Călărași steel works

The genesis of the project took place during the communist regime on a July morning in 1974, when dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu, returning from a visit to Constanța, stopped at the garbage mound at the edge of Călărași and decided a steel mill would be built there.

[1] Final approval for the construction was secured in February 1976, by a decree of the State Council of Romania; production capacity was estimated at 10 million tons of steel per year.

[1] The foundry, among other components, was technologically advanced for its day, and the coke plant used high-quality coal from Poland, Brazil, China, and the Soviet Union.

In 1996, eighteen domestic and foreign firms bid on the enterprise, but the authorities were unable to conclude the process; neither were they able to do so when three bidders appeared in 1998.

[4] Privatization, directed by the Authority for State Assets Recovery [ro], cost the government at least $100 million and a lengthy series of infractions was committed during its course.

The works ended up being sold at a nominal cost to an Italian group that, rather than make promised investments, went on to sell them to Tenaris.

[1] In 1999, steelmaking was halted due to lack of available capital, a situation that lasted until 2004, when production began anew at the country's only manufacturer of railway tracks.

Firms for collecting scrap operated all around the factory perimeter, allegedly run by influential residents of the town who thus amassed significant wealth.

[3] A 2010 inspection found over 100 ha (250 acres) on the site suffering from soil contamination, with waste dumped directly on the surface.

A new heating furnace and a water treatment system were planned; improved technology would contribute to reducing carbon emissions by up to 40%.

[9] The ruins of the works and reminiscences of their heyday play a prominent role in the 2013 film Sunt o babă comunistă.