Workers of IPK Oil Factory Čepin to Protest in Zagreb Tomorrow

Workers of IPK Oil Factory Čepin will protest tomorrow at Ban Jelačić Square in Zagreb and in Radićeva Street, aiming to reach Markov Square and speak with Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor to create conditions for the continued smooth operation of this company, representatives of the PPDIV Union reported at today’s press conference in Čepin.

Business banks have blocked the company’s accounts due to unpaid credit obligations of 52 million kuna, and the enforcement on the shares of the Oil Factory, due to debts that the owner of the company IPK dd in majority state ownership has towards the former company in that system, IPK Animal Feed Factory, has halted the possibility of privatization. The union representative of the company, Helena Žeravica, stated that the Minister of Agriculture, Petar Čobanković, told them at a recent meeting in Zagreb that the proposal for the recapitalization of the company IPK dd was rejected as unacceptable, which had been mentioned as a possible solution to this problem. Žeravica expressed surprise at such a stance, as the PPDIV has no knowledge that the Government discussed this at any of its sessions nor do they have any written trace of such a decision.

She added that workers will not allow this Oil Factory, as the only non-privatized company from the former IPK system, to end up in bankruptcy, stating that it would be “madness to shut down the factory, into which the state has invested 320 million kuna.” The county representative of PPDIV, Šimo Orešković, said that the protest will start tomorrow at 11:00 AM, and the workers are ready to stay in Zagreb until a solution is reached that will enable fair privatization of the company and the preservation of jobs. He assessed that the state, as the owner, has not taken good care of its property, given that for a year now only various proposals and promises have come from responsible persons and institutions, and that the Oil Factory is not responsible for the relations in the IPK system that were not resolved earlier. (H)