Jelena Bošnjak: Varteks Employees Can Expect Salaries Next Week

– We are doing everything we can to pay the remaining salaries, and employees can expect them next week – said Jelena Bošnjak, CEO of Varteks, to Lider after workers of the company began a strike yesterday due to unpaid parts of their February salaries and the entire March salary, while the day for paying April salaries is approaching.

The information about salary payments next week is new, considering that it was initially expected that a recapitalization would be voted on May 21 at the Varteks Assembly meeting, and part of the recapitalization would allegedly be used for the payment of overdue salaries. However, as the president of the Croatian Trade Union Association (URSH) Tomislav Rajković claimed yesterday, even that money would not be enough to pay the overdue salaries, and it should be noted that the April salaries are also due soon.

Rajković criticized Jelena Bošnjak yesterday for offering 50 euros to those workers who do not strike, believing that she is trying to break the strike in this way. We asked the Varteks leader what she thinks about this accusation, and she replied that the decision to reward 50 euros for all those who do not strike is legal,’as confirmed by legal experts’.

– If part of the workers is working at an increased intensity while others are not, we believe they deserve to be rewarded for it, and we do not understand why Rajković is bothered that Varteks workers receive additional incentives, while he is supposedly fighting for them – Bošnjak wonders.

She also responded to accusations that she yelled at the workers, claiming that this is not true.

– I have already mentioned that I have never yelled at the workers. Varteks has a large facility, and to be heard in the last rows, you have to speak louder. Those statements are completely taken out of context, as I addressed the workers with respect and consideration, and if anyone understood my statements in a way that they were not intended, I apologize to them – Bošnjak stated.

Whether Varteks employees will receive their salaries next week remains to be seen, but it should not be forgotten that we learned from the strike that part of the overdue salaries from February was not paid at the beginning of April, although Bošnjak claimed otherwise to Lider at that time. Namely, the loan for the payment of part of the salaries for February was provided by co-owner Stjepan Čajić, but evidently, that loan was not enough to cover the entire debt from February.

Although Varteks workers suspended production for five days at the beginning of April until the overdue debts from February were paid, they returned to work after the mentioned loan. However, the current strike, judging by what URSH president Rajković said, as well as by his tone during our conversation, suggests that this time the workers will not back down.

The largest shareholder of Varteks, Čajić, a technology entrepreneur who is generally very reluctant to make statements to the media, unexpectedly spoke out publicly yesterday after being accused of slowing down the company’s recovery.

As reported by Jutarnji list, he emphasized that he invested in Varteks believing in the vision of Nenad Bakić but was unpleasantly surprised when Bakić later showed no willingness to take on financing and was left alone, feeling betrayed.