Venezolana del Vidrio (Venvidrio) is on the brink of bankruptcy, reports El Carabobeno Venezuelan newspaper. 90% of its operational capacity is paralyzed, raw material inventories are empty and nine of the 11 lines are damaged. The machinery of the plant located in Los Guayos, east of Carabobo, has deteriorated since October 2010 when the national leader ordered the expropriation of Owens-Illinois (O-I) Venezuela. At the time of the measure the company supplied more than 60% of the national demand for glass containers for the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries, producing some 2.1 million units per year. The expectations of the Government at the beginning of its administration were to raise those numbers up to six million. However, today they do not reach a million and only manufacture glass containers for liqueurs and mayonnaise, according to Hernán Serrano, a member of the Frente Amplios de Trabajadores of the region. Compounding the problems is a lack of soda ash, which has to be imported. 600 Venvidrio workers have been dismissed, according to the newspaper report
