CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF LOCAL INDUSTRY IN CLUJ REGION OF RUMANIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000700070328-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: R
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 18, 2011
• Sequence Number: 328
• Publication Date: July 15, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

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CLASSIFICATION RESTRICTED
CENTRAL INTE LIGEpGENCY
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS
COUNTRY Rumania
SUBJECT Economic - Consumers, goods
HOW
PUBLISHED Monthly periodical
WHERE
PUBLISHED Bucharest
DATE
PUBLISHED Mar, Sep 1951
LANGUAGE Rumanian
11111 DOCOIICIC} 701711/1 IIIVIIA1o111ndIIN1 TNl 11TIY1A11171111
OF TMI 0X1711 17A711 WITCh 71l 1lA171l OI 11I1011A11 ACT IO
Y. I. C.. II A10 II.U 1111011. ITS T1AlllII/IOII 01 7X, NIYIIATION
OF 171 00110111 II AIT 101111 71 Al 0IAO71OII0IO P11101 IS ICO?
x111710 II 1A1. IIFIOD0CT11N OI Tl1 FOll IS FIOOIIITlO.
Probleme Economice.
REPORT
CD NO.
DATE OF
DATE DIST, 15 Ju11952
NO. OF PAGES 11
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF LOCAL INDUSTRY
IN CLUJ REGI OF IA
This report is an extract from a study by the political
economy collective of the Babes and Bolyai Universities of Cluj,
prepared under the guidance of Professor A. Negrea.
The Rumanian Worker's Party attaches great importance to local industry.
The economic exploitation of local :esources is a task for the People's Councils,
se well as a way for the masses to participate in building the basis of the
socialist economy.
The economic activities of a district, town, or region are generally varied
and assume different forms, depending on specific local conditions. To properly
utilize local resources, it is necessary to know and study the local geographic
and economic conditions which (1) are conducive to various industrial and
agricultural activities, (2) permit the utilization of power resources, con-
struction materials, deposits of various waste materials, (3) determine the
concentration of the working masses in various centers, etc.
To exploit local resources under the most favorable conditions, it is neces-
sary to possess a thorough knowledge of the natural wealth at the disposal of
industry, agriculture, and commerce in the region. For this purpose, the party
organs have mobilized a great number of specialists who are exploring and study-
ing the Cluj region, thereby assisting the People's Councils and the cooperative
movement in the proper execution of their activities.
The develupment of industry in the city of Cluj, as well as in the Cluj
region, is directly connected with the development of power production. In-
creasing the supply of pcwer, by utilizing all sources of power, will not only help
state industry to increase its production potential, but will also contribute
to the development of local industries, as well as to the socialist transfor-
mation of agriculture and to the cultural development of the working people.
CLASSIFICATION
STATE NAVY NSRB
ARMY AIR FBI
DISTRIBUTION
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The principal source of water power is the Somesul River. A few relatively
large electric power plants, as well as some hydroelectric stations of local
importance, may be erected along the Somesul Cald, Somesul Rece, and Aries
rivers of the Cluj region and also along the neighboring Lapus and Dragan
Rivers.
Another source of energy in the Cluj region is methane gas. The use of
methane gas will conserve wood and bring about a reduction in costs for enter-
prises using this fuel.
The important. deposits of brown coal located in the valley of the Almas
and Agris rivers ina along the middle course of the Somesul River Valley, as
well as the thin strata of coal found in a number of areas, permit the use of
the Cluj coal fc! increasing the caloric power of carbon residues, for burning
lime and gypsum found in the region, and for making briquettes to replace wood.
Coal by-;roduct.a may also be used by thermal electric power plants and for
mechanizing unierground work.
There' are peat deposits in the mountain bogs of the upper basin of the
Somesul Cald r.d Somesul Rece rivers and in the Armas River valley. Although
it is an infetior fuel, peat may nevertheless be used to replace costlier
fuels.
There a;: underground deposits of metallic minerals and other minerals in
the Cluj region. Rich, unexploited deposits of silver and gold and other metals
are to be fc'.cd here. Tellurium, either as a gold-containing metal or as an
element, an;,mony, deposits containing chalcopyrite, iron, manganese, and
bauxite are present.
Thera ire in addition quartz for the electroceramic industry, the re-
fracting dustry, and the glass industry; feldspar for the manufacturing of
fine ceriules, glass, electric insulators, and tourmaline (a secondary product
used in tie extraction of boron); kaolin, which may be used in ceramics after
the pyr'.e is removed from its contents; celestine, which is used for the ex-
tracticr of sugar from molasses and also as ballast in oil-drilling operations.
