An Israeli-Chinese consortium led by M.T. Abraham Group from Tel Aviv said on Tuesday it was ready to immediately relaunch production at aluminium smelter Aluminij in Mostar, southern Bosnia and Herzegovina if the owners of the ailing company accept their offer of a long-term lease.

M.T. Abraham Group and its partners are ready and willing to immediately start implementing the strategic plan. If the final proposal is accepted, our teams of experts, partners and resources are ready to start production without delay, the company said in a statement emailed to Hina.

In their latest offer, the Israeli-Chinese consortium, comprising M.T. Abraham Group, China Machinery Engineering Corporation and China Nonferrous Metal Industry's Foreign Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd., scrapped the initial idea of subsidised electricity and demanded guarantees for a long-term lease of the company and certain benefits that fall within the scope of the government of the Federation entity and the state-level government.

However, the company's supervisory board decided that the offer was unacceptable and requested its modification to make it acceptable to shareholders at their general meeting before the end of the year.

M.T. Abraham Group did not specify whether they would modify their offer as requested by the supervisory board.

Because of losses and debts exceeding €230 million, Aluminij was disconnected from electricity supply on July 10. In the meantime, 500 workers have been dismissed and about 350 are still hired.

The Federation entity government owns 44 percent of the company, the same as small shareholders, while the government of Croatia holds the remaining 12 percent.