Azmol, one of the former Soviet Unions largest lubricant makers, went bankrupt under a recent commercial court rule, according to Voice of Ukraine, the official newspaper of the Rada, the Ukrainian parliament.
On Dec. 18 the Zaporozhskaya Oblast commercial court started an insolvency procedure for the Berdyansk-based Azov greases and oils plant (Azmol). The court assigned Sergey Persyuk as a person in charge of the plants property to manage the arbitration process, stated the Ukranian legislators newspaper. Official requests of Azmol investors and creditors are to be filed by Jan. 18, 2014.
The Zaporozhskaya Oblast court failed to answer repeated calls by Lube Report to confirm its decision.
For the last years three quarters Azmol slashed its finished production output to only 712 tons, an 85 percent production slump compared to the January-September 2012 output. During this time Azmol losses increased to 40 million hryvnia (US $4.9 million), 18 percent more compared to the prior years losses.
In the last years first three quarters, the companys profit slumped to 11 million hryvnia, or 79 percent less compared to the same period in 2012. For the same time Azmol gross operating losses amounted to 8 million hryvnia, or 5 percent less compared to the January-September 2012.
Formed as Berdyansk fuel cracking plant 75 years ago, and transformed into state-owned Azmol in 1994, the company was one of the oldest and largest lubricants and greases producers in the former Soviet Union and later in the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Azmol was a member of NLGI and ELGI, the European Lubricating Greases Institute.