C:.erground, in the Cluj region, are found various rocks, metamorphic and
sedimet:ary, which can be used as raw materials for road construction. Those
of griter importance for industry are gypsum, marls and argillaceous marls,
limeFUne, quartz- at kaolin- containing sands, and salt. Eruptive rocks,
grad e, dacitee, andesites, basalt, and sandstone may be used for road con-
str:eoion in place of more expensive materials or more essential materials.
The economic exploitation of the resources found in the substratum of the
C:) region must be the common concern of scientists in institutions of higher
)3.rning and of technicians in enterprises in the Cluj region and elsewhere.
State enterprises of the region, as for example "Industries Sarmei" in
lampia Turcil, the "Unirea Cluj" Metallurgical Plant, the CFR (Rumanian Rail-
road System) workshop, all in Cluj; "Electrocarbor.," "::lectro Ceramics",
"Industria Sticlei," all in TurdL, as well as the leather goods industry, of
which the "Ianos Herbak" plant is the main enterprise, can all supply the local
industry with large quantities of waste materials.
Agriculture also helps the development of local industry. Agriculture
provides +ne entire region with food and industrial crops for specialized enter-
prises. Much attention is paid, throughout the region, to the production of
textile crops such as flax and hemp. The average hemp production in various
districts of the Cluj region amounts to 2,000-3,100 kilograms per hectare. Of
the arable land in the Cluj region, 3.3 percent is p'-nted to oleaginous plants.
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The sunflower crop yields an average of 600-900 kilograms per hectare. Sugar
beets are cultivated on 0.5 percent of the arable land of the region. The
region in general and the city of Cluj in particular used to be deficient in
the production of legumes. In 1951 the area reserved for the cultivation of
vegetables was increased by 55.5 percent over that of 1950 to assure a .setter
supply for towns and workers' centers. The animal production of the region
provides the light industry and the food industry with several kinds of food
products and raw materials.
Plants and shops in the Cluj region, which once functioned as independent
economic units, have been consolidated into a single enterprise, the "Intre-
prinderile Locale Industriale Cluj" (ILIC). The size of this enterprise has
increased as new shops have been established in various sections. At present,
six sections are active: (1) extractive (gravel, sand, limestone);- (2) con-
struction materials (brick, tile, limekiln); (3) metallurgical (foundry, press,
machine shop, and repair shop); (4) wood (carpenter's shop); (5) chemicals;
and (6) various waste materials (leather goods shop and a newsprint factory).
The ILIC enterprise produces miscellaneous items, such as construction
materials (gravel, sand) limestone), instruments, various kinds of tools, metal
objects, wrenches, various types of tongs, sheet-metal scissors, files of various
sizes, carpenters' knives, floor boards, horseshoes, currycombs for cattle,
blocks for mill motors, toys, celluloid sporting goods, items for domestic use
(laundry soap, candles, smelt, leather dyes, soaking and washing powder, stove
black, floorwax, fly paper, cleansing powder for dishes and metals), leather
goods (belts, shoes, pocketbooks, watch straps, satchels), and other items.
The following table shows the total production of the enterprise by sectors
in thousands of lei):
Planned for
Branch of Production
1951
1950
Extraction
1,241
399
Construction materials
2,272
1,627
Wood
21,948
19,238
Chemicals
9,340
7,003
Metallurgical
8,091
6,921
Miccellaneous
12,952
9,631
Total
55,844
44,819
Percent
100
80.3
1. 1950 was the first year of planned production and the lack of experience
led to errors which prevented fulfillment
Branch
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
Extraction
100
167
389
556
556
556
Construction materials
100
463
617
694
774
1,157
Metals
100
714
1,428
1,714
1,835
1,785
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Chemical
Wood
Miscellaneous
100
100
.100
118
120
179
126
.84
205
133
156
268
148
181
273
166
196
297
Extraction
23.30
23.30
23.30
30.00
Construction materials
8.33
33.33
43.90
14.44
Metallurgy
16.25
17.75
22.50
43.50
Chemicals
18.50
27.50
26.50
27.50
Wood
25.00
25.00
25.00
25.00
Miscellaneous
20.00
25.33
26.66
28.00
This plan is still inadequately prepared in certain respects. Mechanization
in the extraction and wood branches lagged. No attention was paid to the
seasonal character of the extrac`.lon industry. Bigger quotas should have been
set for the second and third quarters, when sand, gravel, and limestone can be
left in the open air. In other sections, however, a definite improvement in
planning can be observed. In most sections an increase in the number of tasks
can be noted for each quarter, which would indicate that during the preparation
of the plan attention was paid not only to the results obtained during the
basic period but also to unexpected problems.
