 1,200 tractors falls through.

If the Turkmen government does not confirm the order by June, company representatives say they will have to lay-off all 2,829 workers, Turkmen opposition website Gundogar.org quoting Russian media reported April 8.

"In December 2008, a Turkmen delegation visited the plant. Authorities of the Republic say they are not affected by the crisis and they will be able to carry out the purchase. But judging by the fact that a call from Turkmenistan to conclude a contract hasn't come, we can conclude that the crisis is already being felt," the Regnum news agency quoted Lyubov Maslova, the chairwoman of the trade union that represents workers at the tractor plant, as saying.

Alttrak is currently $1.18 million in debt and workers have not received wages since November.