ArcelorMittal the world’s second-largest steel producer which also operates in Bosnia and Herzegovina, is closing one of its plants in Zenica, the company said at a Wednesday press conference.

ArcelorMittal Zenica General Manager Nikhil Mehta informed the public that the company is closing its coking plant.

“Last year it had huge financial challenges. We are trying to find ways to get out of this situation. One of the steps is to stop the coking plant, which will happen at the end of April. I would like to mention that we will continue with the integral production in Zenica, we will continue to buy coke, which is necessary for the production of steel, and we will continue with production. We are currently going through difficult phases. We made a plan of steps to make our business sustainable. This will take some time, but I believe that in one or two quarters we will be able to resolve the situation. Of course, in these situations, one should take care of one’s people and environmental protection. We are making a plan where to deploy the people from the coke plant,” Mehta said.

He believes that this problem will be solved by May adding that there is a possibility that a certain number of employees who worked in the plant will be moved to Western European countries.

“Our initial plan was to deploy our employees to other plants in Zenica, but we had several inquiries from Western Europe where they are trying to find good people for the job,” said Nikhil Mehta.

The General Manager notes that 80% of the problems with the environment were due to the coking plant. However, the question arises, how will the closure of the plant affect the Zenica Heating Plant?

“As for the Zenica Heating Plant, it will continue to work as usual, the only thing is that since there will be no coke gas, the cost of production will increase. We signed a seven-year contract with a fixed price, and we believed that everything would be resolved, but I think we are all mature enough to understand the changes in Europe and I believe that the Government will also understand and that we will jointly consider how to sell our services in this situation. We don't want to make money on heating, we just want to be compensated for our expenses. The details of the costs have been shared with the Government and we will see what we will agree on,” the General Manager said.

It is difficult to predict how many people will lose their jobs, Mehta noted, considering that they are planning to redistribute the employees. Whether there will be a reduction in employees depends on the company’s future business, he concluded.