Autosan bus manufacturer files for bankruptcy

The move comes as the factory, which employs 500 workers and is currently owned by the Sobieslaw Zasada capital group, has been struggling for years.

In 2009, second-hand bus imports to Poland forced to the factory to cut salaries by 10 percent. While new contracts lifted the company’s financial burden, the relief was only temporary.

Now Autosan has been forced to go into receivership with an outstanding debt due to arrears in land tax to the town of Sanok amounting to 1.3 million zloty (325,000 euro).

Tadeusz Majchrowicz, head of the Solidarity trade union in the Podkarpackie region, admitted to Polish Radio that it was only a matter of time before the factory went bankrupt, but continued to hold hopes that new investments would save the manufacturer.

“Changes in the management board didn’t help the company either,” Majchrowicz claims, adding that production at the factory was sporadic and every time the company lost a contract workers thought the company would file for bankruptcy.

“In a situation where [financial] commitments outgrow the assets of the company, the employer is obliged to file for bankruptcy,” Majchrowicz explains.

The total liabilities of the company are unknown, although employers took home only 50 percent of their salaries in June and July, and received no money at all in August.

Autosan is one of the oldest factories in Poland, with its beginnings reaching back to 1832. (jb)