...We firmly declare that the allegations made regarding Asarel-Medet JSC in the report are false and we consider them maliciously misleading and biased. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to disprove them...

...The allegation of "precarious" and "low paid" working conditions is false and the disclosed data is wrong.

An allegation has been made that the average salary of the workers and employees at our company was 800 Euro in 2018. Indeed, the average salary for our company was 1,631 Euro in 2018 or twice as much. In 2018, the minimum salary in Bulgaria was 261 Euro and the average salary in the country was 586 Euro, according to data from the National Statistical Institute...Drawing a conclusion about "precarious and low-paid working conditions" in an unbiased manner is not feasible against this background which again fuels our doubts in the research and the conclusions based on it...

No unequal treatment is applied to our workers and employees.

The stuff hiring procedures at our company exclude any individual negotiation of their remuneration amount and adhere to the principle of "equal pay for equal work"...

A Code of Ethics and strict anti-discrimination procedures have been adopted at Asarel-Medet JSC which are also explicitly regulated by the Rules for the Internal Labor Order.

We apply high standards when selecting subcontractors with whom we partner under commodities and services delivery contracts...

We do not control the trade unions, but we are proud of our cooperation

A Collective Employment Agreement concluded with the two trade unions developing activities is effective at Asarel-Medet JSC and an Industrial Collective Employment Agreement between the employers in the mineral and raw materials industry and the national mining trade unions is in place in Bulgaria.

The allegation that we, as an employer, “control” the trade unions is not only erroneous, but also belittles our considerable efforts to engage constructively with them in order to uphold the interests of our people. We treat the work of the union representatives with respect and the good social interaction is among the values of our corporate culture...

The company publishes a monthly company magazine which is distributed to all its workers and employees. A permanently published column in it enables them to report any grievances to a hotline that provides a direct contact with the management. Our Executive Director meets with randomly selected workers who can share their concerns on a regular basis.

We question the authenticity of the enquiry and we are willing to address promptly any grievance about the occupational conditions...If the allegation that our employees have complained about their occupational conditions were true, we would appreciate to be provided with information about the issues raised since this will enable us to undertake immediately all required measures to verify the grievances and assess the risk...

It is not true that we hinder agriculture.

Contrary to the allegations in the research in question, the area of Panagyurishte municipality in Bulgaria is a paragon of a mutually harmonious development of the mining industry and agriculture, including organically certified agriculture. This is evidenced by the fact that a distillery for essential oil crops processing was operating in Panagyurishte producing organic rose and lavender oil...

We emphasize that we run our operations and manage all our facilities adhering to the highest standard of environmental protection and regulatory compliance. Taking care of nature is a priority in our sustainable development policy and programs. Moreover, it is a conscientious responsibility and commitment of all people in our team since over 93% of the company's workers and employees are local residents and are directly interested in living with their families in a clean environment...