Increased production is not so much the result of the relatively small
investments of 195] as they are of the following factors. the consequence of
the discovery and utilization of (1) latent resources of the enterprises,
(2) the more rational organization of manufacturing processes, (3) the more
extensive participation of workers ?.n scientific socialist competitions,
(4) the revision of existing norms and the establishment an,1 adoption of new
norms, (5) the introduction of the new piecework ;glary system in workshops
where it had not yet been used, (6) the introduction of the method of "work
according to graphs," (7) the organization of qualification courses, and others.
In 1950, socialist competitions were organized in a haphazard manner and en-
joyed the participation of only 60 percent of the workers. During the first
quarter of 1951, however, as a consequence of the assistance received from
party organs and of union activities, approximately 90 percent of the workers
were engaged in competitions which are no longer sporadic in nature but are
integrated in the nationwide effort initiated by the leading enterprises of
the national economy to fulfill the 1951 plan in 11 months.
The method of work according to graphs was also introduced during the
first quarter of 1951. Old norms were revised and work norms introduced for
the first time in certain workshops. For instance, during 1950 there were no
work norms in the chemical oranch; beginning in 1951, however, fair norms were
established for the soap and celluloid workshops.
To promote the discovery of domeEtic resources, the enterprise (in accor'-
ance with the directives outlined by the party and government in the decision
of February 1950 concerning measures which should be adopted for increasing
the productivity of labor and improving the living conditions of the workers)
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has taken the necessary measures to expand the piecework payment system. Whereas
during the fourth quarter of 1950 only 80 out of the 203 workers were paid
according to this system (52 working individually and 28 in teams), during the
first quarter of 1951 as many as 113 of the 238 workers of the enterprise were
paid in this manner (65 working individually and 48 in teams). As a consequence
of ull these measures, the requirements of the plan for the first quarter of
1951 have not only been met but have been surpassed.
Average fulfillment of the plan for the first quarter of 1951 was 125.8
percent. However, three branches failed to fulfill their requirements, as shown
in the table below:
Branch
Percent
Extraction
212
Chemicals
164
Wood
140
Construction
materials
75
Miscellaneous waste materials
70
Metallurgical construction
75
The system of piecework payment was adopted by the soap shop of the chemicals
branch during she first quarter of 1951. Frior to this, the workers were paid
by the hour. As a result, '.a shop fulfilled its first quarter plan by 124 per-
cent, although it met difficulties in acquiring materials. At another shop of
the same section -- the miscellaneous chemicals shop, where the workers are
paid by the hour -- the plan was exceeded by only 19 percent in spite of the fact
that it met with less difficulties is acquiring materials than the soap shop.
During 1951, the enterprise worked out a plan for acquiring materials.
This represents progress, since no such plan was available during 1950. The
plan for obtaining materials reveals certain deficiencies. Provisions were
worked out only for the acquisition of materials by shops which had operated
in 1950. Moreover, no plan was prepared for obtaining materials from local
sources. The o.1y plan available called for xhe acquisition of materials from
the central fund, with the exception of the limekiln, which is supplied with
limestone extracted by the enterprise itself.
The play for obtaining materials was not fulfilled during the first quarter
of 1951. Oily 12 percent of the materials required during the first quarter
were allotted to the enterprise, and of these, the supplying enterprises delivered
only 19 percent. The supplying enterprises may be blamed for the sporadic
manner in which deliveries were made. One of the difficulties in assuring a
timely supply of materials to the enterprise is the unwillingness of supply
enterprises to conclude any contracts with ILIC, which is, consequently, unable
to force the suppliers to comply with the dispositions concerning the allot-
ment of materials. The decision of the Council of Ministers of June 1951 con-
cerning measures for enforcing contractual obligations will bring about a radical
change in the manner of supplying the enterprise with materials. During the
first quarter, the enterprise did not receive its allotted quantity of leather
scraps. In fact, it received only 4 percent of the leather and leather sole
scraps which it could have used. The leather shops have, nevertheless, been
able to fulfill their are of the production plan to a certain extent -- for
example, the handbag hop, 131 percent, and the shoe shop, 49 percent. These
results are due to the skill and ingenuity of the workers who carefully and
repeatedly sorted scraps of leather which were considered worthless in the past.
