ZAGREB, Nov 25 (Hina) - The Sisak Ironworks bankruptcy commissioner, Ilija Maric, has said that all the 1,700 company employees will most probably have to be registered with the Employment Bureau until a new strategic partner is
found.
ZAGREB, Nov 25 (Hina) - The Sisak Ironworks bankruptcy
commissioner, Ilija Maric, has said that all the 1,700 company
employees will most probably have to be registered with the
Employment Bureau until a new strategic partner is found. #L#
If the government does not agree to pay the workers minimum wages
until the new partner is chosen, the workers will be registered with
the Employment Bureau within a month, Maric told reporters in Sisak
on Monday.
He said that negotiations were underway with four potential
partners interested in buying the Ironworks, however, their names
would not be known before November 28. The bankruptcy commissioner
claimed that most potential buyers wanted to keep around 1,200
workers.
The company will probably not start operating until April next
year, he said.
Accusing the company workers' unions of not being up to their task,
Maric said that incidents should not have happened at last week's
protest and "the illegal blockade of the company" in Sisak. He also
advised the workers to think about who was heading their justified
protest.
Maric said that Sisak County prefect Djuro Brodarac was the one who
had been manipulating the Ironworks case for years.
It was never questionable if the government had secured funds for
the payment of wages, but the bankruptcy council and the board of
creditors first had to approve the issuing of a loan for that
purpose, Maric said. A loan of 24.5 million kuna was agreed on,
which should be sufficient for three wages, he added.
Two wages were paid on Friday, and the third should be paid by the
end of this month.
Maric said the former company owner, the Austrian-Russian concern
"Trubo-Impex", which recently left the ownership structure of the
Sisak Ironworks, would be requested before a court to pay its
debts.
(hina) rml sb