Plant belonging to Kazkhrom has increased the salary by 15 %, as Nazarbaev asked

/Almaty office of REUTERS, 05.08.99/ - Aksu plant of ferroalloys (APF), a member of the transnational company "Kazkhrom", has increased wages to the workers by 15 percents since August 1, as the president of the country Nursultan Nazarbaev offered to the investors. "The pay rise has become possible due to earning the profit. Thus, the balance sheet profit of the enterprise for the first half-year has made 4,5 billion tenge against 360 millions for the similar period of the last year", - the general director of the plant Bolat Svyatov has told to Reuters. The president of the country Nursultan Nazarbaev has offered to increase the wages at the prosperous enterprises of Kazakhstan. Two weeks ago at a meeting with the investors and the management of the largest enterprises the president asked to increase the wages by 15 percent now and by another 15 percent till the end of the year. The head of Kazakhstan has explained this by necessity to ensure social stability of the population on a background of the problems with fulfillment of a social part of the republican budget. The next day the management of the Euroasian bank, supervising aluminium and chrome production in Kazakhstan, has announced its intentions to increase the wages for its workers. As Svyatov says, before the increase the average salary at APF was equal to 24,000 tenge ($ 180). The enterprise has a staff of 5.700 persons. As he said, the increase of the salary will cost the plant 24 mln. tenge a month. In Kazakhstan the average salary, based on the data of the National agency on statistics, for the first quarter of a present year has made 9,847 tenge ($ 115.3). Aksu plant is a member of transnational company "Kazkhrom", 28.75 percent shares of which belong to the company of the Euroasian bank - Kazakhstan mineral resources. The similar package was withdrawn by the Supreme court of Kazakhstan from the company Trans World Group and now is on the balance of the enterprise. 31.3 percent - belong to the state, another 10 percent - belong to the staff of the plant.