Workers of Nova Željezara Zenica gather before BiH institutions: It's past 12, a work stoppage would jeopardise the entire system

(Patria) - A large number of workers from Nova Željezara Zenica gathered today in front of the building of the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo in a peaceful protest to once again draw attention to the difficult situation of this company and demand an urgent response from the competent institutions.

The workers gathered around 12:00 at the said location, ahead of the session of the Council of Ministers of BiH, which will be held today at 13:00. Accordingly, they want to point out to the authorities the seriousness of the situation and the consequences that a potential work stoppage could have on the workers, their families, and the broader economic system.



The Metalworkers' Union earlier announced that between 500 and 1,000 workers are expected at today's gathering. The goal is not to block Sarajevo, but to clearly demonstrate the scale of the threat.

"The situation is more than serious. It is often said that it is 'five to twelve', but I think that for us, twelve o'clock has already passed. We are in a damage control phase. Even if the Council of Ministers adopts the necessary regulation on market protection today, at some point we will have to temporarily halt production because we do not have enough coke until the next shipment arrives," warned Saša Božić, director of sales and marketing at Nova Željezara Zenica, in an interview with N1 today.

Due to the failure to adopt temporary protective measures on steel imports, around 11,000 jobs are at risk in this company.

At today's session of the Council of Ministers of BiH, ministers are expected to vote in the second round on the Proposal for a Decision on the introduction of a temporary protective measure on imports of steel and steel products, proposed by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH.



If protective measures are not adopted, the production process at Nova Željezara Zenica will continue until May. By then, the existing coke stocks will be exhausted, the management says. They warn that after that, a production halt and a chain disruption of industrial flows dependent on this steel plant's operations are imminent.