Greek Company of Chemical Products & Fertilizers Limited
HISTORY
Part of the GCCPF unit in 1998. Photo taken from the sea.
Archives of the Urban Environment Laboratory, School of Architectural Engineering, National Technical University of Athens.
CREATION OF THE NEW COASTAL INDUSTRIAL ZONE
FOUNDAΤΙΟΝ OF THE GREEK ANONYMOUS COMPANY OF CHEMICHAL PRODUCTS AND FERTILIZERS
COMPLETION OF THE INSTALLATIONS CONSTRUCTION AND PURCHASE OF THE MACHINERY
THE CAPITAL SHARE OF THE COMPANY REACHED 5.000.000 drachmas
THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE GLASS FACTORY WAS COMPLETED
THE COMPANY DECIDED TO MOVE TO LAYOFFS DESPITE THE PRESSURE FROM THE WORKERS FOR COMPENSATIONS AND SHIFTWORK
THE COMPANY BOUGHT THE COAL MINING COMPANY “MILESI”, THE MINES OF OROPOS, KORONI, ZACHARO AND OF ALL EVIA, WHILE IT LEASED THE MINES OF THE REGION OF KASSANDRA.
THE COMPANY EXTENDED ITS PRODUCTION CYCLE AND HAD SUCCEEDED IN HAVING AUTONOMY IN FUELS AND RAW MATERIALS
ALEXANDROS ATHANASIADIS – BODOSAKIS GETS THE MAJORITY OF THE SHARES OF THE COMPANY
THE COMPANY MOVES TO NEW EXTENSIONS AND RENEWAL OF ITS EQUIPMENT
WITHDRAWAL OF THE STATE SUPPORT AND THE TAX DEFICIENCIES OF THE COMPANY
A LONG PERIOD OF PROTRACTED CRISIS THAT WAS CLIMAXED WITH THE ASSASSINATION OF ALEXANDROS ATHANASIADIS – BODOSAKIS
THE COMPANY WENT BANKRUPT AND CLOSED PERMANENTLY
PART OF THE AREA AND MOSTLY THE TOTALITY OF THE COASTAL FRONT OF TH REGION WAS CONCEDED TO THE PIRAEUS PORT AUTHORITY S.A.
After 1880,
the etionian Coast and the nearby bays of Drapetsona – of the Slaughterhouses or of Foron– were transformed into a new coastal industrial zone that was growing at a fast pace, gradually until 1910, while the installations of the port were extended again to meet the new needs. The epicenter of the industrial production of Piraeus was transferred from Leuka and Kaminia to the coastal front. The foundation of the Greek Company of Chemical Products & Fertilizers Limited (GCCP & Fertilizers LTD) in 1909 bound the transformation of the space as the epicenter of the industrial growth of Piraeus, because of its size, the volume of production and the workforce that it employed. The choice of space was connected to the advantages it offered: the direct access to the port that offered cheaper raw materials, because of the low cost of transportation, but also the velocity of the circulation of the products.
The Company was founded in 1909,
with a capital share of 2,000,000 drachmas. –divided in 20,000 equal shares– and its shareholders were many financiers, scientists, chemists, agriculturists, and engineers, but also the National Bank of Greece, the Bank of Athens, and the Banque D’ Orient participated directly bringing out a pioneer corporate model for those times. The aim of the Company was the production and trade of acids, fertilizers, and overall chemical products. The industrial unit of the Fertilizer Company was set up at the coastal area of the Krakaris pier on a land of 57.380 m2 that was wholly owned by Leontios Oikonomidis and Nikolaos Kanellopoulos. The Company was firstly extended westward up to the public slaughterhouses and eastward up to the shipyard of Vasiliadis.
In October 1910,
the construction of the installations was completed as well as the purchase of the machinery – worth 1,375,000 drachmas – and therefore, the factory started to operate with a steam engine of 600 horses. The first units that operated were the units of sulfuric acid, sulfuric iron, calcium superphosphate and acids. Additionally, a jetty and a conveyor belt were built for the loading of ships with raw materials and commodities. As it has been mentioned in the bibliography, the GCCP & Fertilizers LTD reflected a modern and vigorous version of industrial activity that ranged from its corporate construction and staffing with high skilled technicians, up to the continuous update of the installations and the concurrent introduction of technology and expertise with the target to update the production and improve the market inside and outside the country´s borders.
