Business giants in Bosnia and Herzegovina have been facing serious problems for years, and many of them are now threatened with closure. One of the latest examples is the situation surrounding Nova Željezara Zenica, whose uncertain future has set off a chain reaction in the entire industrial sector.
Namely, a request was submitted to initiate bankruptcy proceedings in the company Nova Ljubija from Prijedor, which for years was a key supplier of ore to the ironworks in Zenica. This company points out that the impossibility of collecting claims, as well as the difficult situation in which Nova Željezara Zenica is located, directly threatens their survival.
The president of the trade union organization Nova Ljubija, Darko Antonić, warns that the workers in Prijedor have become collateral damage of the wider industrial crisis.
“Here in Prijedor, we are collateral damage, because because our only customer in Zenica has stopped integral production, our need for work also ends. By automatically declaring bankruptcy, 587 workers go to the labor office and we become social cases,” said Antonić.
The company’s management also warns that the situation is extremely serious. The deputy director of Nova Ljubija, Suzana Gašić, points out that supplies of raw materials in Zenica are limited and that without concrete decisions by the authorities, the complete shutdown of production could happen very quickly.
“In that worst case scenario, the Ironworks in Zenica informed us that they have coke for two months of work, our ore for one month of work. This would mean that we have another month to produce the quantities they need, and they would also go towards shutting down production. We really tried to explain to all those who make decisions what it means to not make decisions and that we are failing to protect our production,” emphasized Gašić.
The workers of the Zenica Ironworks have already warned of possible consequences and announced protests. However, after the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina agreed to the decision to protect domestic production through the introduction of customs measures, the protests were temporarily postponed. Now the decision of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina is expected.
The president of the Nova Željezara Zenica Trade Union, Rašid Fetić, believes that the fate of this company is much more than the issue of one factory.
“I still believe that the Ironworks is a pillar of the state, the foundation of the state. If the government wants to destroy it, I don’t see the progress of this state. I fear who will earn a pension tomorrow,” said Fetić.
The problems in these companies do not only affect workers in the mining and metallurgical sector. The railways of both entities also feel the direct consequences, because a large part of their income comes precisely from the transport of ore from Omarska to Zenica, as well as the transport of products to the port in Ploče.
President of the Republika Srpska Railway Union Jelenko Dobraš warns that the interruption of this transport would have serious financial consequences.
“Thus, the transportation of ore from Nova Ljubija, formerly Mittal, or from Omarska stops. Simply, our income is about 60 percent of the total income of Željeznica RS from that client. In addition, Koksara stopped working, where the annual income was about three million,” said Dobraš.
Economists warn that the consequences of shutting down large industrial systems would be long-term and difficult to recover. Economist Amila Pilav-Velić emphasizes that industry is not just a set of machines and facilities, but above all people and their knowledge.
“All the industries and factories we are talking about are not only equipment, machines and facilities, but actually people who are competent to work in that industry. This would mean a huge loss of the competences that these people have acquired working in this industry, and that is a huge loss, not only economically, not only socially, but in the long term it will affect the industry, that is, its competitiveness”, Pilav-Velić pointed out.
While former industrial giants shut down one after the other, tens of thousands of workers lose their jobs. As one of the solutions, competent institutions often offer the payment of contributions so that workers can retire, but experts warn that such an approach cannot compensate for the loss of production, jobs and industrial knowledge that has been created over the years, BHRT writes.