It thus became possible to manufacture from these scraps items such as bags for
kindergarten pupils.
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The enterprise used remnants never previously used and even increased its
assortment of manufactured goods. The difficulties connected with supplying
the enterprise with various waste materials (leather and leather sole scrape,
waste paper, and other items) arise from the fact that these materials still
belong to the central management and consequently arrive late. Moreover, the
allotments are definitely insufficient, since they meet only 14 percent of the
total needs of the enterprise. Tn addition, and as a consequence of centralized
management of waste materials, the enterprise is often allotted waste materials
from remote localities (Sebes-Alba, Oradea, Bucharest, Bacau), which entail
substantial transportation costs and which substantially increase manufacturing
costs. Such allotments are incompatible with planned economy. As a matter of
fact, the need .or eliminating useless and expensive transportation was stressed
by the government in its decision of 11 February 1950 concerning necessary
organizational measures for fulfilling the 1950 state plan.
The central organs are only able to satisfy the needs of local industries
to a very small extent, and it even happens that state enterprises quite fre-
quently refuse to follow orders for materials allotment, or they supply only
those waste materials which cannot be used by their own shops. Only about 3
percent of the total quantity of materials used by the enterprise shops from
1 January to 31 March 1951 was obtained from allotments from central funds;
the rest was obtained by local purchases.
A comparison of results obtained in the last quarter of 1950 and the first
quarter of 1951 reveals serious mistakes in plan preparation and the difficulty
of acquiring trained workers. These difficulties were much smaller than those
connected with obtaining materials. The following are percents of plan fulfill-
ment:
Fulfillment Plan for Fulfillment
4th Qu lst Qu lat Qu
1950 1951 1951
Total production 100 106 134
Salary fund 100 155 124
Average number of
wage earners 100 129 115
Productivity of
wage earners 100 83 116
Average salary of
wage earners 100 121 107
The above table shows that while only a 6-percent increase in the total
production was anticipated, a 55-percent increase of the salary fund was pro-
vided. Similarly, the plan of the first quarter of 1951 provides a 21-percent
increase of the average salary, while the productivity of labor is planned for
a lower level than for the fourth quarter of 1950, the bare period. This data
reveals several important planning mistakes. The principles of planning the
labor force, and the directives issued by the party and government, were ignored
in elaborating the work and salary plan.
An increase of average salary must be coordinated wit`.. an increase of labor
productivity so that the rate of increase of labor productivity during any one
given period is faster than the average salary increase. Likewise, the increase
in value of total production must always be greater than an increase in the
salary fund. This is the ;nly way to effect a continuous reduction in manu-
facturing costs and, concurrently, increase the reserves for the national
economy and raise the living stande,rd of the working people. This principle
-6-
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has not been observed in the elaboration of work and salary plans. But even
if we analyze the provisions of the plan concerning the increase of labor pro-
ductivity we can see another mistake in planning, at least as serious as the
one indicated above. In elaborating a plan, we must always begin with the beat
achievements of the base period and, by analyzing future possibilities, establish
ircreasi.ngly more ambitious tacks. These tasks should never be beyond accom-
plishment but under no circumstances, may they be less than those of the base
period. Therefore, the planning for the first quarter of 1951 of a lower level
of labor productivity (83 percent) than the one attained during the last quarter
of 1950 is totally inexcusable.
The enterprise has met with difficulties in acquiring skilled workers from
the reeducation center where the workers are regularly obtained. thus far the
center has only been able to supply unskilled workers. To cope with this
situation a training course has been planned; however, the course had not been
started during the first quarter of c i. ibis shortcoming of the enterprise
will be overcome during the following quarters. There is still much to be done
toward computing and planning manufacturing costs. Statistical work has been
of poor quality during 1950. No analyses of statistical procedures employed,
which could have served as a guide for elaborating the 1951 plan, were performed.
Moreover, the data of the manufacturing cost plan differs from that of the
financial plan and the data of both plans differs from the production plan.
This proves that there is still defective collaboration between the various
section of the enterprise. The planning work is still not sufficiently coordi-
nated. However, the enterprise has been successful in correcting a few of
these deficiencies.
it should be mentioned that insofar as its financial situation is concerned,
the enterprise did not have its own operating funds until the end of the first
quarter of 1951, but worked only with credits obtained from the State Bank.
