What happened was inevitable, Energy and Industry Minister Nermin Dzindic said in N1's programme, commenting on the shutdown of Bosnia's only aluminium smelter, Mostar-based Aluminij company. The bankruptcy procedure that the company will undergo, he said, does not necessarily mean its liquidation.
A few minutes after midnight, Aluminij has plugged off the power grid due to huge debts it accumulated over the past years, caused by high electricity prices.
Hundreds of workers were organising protests in the past days and for one day blocked one of the main roads in the country, leading to the south, asking the Government in Bosnia's Federation (FBiH) entity, the majority owner, to save the company but with no success.
“It couldn't go any longer. The model of production, where we add 1,000 Bosnian marks (approx 500 Euros) to one ton of aluminium and send to the end user, was ultimately unsustainable. The problem was present for twenty years,” said the minister, in charge of the industry and energy sectors in the Federation, Bosniak-Croat shared semi-autonomous region.
The company will undergo a bankruptcy procedure, it was decided on Wednesday in the meeting of Aluminij's independent trade union and the management. Until then, the workers will be working their shifts.
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“After that, we will register with the employment bureau, and we don't know what comes next. I was a bit optimistic by now but the company was shut down. We hoped the Government would take steps and will not allow Aluminij's shutdown. Unfortunately, it did not happen,” said Romeo Bioksic, the trade union chief.
The bankruptcy procedure does not necessarily mean Aluminij's liquidation, said the minister.
“Reorganisation of the company during the bankruptcy procedure, a model in which Aluminij would produce aluminium and make a profit, is the desired model. If we had had a wand last night at midnight and could erase 400 million marks debt, Aluminij would have been producing a negative result in the third shift,” stressed Dzindic.
The Government analysed the situation and has asked the company's supervisory and steering boards to deliver information on the company's shutdown and quality of its equipment.
“We asked for an analysis of workers, their status, and delivery of that information to the FBiH Government. A stance will be made based on that information. We expect the management to submit a request for bankruptcy procedure. As for workers, the Government promised to pay and bridge the ears of service for all those workers who meet the conditions for retirement,”, the minister told N1.
He refused to comment on possible criminal liability of the company's management(s).
“I'm a technical person and a technocrat, I wouldn't deal with those details,” he emphasised.
The minister also said that, according to current laws, the Government cannot provide financial support to the company and that this is clear. The Government of neighbouring Croatia, which has 12 percent of share in Aluminij, invested nothing.
