Petrom salaries up €50 for all 30,000 employees

“This increase is only one component of the entire [salary] package which also includes performance-based salary hikes, performance bonuses, partial deduction of holiday tickets,” according to company officials for Business Standard.

According to sources within the company, the average salary increase amounts to some 14 percent. However, Petrom management did not comment on this percentage. They said that a decision was made to increase wages by a fixed sum, in order to increase small revenues. They added that they decided to increase salaries to “reward the performance and keep Petrom salaries.”

Last year, salaries within the company rose an average 8 percent. The salary fund amounted to €494.5 million in 2008, some 42.5 percent higher year-on-year, according to the company’s financial report. Petrom’s 54 managers and 29,807 employees earned together some 1.3 million average wages for Romania, considering last year’s net average revenue, worth €370. Furthermore, the budget for salaries exceeds that of some ministries, such as Justice Ministry or the Economy Ministry, which is a Petrom shareholder.

By the end of the first quarter of 2009, the country’s largest company had 31,685 employees, according to the latest data available. Petrom’s net profit plunged to €118.6 million in Q1, 48 percent lower year-on-year. The company was severely affected by the fall of oil prices in the past year, caused by a decline in demand.