The CEO of Adriatic Brewery, Nenad Buljan, announced today that the majority owner of the factory, the Slovenian Laško Brewery, has decided to sell Adriatic Brewery, and if this does not succeed, the closure of its operations will follow.
"If a buyer willing to take over Adriatic Brewery and continue its operations is not found in the next few months, or someone who might be interested in its long-term lease, we will proceed to close the business," Buljan said at today's press conference at the headquarters of Adriatic Brewery in Vranjic near Solin. According to Buljan, the majority owner Laško Brewery decided on this course of action because it does not see a long-term possibility for the survival of Adriatic Brewery's operations. In the event of closure, Buljan stated that all employees would receive severance pay as regulated by law and the Collective Agreement. Adriatic Brewery incurred a loss of about 42 million kuna in 2009, and this year there will not be significant deviations in this regard, Buljan said. He noted that contacts have already been established with some domestic and foreign potential buyers of Adriatic Brewery, but he did not want to disclose their names.
He announced that next week he would negotiate with representatives of the Austrian "Kaltenberg" about the potential leasing of Adriatic Brewery to that company. In response to journalists' questions, Buljan stated that he does not believe that the difficulties of Adriatic Brewery, whose majority owner is the Slovenian Laško Brewery, are related to the political relations between Croatia and Slovenia. Laško Brewery announced the possibility of 'liquidation' of Adriatic Brewery in May 2009, but this was abandoned after a rebellion by the union at Adriatic Brewery. The commissioner of the union for employees in agriculture, food, and tobacco industry and water management in Croatia (PPDIV) for Dalmatia, Ivica Blažević, reported that last year 89 workers were laid off from Adriatic Brewery with severance pay of five thousand kuna for each year of service. He stated that for the remaining 65 workers of Adriatic Brewery, in the event of its closure, nearly seven million euros would need to be allocated for severance pay. According to him, production at Adriatic Brewery is currently endangered due to a lack of raw materials. Blažević believes that the difficulties of Adriatic Brewery arose because it is located in an attractive area suitable for the construction of business and commercial facilities. According to Blažević, "it is indicative" that there are reports that Laško Brewery intends to relocate production to Serbia. "This has causal connections with Adriatic Brewery," believes Blažević. (H)
