Šarović: Aluminij was in party and national hands for too many years

MOSTAR, (Patria) - A deadline has been set for July 31 to develop a plan for the care of Aluminij workers, it was said after today's meeting of the Aluminij Crisis Council.

The Crisis Council includes the company's Management and Supervisory Board, the president of HDZ BiH Dragan Čović, the federal Minister of Finance Jelka Miličević, and as observers, members of the Presidency and Assembly of the Independent Union of Aluminij Employees.

Aluminij has been disconnected from the high-voltage power grid due to multi-million dollar debts, the largest of which are for electricity, while about 900 workers have lost their jobs.

A group of workers protested the shutdown of Aluminij, blaming the president of HDZ Dragan Čović and his policies for the collapse of one of the largest companies in Herzegovina, while Čović rejected such accusations.

Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina Mirko Šarović said in an interview with the Patria News Agency on Wednesday that „for too many years, Aluminij was in some party and national hands, and less in the hands of those who would turn Aluminij into a regional giant, even though Aluminij deserves exactly that.“

„I am among those who believe that the state is the weakest employer, and that those who advocate for keeping key resources in the hands of the state are promoting false patriotism. 
In fact, it is a facade for using and plundering public resources for party purposes. As long as something is state-owned, public, it will be subject to corruption and plunder, and political elites precisely wish for that. It does not suit them to privatize, say, a part of the power industry, because then they will not be able to steal.“

Šarović stated that he does not advocate for the sale of public goods, but for what is public, he said, a strategic partner must be found to protect those goods.