Business 12 February 2026, 4:40pm

Portfolio

Production at SPL Europe Ltd., an Indian-owned chemical company in crisis, has gradually shut down since September last year. The Sajóbábony plant has been without gas supplies since October, leaving the buildings without heating or hot water, according to a newspaper report.

Several departments were ordered to reduce working hours, resulting in a significant loss of income for employees as they were only paid their basic salary during this period.

The number of employees has fallen dramatically in recent months. In July, 191 people were still working for the company, but by September, this figure had dropped to 175. Following the mass redundancies announced at the end of January, only around 20 people remained at the plant, primarily carrying out security and basic supervisory duties.

According to employees who spoke to the newspaper, even in October 2025, wages were paid in several instalments and those for that month were not received until December. Half of the December wages were paid on 4 February 2026.

Another irregularity is that wages were not paid directly by SPL Europe Kft., the employer, but by a company called Sirius Product Kft. The transfer notices were marked 'SPL Europe wages'.

The Hungarian subsidiary has been owned by the Indian chemical group Shiva Pharmachem Ltd. since 2019 and has accumulated significant losses over the past two years. According to employees, the company's debt, including bank loans, amounts to HUF 16 billion.

The government office has confirmed that the company announced its intention to carry out collective redundancies on 30 January 2026. They emphasised that employees affected can enforce their labour law claims in labour court proceedings. They also indicated that a total of 998 new jobs were announced in the county in January this year, and that they can help employees with retraining programmes.