At the sitting held on 27 July, the members of the Industry Committee discussed the Information on the post-privatisation conditions in Keramika a.d. from Mladenovac and the Committee’s 2011 Work Plan.

The Information on the conditions in Keramika company was presented by the representatives of three representative unions of the company’s workers, representatives of the new workers union, representatives of the company’s management, and a representative of the Ministry of Economy and Regional Development also took part in the debate.

The representatives of the Autonomous Union, Union Independence and Association of Autonomous Unions, at whose initiative the Industry Committee was considering the Information on the conditions in Keramika a.d. from Mladenovac, had sent materials to the National Assembly’s Privatisation and Industry Committees pointing out the new company owner’s non-compliance with the privatisation contract. They briefed the Committee members on the data at their disposal according to which in the 21 months after privatisation the new owner had not fulfilled the obligations arising from the contract. In a year, a million EUR have not been invested into production, and even with control implemented by the Privatisation Agency, the contractual obligation has not been honoured. The union representatives stressed that the new owner invested into repairs and equipment, but not in production preparation due to which breakdowns and halts in the production process abound.

Addressing the Committee members, the representatives of the New Union of workers of Keramika a.d. from Mladenovac stressed that their union, created this year, boasts almost 300 members out of the 500 company employees. They talked about the basic production parameters in the last three years and results that speak in support of a better and newer technological process in the company.

The representatives of the new company owner stressed that the company was bought at the fourth tender at the Privatisation Agency with very high debts that had grown even higher before the company was taken over. They stated that the management saw where investment was most needed and channeled the funds in that direction. The company is no longer blocked, the workers have been paid what was owed them in pension and disability insurance, their years of service have been linked and the earnings paid out. They also announced new investments into the production process, as well as product placement onto the foreign market.

The representative of the Ministry of Economy and Regional Development said that the Ministry had continually assisted Keramika even before its privatisation through various incentive programmes. The company had also received loan support by the Development Fund and assisted the linking of the workers’ years of service.

Following the address of the company representatives, the Industry Committee members completed a discussion in which they stressed that the workers and management should be helped to find a compromise solution to their problems, and that they should be assisted and enabled to find the appropriate climate to decrease disloyal competition and a better placement of their products on the domestic market. The Committee members concluded that the Committee would forward a recommendation to the Ministry of Economy and Regional Development supporting the Privatisation Agency’s control role in the examination of the realisation of the sale contract, respecting the specificities of Keramika company; a recommendation to both the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Labour and Social Policy to undertake steps to prevent disloyal competition; a recommendation to the development Fund to, respecting the need to preserve production, set priorities when allocating funds, as well as a recommendation that it is necessary to find a solution to settle the employees’ income taxes and dues in line with the contract concluded with the PIO fund.

The Committee members went on to unanimously adopt the 2011 Work Plan according to which the Committee shall consider legal documents from the sphere of energy and mining expected to be passed next year. Also, the Committee shall hold special sittings to discuss the development strategy of energy production, as well as public hearings on renewable energy resources, sustainable development and activities in the energy community. The Committee members unanimously decided to forward an initiative to the Ministry of Finance regarding the payment of VAT after the realisation of transactions and payment of claims, as well as to forward a request to the Ministry of Energy for information on the planned investments into renewable energy resources in 2011.

The sitting was chaired by Milorad Buha, Committee Chairman.