The products of the enterprise are sold through state commercial organs
and cooperatives. A few products are sold directly to consumers (enterprises,
institutions, private individuals, etc,), The state commerce organs fell
approximately 70 percent of the enterprise's production, cooperatives sell
approximately 20 percent, and the remaining 10 percent is sold directly to
consumers.
Approximately 50 percent of the products are sold on the basic of previously
concluded contracts. The reason for this low percentage is that buyers are
reluctant to sign contracts, and the enterprise itself hesitates to sign too
many contracts because of difficulties in obtaining raw materials. It should
be observed, however, that even this percentage is higher than that of 1950,
when only 30 percent of the enterprise's products were sold on a contractual
basis. In general, the enterprise has no difficulty in selling its products,
with the exception of such products as quicklime and ping-pong balls, the price
of which is still too high.
The production of the enterprise exceeds local requirements for a large
majority of its products. Most of this production is acquired by the Centrocom
(COCM) and the Centrocooa, which sends it to those parts of the country where
it is most needed.
The uneven results obtained during the first quarter of 1951, which
amounted to 212 percent for the extraction branch and 75 percent for the con-
struction materials branch, reveals a deficiency in statistical work. Without
accurate statistics, planned management cannot be introduced in all sections of
the enterprise.
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The handicraft production cooperatives, in addition to fulfilling part of
the needs of urban working people, are also important for developing trade be-
tveen town and village. By increasing the volume of heavily consumed products,
making them available to the working peasantry through the network of state or
cooperative commercial organs, the handicraft cooperatives contribute to the
establishment of an economic basis of socialism in our country,
Handicraft production cooperatives in the city of Cluj are the Metal-
Chemical Union, the Leather and Footwear Union. and the Delivery Services Union.
Those in the city of Oradea are the Construction Union and the Textile Union.
The following are also included among production cooperatives: the Victoria
Centrocoop factories in Cluj, composed of the footwear factory, the knitting
mill, the men's and women's clothing factory, and the sugar products factory.
This cooperative unit is directly responstble to Centrocoop in Bucharest and
is composed of production sections of the Victoria Consumer Cooperative. The
total number of workers and officials of these cooperatives is about 2,550.
The Vi:tcria Centrocoop factories are supervised by a board of managers appointed
by the Centrocoop. All of their 760 workers and officials receive salaries.
The activities if handicraft cooperatives are most varied, including the
manufacturing of various planned products, the making of goods out of local
materials and waste materials, repair work, and delivery services.
Piecework is performed in various proportion in all cooperatives, attain-
ing th?: highest percentage at the Solidaritatea Pantofarilor (95 percent),
victoria, Drumul Nou, Metalurgia, and Higlena. In woodwork, furniture raking,
and others, all productive workers .se the piecework system.
The mechanization of the cooperatives, i.e., supplying them with machines
necessary for production, is slow, This is especially disconcerting for the
metallurgical cooperatives and for those making men's and women's wear, which
are provided with insufficient machinery and equipment.
The cooperatives receive primary and auxiliary materials from centralized
funds, from waste materials and rejects, from the private sector and the free
market on the basis of contracts and written orders (paints and chemicals,
agricultural products, and from local sources (twigs, rush, household articles,
brooms, rejects and waste materiale, and other materials?.
The materials distr;b;:ted to cooperatives often are not obtained from local
or neighboring enterprises, but. from remote regions, thus delaying their delivery
and increasing the manufacturing costs,. At the same time, identical materials
are sent to other regions from local enterprises, For instance, the Steaua
Rosle Cooperative receives materials required for making buttons, combs, and
brLshes from Bucharest, while the local slaughterhouse delivers these materials
to enterprises located in other regions. Likewise Steaua Rosie Cooperative
receives cloth remnants from various DC-As (Collection and Purchasing agencies),
from the local one. The Transylvania Cooperative receives leather remnants
from factories located in different towns, but not from Ianos Herbak.
The supplying of the Victoria 'entrocoop factories by the Bucharest Centro-
coop leaves much to be desires. As a consequence, the manufacturing capacity
of these factories is not fully used. Moreover, even those materials which
they do receive arrive after great delays. A serious shortcoming of these
factories is that to this day they have not prepared an organizational plan,
and have not established a salary fund, which, of course, hampers the proper
organization of labor and the payment of salaries.
