Ongoing Crisis in Russian Asbestos Monotown?
A catalog of recent developments are suggestive of major problems at Russia’s second largest asbestos conglomerate: Uralasbest. On March 10, the company announced that the workforce would be put on a three-day week to save money on labor costs.1 Reacting to this news, panicked Uralasbest employees, already on minimum wage, told reporters that their income could decrease by a further 30%. Many were “seriously considering quitting.”2
 Yuri Kozlov, General Director of the Uralasbest Plant. |
Just a few days after the Uralasbest bombshell had exploded, the company announced that it was abandoning the three-day week in the face of employee “dissatisfaction.” 3The press service of Uralasbest declined to comment further.
On March 21, Uralasbest’s Board of Directors told attendees at the Annual General Meeting that the company did not intend to pay dividends for 2024. According to the latest annual report, in 2025 Uralasbest expected to implement a number of measures to reduce the cost of production, to increase labor productivity and search for new markets.4
Clearly, the first attempt to rein back production costs was a spectacular failure after the three-day week fiasco. The search for new markets is also likely to be a dud as even Russia’s biggest asbestos customer, India, is now actively phasing out asbestos with a ban on the use of asbestos in schools announced on March 28, 2025 by India’s Minister of State for Education Jayant Chaudhary.5 As for investing corporate resources in the goal of increasing labor productivity, surely this would be throwing good money after bad.6 It is sad for any worker to lose his job but as we have seen over the decades, when push comes to shove once the going gets tough, the asbestos companies make a rapid exit in a desperate bid to avoid liabilities for the damage done to workers, communities, customers and the environment. It is unlikely that this time, it will be any different.
April 8, 2025
_______
1 «Ураласбест» переведет сотрудников на трехдневную рабочую неделю [Uralasbest to Transfer Employees to a Three-Day Workweek]. March 11, 2025.
https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/7564547
2 В Свердловской области крупный завод перевел всех рабочих на трехдневку. Люди в панике [In the Sverdlovsk region, a large plant has transferred all workers to a three-day week. People are in a panic.] March 10, 2025.
https://www.e1.ru/text/business/2025/03/10/75202988/
3 Krasikov, V. На крупном уральском заводе отказались от «трехдневки» после недовольства сотрудников [A large Ural plant has abandoned the three-day work week after employee dissatisfaction]. March 14, 2025.
https://ura.news/news/1052902444
4 Ураласбест не планирует выплачивать дивиденды за 2024г [Uralasbest does not plan to pay dividends for 2024]. https://www.interfax-russia.ru/ural/news/uralasbest-ne-planiruet-vyplachivat-dividendy-za-2024g
5 Govt bans use of asbestos in KVs, Navodaya Vidyalayas. March 29, 2025.
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/govt-bans-use-of-asbestos-in-kvs-navodaya-vidyalayas-9912328/
6 Kazan-Allen, L. Crisis for Russia’s Asbestos Producers? January 14, 2025.
http://www.ibasecretariat.org/lka-crisis-for-russia-s-asbestos-producers.php
