The Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy Marlena Maląg visited Libra, a Dzierżoniów-based plant producing adhesives and sealants, member of Selena Group, a manufacturer of construction chemicals and the owner of the TYTAN Professional brand. Libra is one of Selena Group’s two European plants which produce adhesives and sealants for European markets, but also for Qatar, South Korea and India. During the pandemic, Selena Group received support under the government’s anti-crisis shield, which helped maintain more than 600 jobs in Poland. The delegation of the government’s representatives met with the management board and learned about the construction chemicals which are developed in Poland and distributed all over the world. Selena Group sells its products in more than 100 markets and has factories in 17 countries.
During the visit to Libra, Minister Marlen Maląg was accompanied by Sejm Deputy Marcin Gwóźdź and Deputy Voivode of Lower Silesia Jarosław Kresa.
Libra’s products are distributed to 40 countries, including Poland, Russia, Germany, Lithuania, as well as Qatar, South Korea and India. It is here that Selena’s flagship products are manufactured, which have won the hearts of builders in Europe and elsewhere in the world, including the Classic Fix and Fix² GT mounting adhesives, the UPG Sanitary Silicone with a 10-year warranty and COOL-R – a highly reflective roof coating addressed to the markets of southern Europe, the Middle East and South America. At the beginning of the pandemic, Libra has retrofitted one of its technological lines and started producing the TYTAN HEALTH sanitizer. The first batch of the product was transferred free of charge to hospitals in Lower Silesia.
“The government’s aid in Poland helps stabilise production – which is particularly important from the point of view of export-oriented factories, heavily hit by the current crisis. We have 114 employees at Libra and in accordance with the management board’s policy, the plant has not carried out any redundancies during the pandemic. We are all the more happy about the meeting with the Minister and the opportunity to talk directly with her about the support for the economy at this special time. With the government support, we have managed to save nearly 600 jobs in Selena Group. Although not all companies are covered by the anti-crisis shield, we intend to maintain this effect on a global scale. I am confident that after the visit to the Selena Group’s plant, Minister Maląg will be reassured that the Polish technological expertise and Polish products can successfully compete on global markets” – said Krzysztof Domarecki, the CEO of Selena Group.
The visit of Minister Marlena Maląg was an opportunity to exchange opinions and experiences in the field of protection and safety of employees at production plants in Poland in connection with the coronavirus epidemic. The systems implemented at Libra were looked at, and the scope of the government support granted to Selena Group was discussed. The CEO of Selena Krzysztof Domarecki outlined to the Minister features of the government aid programmes in Europe, the USA and China, from which Selena Group’s plants and branches have benefited so far.
“I am very happy that another company in Lower Silesia has been able to use the support mechanism instruments developed and implemented on 1 April 2020. The pandemic has put our economy in a particularly difficult situation. The government’s intention was to support businesses as quickly as possible so that they could maintain their liquidity, and above all to protect employees and save jobs. We are at Libra, a company from Selena Group, which shows that you can survive this difficult time with good organisation and thanks to the government’s subsidies to wages. Our actions are primarily geared towards protecting jobs and curbing the impact of the pandemic so that our economy can recover after the wave of the crisis. I would like to thank and congratulate the management board of Selena Group, which for years has been exporting a significant part of its products, for the fact that its long-term policy, supported by the anti-crisis shield, will help protect jobs and will allow the business to carry on. I would like to congratulate you that at this time you are trying to function so strongly, using the government’s aid mechanisms and contributing to the interests of the employer and employees alike”, said Marlena Maląg, the Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy during her visit to the Libra production plant.
“I am very happy that Selena uses the support mechanisms during the pandemic. A large part of employees have been with the company since its inception – which is rather unusual these days. And it’s good that you are trying to overcome the effects of the pandemic together. I am positive that your company and other Polish businesses will manage to weather the crisis. Selena’s success is also underpinned by a great intellectual potential. The majority of the company’s employees live in the Dzierżoniów and Świdnica region – as a local patriot I find this extremely important”, Jarosław Kresa, Deputy Voivode of Lower Silesia added during a press briefing at the production plant.