Page 19 - Glass-Technology International no. 1/2018

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GUARDIAN
FORMER PLANT IN

VENEZUELA UNDER REPAIR

The former Guardian Industries flat glass plant in Venezuela,
which was seized by the country’s military in July 2016 when
the company tried to turn off the float line for repairs, is under-
going maintenance and will not re-open until early 2018. The
news appears to contradict statements earlier this year from
Venezuela that claimed the facility was fully operational and
producing glass.
In late October, Ghimi Santini, the president of Venvidrio (and
a brigadier general in the Venezuelan army), informed that he
estimated operations would resume at the flat glass plant in
the first quarter of 2018. He said Venvidrio is ‘reviewing’ the
furnace for repair work that’s expected to take 90 days.
In March 2017, a government-issued press release said the
factory was at its maximum operative capacity, “Currently the
plant is operational, meeting the demand of the national mar-
ket,” Santini said in the release.
Earlier that month, a report from an independent Venezuelan
newspaper said that Venvidrio was on the brink of bankruptcy
because of production problems with its bottle-making opera-
tion, which represents the bulk of its business.
While it’s possible that the plant was operating in March and
recently shut down for repairs, it’s unclear whether it’s been
producing glass at all since the takeover.
In early September 2016, a month after Venezuela’s military
seized the facility, Guardian issued a statement saying the
government of President Nicolas Maduro was using a routine
maintenance shutdown of the furnace as the pretext for taking
it over. Venezuela claimed it nationalized the plant because
Guardian had ‘abandoned’ it as part of a US-led ‘economic
war’ against the country.
Guardian has forcefully rejected Venezuela’s claim that the
company ‘abandoned’ or ‘sabotaged’ the facility, and it says the
government violated international investment treaties by taking
over the factory.
“Contrary to what has been asserted by the Venezuelan gov-
ernment, Guardian Venezuela never abandoned or closed its
operations,” the company said in the statement.
Guardian also said it warned Venezuela that it could be creating
a dangerous situation at the facility for employees and the com-
munity if it continues to make glass there without finishing the
maintenance work.
There have been a few indications that for at least several
months, the plant was not making any glass.
Guardian opened its Venezuela plant in 1990. It has the capac-
ity to produce 450 metric tons
of float glass per day.