The Government of Bosnia’s Federation entity (FBiH) will not allow for Bosnia’s sole aluminium producer, ‘Aluminij’, to be closed down, the FBiH Prime Minister said on Friday, following an FBiH Government session.

Aluminij, a company employing some 900 people, is facing a shutdown due to the high debt and its management urged the FBiH Government, which co-owns the company, to help save it.

The company is facing a shutdown of electrical power, and should this happen, it would practically mean an end to the aluminium giant.

“‘Aluminij’ has two inconveniences. One of them is that the price of aluminium on the global market has fallen, and the other is that the price of electricity has increased,” FBiH Prime Minister Fadil Novalic said.

“We are one of the owners of the company, so everything we do in Aluminij we need to do in a synchronized manner with other co-owners. The Government of Croatia needs to get engaged as well and they have an obligation to do so,” he said, as neighbouring Croatia also owns shares in the company.

The company’s Independent Union said last week that an unplanned shutdown of power in Aluminij would “freeze up” the liquid metal in the 256 electrolytic cells and that making them operational again would cost more than a billion BAM, effectively putting an end to Aluminij. This would, the Union said, be detrimental to the livelihood of thousands of people.

But the FBiH Government will not allow for this to happen, Novalic said.

FBiH Minister of Energy, Mining and Industry, Nermin Dzindic, said that one of the six conclusions of the Friday session was that the management of the company has to conduct a financial review of Aluminij within the next 30 days, while another conclusion stipulates a plan to reprogram the electricity debt of the company to be put together.

Aluminij’s acting Director, Drazen Pandza, said that the company has not yet received the FBiH conclusions officially, but said that, while all the measures that have been decided may not be adequate, “this is the beginning of a new, healthier and better Aluminij.”

“The important thing is that the position of the Government is that Aluminij must continue working and that the interest of employees is the priority. We are especially glad about the minister’s measure to secure the supply of electricity under market prices,” he said.