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it should be observed that insofar as the supplying of handicraft cooper-
atives with local materials is concerned the directives outlined by Vasile Luca
at the meeting of the Commission for the Organization of Handicraft Cooperatives
in June 1950 have not been observed. One of the deficiencies in the organization
of production cooperatives, according to Luca, is the insistence of the central
organs on control of their activities. Since to this day the COCM allots waste
materials to handicraft cooperatives, it is obvious that the shortcoming pointed
out by Luca has not yet been remedied. This deficiency causes unnecessary ex-
penditures, since rejects and waste me,`erials from remote localities are fre-
quently sent to the Cluj region cooperatives, although they are also available
in Cluj or in neighboring localities, easily obtainable and at considerably
smaller coat.
Lue to the present centralized system of allotting waste materials and to
the existence of annex sections in enterprises of national interest, the handi-
craft cooperatives are unable to obtain the necessary waste materials directly
from the enterprises of national interest by concluding contracts with them.
In view of this situation, many cooperatives blame all the supplying difficulties
on the central organs. They make no attempt to discover, on their own initiative,
new local resources. Instead, they expect the central organs to resolve all
the difficulties.
The total and partial destruction of a large number of buildings during
the war, combines with the establishment of a large number of new enterprises
and institutions and the rapid increa3a in the number of inhabitants (from
100,000 to 150,000), along with the increase in the number of new enterprises
and institutions, has created an increasingly serious housing problem. In view
of today's requirements, and especially because of requirements raised by the
necessity of fulfilling our Five-Year Plan, which involves a continuous immi-
gration of labor into Cluj, it is essential that an adequate solution to this
serious problem be found. The decision of the Council of Ministers of June 1951,
concerning the advantageous financing for construction workers' homes, is a
major step in this direction. This decision reveals the permanent concern of
the party and government for improving the living conditions of the workers.
The measures provided in this decision facilitate the construction of private
homes. Every attempt must be made to facilitate the building of permanent,
inexpensive homes constructed with local resources,
Ordinarily, the foundations are made of concrete with approximately 30 per-
cent coarse stoics, this being the cheapest ordinary material for foundations.
The coat of a pubic meter, tcc.uding labor, is 3,100 lei. The advantage in
using this material is that it guarantees a more solid foundation. The dis-
advantage is that large quantities of cement which could be used for other
projects, of greater importance to the national economy will be used for home
construction. Materials locally available, like limestone for instance, may
be substituted for this material;
The use of local materials, which successfully replace concrete, allows a
substantial economy in the conscmption of cement necessary for the constructions
required by the Five-Year Plrz &cd at the same time facilitates a solution of
the home construction problem, Homes can even be built at a lower cost than
if concrete and crude stone were =ed, For Insulation, tar paper covered with
warm bitumen is ordinarily used. Jntil now, no locally available substitute
for this material has been found, bnt experiments are being made to test the
possibility of using paper treated with linseed oil. For walls, brick is
ordinarily used, The cost of a cubic meter of brick wall is 4,600 lei. Brick
may be replaced by locally available materials, such as gypsum dross. For
doors, windows, and, other items, ordinary wood is necessary. This may `oe ob-
tained more cheaply by buying hardwood, which can also be used for floors.
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 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/19: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700070328-9
The usual material for roofs is tile, which costs 12-14 lei per piece.
This material can be replaced by homemade tile, which can be made from raw
materials available in the outskirts of the city of Cluj at a cost of only
6 lei per piece.
The materials required for water and electric installations cannot be re-
placed by any of the materials available locally. Experienced engineers and
technicians are investigating the possibility of making water pipes from glass.
The ordinary material used for sewage disposal may be replaced by materials
locally available, such as baked and glazed clay. According to professional
computations, the cost of a cubic meter of a building made from ordinary
materials costs 3,900-4,300 lei, whereas a cubic meter made from materials
locally available costs only 2,000 lei, including the materials required for
water and electric installations.
For experimentation in the pouring of walls, a preliminary model house,
one meter In height, was poured in a form complete from foundation to roof.
The construction of workers` homes from local resources is thus not only
possible, but is the proper and advantageous way to relieve the serious housing
problem. It will thus be possible to substitute materials readily available
in the Club region for the materials necessary for important constructions re-
quired by the Five.-Year Plan. in th.s manner, a SO-percent reduction in
building -.jets _e achieved. By building homes from local materials, it becomes
possiblr_ to free qualified vorbers for the great constructions required by the
Five-Year Plan and to replace them, to a very large extent, by nonakilled or
semiskilled men. The time required for building a house from locally available
materials is much shorter than that required for building it from planned ma-
terials.
