The State will grant a loan of 15 million euros to the Duralex glassworks, suffocated by the explosion of energy prices, “to help it get through the winter”, announced Monday the Minister of Industry Roland Lescure on Europe 1.
The company had announced in September that it would have to put its oven on standby for at least four months from November in its historic factory, located in Chapelle-Saint-Mesmin in Loiret, and place all of its employees on short-time work to save energy and preserve finances.
“I am going to tell them that the State is there and that we are going to make a loan of 15 million euros to accompany Duralex”, announced the minister, who is to make a trip in the afternoon to the company website.
He mentions “an extremely strong impact of energy costs” because “to make glass you have to consume gas and electricity”.
“They close their oven”
“Duralex had to close its business for the winter, they continue to sell glasses because they have stocks, but due to rising energy costs they are closing their oven. These 15 million will literally allow them to spend the winter. This energy shock is really a brake on a company that was in the process of recovering, we want to support this recovery,” added Mr. Lescure.
The famous glassworks had been acquired in extremis in January 2021, after having been placed in receivership a few months earlier, by International Cookware (Pyrex), which became the Maison Française du Verre at the start of the year. Created in 1945 by Saint-Gobain, the glass factory in the suburbs of Orléans employs 250 people and in 2021 achieved a turnover of 23.4 million euros.
Maury, printer for Paris Match and Gallimard, also supported
During his trip, Roland Lescure will also visit the printer Maury in Malesherbois – who prints weeklies (Paris Match, L’Express and Le Point in particular) and books like those of the Gallimard publishing house and whose “the (energy) bill increased from 5 to 20 million euros per year between 2021 and 2022″.
The Minister indicated that Maury was going to be able to benefit from state aid in the energy field “up to 12 million euros in total”, “or roughly a third of [sa] energy bill”, i.e. two million from which the company has already benefited and “up to ten million” thanks to the window set up by the government.
This help desk for paying electricity bills for businesses opened on Saturday for the months of September and October 2022.