Asturias bets on "hurry all possibilities" against the closure of Alcoa
The president of the Principality, Javier Fernández, has bet today to "hurry all the possibilities" so that Alcoa "reverses" its decision to close the Avilés and A Coruña plants, which have 317 and 369 workers, respectively, although he has admitted that "it will not be easy".
Fernandez, who will meet this afternoon in Oviedo with the president of the Xunta, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, to design a joint response to the announcement of the US multinational, has revealed that the closure of Alcoa was the first issue for which he asked yesterday King Felipe VI on his arrival in Oviedo to preside today the ceremony of delivery of the Princess of Asturias Awards.
In an interview with Onda Cero, the Asturian chief executive, who also spoke about the matter with the ministers of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, and of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, stressed that the first thing to do is to ask the company to "reverse" its decision.
Fernandez, who pointed out that both ministers will meet on Tuesday with the union representatives of Alcoa, recalled that the multinational has its decision center in the United States and regretted that the company did not inform in advance of its decisions and that it chose to communicate "Facts accomplished".
Regarding the justification of closure that Alcoa has moved, which has ensured that its plants in Aviles and A Coruña are obsolete, the president of the Principality has remarked that this is only attributable to the company itself.
However, it has rejected that the closure of Alcoa has something to do with the change of Government because this has not yet involved any change in energy matters and the system of subsidies and electric interruption auctions is maintained, the management tool of the demand that compensates companies for disconnecting from the electrical system in case of need.
The president of the Principality has also acknowledged that he is "very concerned" about the possible advance closure of coal thermal power plants due to the impact it would have on the industry, since the greater weight of the gas installations would imply an increase in energy costs, " which is already very expensive in relation to European reference countries, "he warned.
In spite of this, he has said that he does not fear "with immediate character" for the continuity in Asturias of ArcelorMittal and Asturiana del Zinc, two other electrointensive companies.