The problem of utilizing vaste materials plays an important part in the
development of local industry and for use by cooperatives, Many waste materials
and remnants, which could be of great value to the local industry and to handi-
craft cooperatives, are still discarded as worthless trash.
The importance of recovering metals from junk is generally known and many
metals are thus collected by the t'A_ Nevertheless, important quantities of
metals are still lost in garbage, vttste materials, etc. It is the duty of
local organs to prevent this by organizing metal collections with the assistance
of mass organizations eu,h as trade unions, AS: !Association of Scientists and
Technicians), and others, and youth groups. Thus, larger quantities of metals
could be saved in the future. Many useful articles such as sandals, watch
straps, and other items, may be mane actured from leather remnants. This type
of economic e:.ploitation is practiced both by the Ianos Herbak Enterprise and
by handicraft cooperatives. But even the waste materials from this second
manufacturing may be used in several ways such as the making of artificial
leather. From the remnants of leather tanned with chromium by the calcination
process, it is possible to obtain chromium oxide which is used for tanning and
for manufacturing several min^ral paints.
The smallest scraps of leather from footwear factories as well as used
leather (discarded footwear) may be used for making linoleum and as an excellent
agricultural fertilizer rich in nitrogenous materials, Although the Herbak
Enterprise does msnufacture artificial leather from leather remnants, and also
possesses a complete installation for recovering chromium, there is still room
for progress, which can be achieved through research, exchanges of experience
with similar enterprises. and the assistance of scientific institutions. The
manufacturing of the above-mentioned fertilizer from unreclaimable leather
and discarded footwear is imperative. Many valuable waste materials from
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/19: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700070328-9
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 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/19: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700070328-9
abattoirs and from abandoned dead animals can also be used. If the utilization
of the latter is not prohibited by the sanitation authorities, it is essential
that their fat be used for manufacturing soap, their bones for making bone oil
and phosphorus compounds, their hoofs for making lubricating oil, etc.
Huge quantities of lumber and industrial waste are obtained from the wocd-
cutting and lumber industry. As lumber waste, there are loss, roots, branches,
bark, kindling, and other items. The industrial waste is also very important
and includes pieces of lumber, splinters, shavings, sawdust, and other items.
From a chemical point oP view, wood waste may be exploited economically by the
following industries: cellulose, tannic extracts, colophony, and turpentine.
It also may be used in wood hydrolysis and in the dry-distillation process.
Wood ash, an important waste materia:., contains, among other things, calcium
phosphate, a desirable fertilizer, and potassium carbonate (C03K2), an excellent
fertiliser and a basic material in great demand by many industries. Since
Rumania does not have any potassium deposits, greater attention should be paid
to wood ash as a source of potassium.
Wild chestnuts can be used successfully in making oils, since they contain
'48-40 percent starch, 5-7 percent oil, and 3-4 percent saponine. It follows,
therefore, that in manufacturing starch, glucose, and methyl alcohol one kilo-
gram of wild chestnuts are the equivalent of 2 kilograms of potatoes or 0.75
kilogram of corn. Prune seeds, discarded by the makers of prune jam and by
alum brandy distilleries, may be ised in o11-extraction processes. Grape seeds,
h um our wine-making regions, are also rich in valuable materials. Tomato
seeds, left after the making of bouillon, also may be exploited economically.
The Technology Department of the J. Babes University has developed a method
for making cellulose from chaff, a waste material produced in large quantities
during thi peeling of hemp and flax. Previously this chaff was simply burned.
This was also a form of utilization, but hardly in agreement with the funda-
mental principles of planned economy. Experiments have shown that this chaff
may be used for making medium- and good-quality paper, and it is indeed es-
sential in these days when cultural activities require increasingly larger
quantities of paper.
Unused textile remnants may be exploited economically by the paper industry,
especially in the manufa-.turfing of better quality paper. Large quantities of
waste materials should be collected by well organized teams.
The Cluj region appears to be well Integrated, possessing various primary
materials for the development of local production and many types of soil for
the development of different brancnes of agriculture. Properly utilized, these
materials and soils could satisfy the food requirements of the population of
the Cluj region.
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