Restructuring events
European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
Borealis was formed in 1994 as a result of the fusion of the petrochemical activities of Neste and Statoil. Today it is headquartered in Vienna, and is owned 65% by the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) of Abu Dhabi and 35% by OMV Aktiengesellschaft, Austria’s oil and gas company. The company has production and research activities in many countries. The main business lies in serving the plastics manufacturing industry with polyethylene and polypropylene, but there is also production of ethylene, propylene and phenol & aromatics. In an extraordinary Board meeting on 14 March 2007 it was decided to wind up the research acitivity at the plant in Bamble. This research center is one of the largest in Norway, and 100 employees will be affected by the decision. The reason for the decision is to strenghten other research centers, mainly in Austria and Abu Dhabi, according to a press release. The union (Industri Eneregi) is furious and shocked, and the decision was made against the votes of the employee representatives.The union demands that the research center shall be sold to new owners so that the activity can continue. Their release says this center could be a national center of competence within downstream petroleum activities. The union is also afraid of the Board decision saying that a project group shall evaluate the other activities at Bamble. The national confederation of trade unions - LO - is now in dialogue with the Government to seek a solution for the research center according to the union's wish. There is no available information on the timeline of the job cuts.
Eurofound (2007), Borealis, Offshoring/Delocalisation in Norway, factsheet number 65082, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/65082.