Venezuelan government says it will reopen Goodyear plant, probe bosses
CARACAS, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Venezuela's government said on Tuesday it would investigate Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co's local management and re-start operations at its factory, which the U.S. company closed because of deteriorating economic conditions.
On Monday, Goodyear said its Venezuelan tire plant had become "impossible" to maintain because of plummeting demand for consumer goods, the difficulty of importing raw materials, and U.S. sanctions restricting financial transactions.
In a statement released by state television, President Nicolas Maduro's administration said it would guarantee the jobs of the factory's 1,160 workers and had started proceedings to re-start operations.
The statement did not say whether the government would occupy the plant, as it has done when other foreign corporations exited the country.
The government said it had asked the chief state prosecutor to investigate the heads of Goodyear's Venezuelan subsidiary as it considered the plant's closure an act of economic "sabotage."
A Goodyear spokesman did not immediately respond to a request to comment.
Goodyear is making legally mandated severance payments and giving each worker 10 tires, the company said in a letter written to workers and seen by Reuters. Amid chronic shortages, the tires have considerable value.
(Reporting by Mayela Armas Writing by Angus Berwick; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
