Romanian group Alro Slatina, one of the largest aluminum producers in Central and Eastern Europe, announced that none of its Romanian employees is currently working in the company’s mine in Sierra Leone, one of the African countries most affected by the spread of the Ebola virus.

“Since July, Alro has decided to repatriate the Romanian employees from Sierra Leone, as a consequence of the Ebola virus spread in the regions close to the company’s local operations, though there wasn’t any Ebola infection so far among its expats who worked in Sierra Leone,” Alro’s representatives said in a press statement.

The company said that it hasn’t had any active Romanian employee delegated in Sierra Leone, but that five Romanians working for the company that operates the mine (Sierra Mineral Holdings 1 Ltd or SMHL) asked Alro to temporary suspend their contracts so that they could remain in the African country. The five Romanians are still in Sierra Leone.

“Currently, Alro’s mining operations are supervised with local personnel. There haven’t been reported any infection and any death among the Romanian employees caused by the Ebola virus,” added Alro’s representatives.

Alro has had maximum 20 Romanian expats at its Sierra Leone operations, since the takeover, in the period when the activity was at full capacity.

Alro took over the mines in Sierra Leone from its parent-group Vimetco in February 2011, in a EUR 25 million deal.

The mines in Sierra Leone supply bauxite ore to alumina producer Alum Tulcea, in Romania, which is also owned by Alro. The alumina is then turned into aluminum in Alro’s aluminum smelter in Slatina. Part of the primary aluminum is sold in basic forms (slabs, bars or plates) and part of it is further processed by Alro into higher added value products.

Alro has consolidated sales of USD 606 million in 2013, and almost 4,000 employees.

Andrei Chirileasa, andrei@romania-insider.com