FIM workers in Moscow demand their unpaid salaries

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The Finnish investment, savings and asset management company FIM commenced the shut-down of its Moscow operations in last November and - according to its workers - has left both wages and statutory lay-off compensations unpaid.
      FIM has informed its workers in writing that the company’s Moscow subsidiary is deficient of funds to pay the salaries. FIM has announced that finding the money somewhere is improbable.
      In the view of FIM CEO Johannes Schulman, with some employees there are differences of interpretation regarding the wages. Schulman nevertheless refrains from commenting on these differences through the media.
     
FIM commenced its operations in Moscow in 2004.
      In the spring of 2007, the Icelandic Glitnir bought FIM’s entire operation, and in October of last year the name was changed back to FIM.
      In the midst of the maelstrom of the economic crisis Glitnir ended up in the hands of the Icelandic state. After this the bank sold its Finnish subsidiary to the company’s executive management. The Russian operations were subject to the Finnish company.
      Soon after the last change of ownership, FIM reported that it would close down its Moscow operations and commence running-down procedures for the subsidiaries Glitnir Securities and Glitnir Asset Management.
     
Schuman says now that a buyer was sought for the subsidiary operating in Moscow already at the beginning of 2008. There were many buyer candidates and a deal was agreed and ready to be signed at the point when the economic situation suddenly took a nosedive.
      The Moscow subsidiaries are still for sale, but Schulman considers it extremely unlikely that a buyer would turn up in the present dismal financial climate.
     
The former Moscow Glitnir Securities boss Vladislav Mitskevitš says that some of the staff still believe in the profitability of the Moscow operations, and in November they offered to negotiate over purchasing the firm.
      According to Mitskevitš, however, FIM was anything but interested in the talks over selling the company, despite the fact that FIM had ceased to believe that the Moscow arm had any kind of future.
      Schulman throws back the assertion that FIM was willing to engage in negotiations with anyone who was interested in talks on professional terms.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Principal shareholder´s jail sentence forced FIM into Glitnir sale (6.2.2007)

See also:
  Icelandic banks in Finland report no exodus of depositors (2.10.2008)

Links:
  FIM

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