The industrial unit of the GCCP & Fertilizers LTD ruled the field and the economic life of the city of Piraeus since the very first years of its foundation and it kept increasing continuously the volume of production and staff. In 1912, the capital share of the Company reached 5,000,000 drachmas, the production of sulfuric acid was doubled, while it was also decided to build a glass factory for the manufacturing of “demijohns” for packing the acids to help with the vertical integration of the production. At the same time, the unit would also produce bottles, products of white glass and sheets of glass. This choice also relates to the business activity of the “Federation of Greek Wines and Spirits Industries” shares. In January 1914, the construction of the glass factory was completed, but the production began after the end of World War I. Throughout the war, the unit faced difficulties that resulted in reduced production, but also sectional work suspension due to the deficiency of raw material supply, the increase of the sea freight rates and the general exclusion due to the call to arms.
After the end of the war,
and mostly after the end of the Greco-Turkish War, the Company passed to a new period of growth. All its sections very quickly reached and exceeded the prewar levels of production, while the glass factory started operating with German and Italian glass blowers. At the same time, the Company made some investments that helped with its autonomy in fuels (lignite) and raw materials (iron pyrites). In 1920, they bought the coal mining company “Milesi”, the mines of Oropos, Koroni, Zacharo and of all Evia, while it leased the mines of the region of Kassandra. In 1921, the Company extended its production cycle and succeeded in having autonomy in fuels and raw materials. Its developmental trajectory continued until the start of World War II.
Despite the continuous growth of the production, as attested by balance sheets and the praising comments of the Press over the “modern” facilities given to the staff, the work conditions at the industrial unit of Drapetsona were harsh, and the employment relations very unsure and full of conflicts. In 1917 the first articles for salary claims and industrial action inside the factory made their appearance.
In July 1917,
the Company decided to move to layoffs despite the pressure from the workers for compensations and shiftwork. During the entire period of the Interwar there were continuous claims and very harsh conflicts coming from the workers.
At the end of World War II, the company was suffering from huge damages at its installations from the bombings, and on top of that the Greek countryside was destroyed. At that moment – in 1946– Alexandros Athanasiadis Bodosakis gained most of the shares of the Company. The capitals of the new owner, the new loans and the economic aid coming from the Marshall plan contributed to the smooth restart of the business, and the reconstruction of its building and machinery equipment but also to the quick continuity of its developmental trajectory, after the war. In the mid-1960s, the Company moved to new extensions (a new sulfuric acid unit) and renewed its equipment. After 1970, the decrease of the agricultural production at country level was accompanied by the withdrawal of the state support and the tax deficiencies of the Company resulting to a long period of protracted crisis which was climaxed with the assassination of Alexandros Athanasiasis – Bodosakis (in March 1988). In the meantime, the Company could not cover the costs of the extended investments it had to make due to the environmental surcharge it was causing. The Company could not overpass all those multiple crises and had a lot of accumulated debt – the majority of shares continued to be under the Bodosakis Association– which led to the Company´s bankruptcy and its definite closure in 1993. The installations passed to the National Bank of Greece and more specifically to its subsidiary, Protypos Ktimatiki Touristiki S.A.
In 2003,
part of the area and mostly the totality of the coastal front of the region was conceded at the Piraeus Port authority S.A. with the aim to increase the property of the Organization which was entering the Stock market. At the same time the process for the tearing down of the installations of the factory moved forward. At the fall of the same year, almost all the units of the industrial complex were torn down, 105 out of 109 units of built surface, more than 140,000 square meters were demolished.
Points of interest:
Krakaris Conveyor belt
Power Station
Silo
Glass factory
Slaughterhouses
Water tower
Workers’ quarters
Institute of Chemistry and Agriculture
- National Technical University of Athens– National Hellenic Research Foundation, Histrorical industrial equipment in Greece, Athens 1998
- Histrorical Archives of National Bank of Greece
- Greek Company of Chemical Products & Fertilizers Limited, Reports of the Board of Directors at the General meeting of the shareholders over the General Balance of the years 1922-1928
- Eleni Kiramargiou, Drapetsona 1922-1967. A world at the end of the world, Athens 2019
- Ε. Μaistrou / D. Mavrokordatou / G. Macheras / Ν. Belavilas / L. Papastefanakis / G. Polizos, Greek Company of Chemical Products & Fertilizers Limited (1909-1993), Fertilizers of Drapetsona,Athens 2007
- Christos Chatziiosif, The old Moon. Industry in the Greek economy, 1830-1940, Athens 1993
- Eleni Kyramargiou, Historian, Associate Researcher at the Institute of Historical Research, National Hellenic Research Foundation
- Urban Environment Laboratory Archive, School of Architecture, NTUA and National Bank of Greece Historical Archive.
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