Power utility PPC employees left idle as a result of the corporation’s planned phaseout of lignite-fired power stations until 2023 will be transferred to other company units and posts, the PPC board has decided.

The company’s leadership anticipates PPC’s two voluntary exit programs this year will end up attracting some 1,200 participants, a figure deemed satisfactory considering the company’s financial figures.

PPC is preparing to launch a second voluntary exit program on September 1. It will concern some 1,700 company employees, of which 500 have already qualified for full pension rights.

The full details of the upcoming voluntary exit offer have not yet been announced but are expected within the next few weeks.

It is known that interested parties will face a September 31 deadline to lodge their applications. Also, the follow-up voluntary exit plan will offer outgoing employees bonus payments of 20,000 euros on top of severance pay worth 15,000 euros.

An initial voluntary exit program offered by PPC earlier in the year drew 702 employees from PPC’s lignite-fired units, slightly below the target figure, prompting company savings estimated at 48 million euros.