EPCG Željezara Nikšić starts working on Thursday, Vujović: The factory was saved from the clutches of a bad investor

EPCG Željezara Nikšić officially starts working tomorrow (Thursday, February 23), the executive director of that company, Đorđije Manojlović, told "Vijesta".

"Tomorrow, we are opening the gates of the new factory for about 200 former employees of the Željezara. The schedule has been drawn up, they have been given assignments, and we are starting with the preparatory work, which includes cleaning the perimeter of the factory and its facilities, as well as a new inventory of assets, which will last about a month," he said. is Manojlović.

As he said, according to the business plan, after the preparatory works, they will start with the production of structures and the procurement of aluminum profiles, while the work on the production of substructures would start in half a year.

"We are immediately starting the construction of a power plant. I truly believe that this will be a beautiful story and that Željezara will once again be a company that the city and the country will be proud of," said Manojlović.

Even the former employees did not hide their satisfaction with the start of the work of the former giant.

"After almost nine months, tomorrow the workers of Željezara enter the factory and start working. What is important to point out is that we enter with contracts for the work and that we expect the tender to be announced as soon as possible, because that is what is most important for all of us - to apply and to show that we are the best candidates for the jobs that are planned in the new company. We want to show everyone that this factory can work profitably only if it is done right. It's an incredible feeling when you walk into your factory that you saved from the clutches of a bad investor, when you saved the history of this country. We feel proud because we are the generation that saved the Ironworks, but we still have to save our jobs and make that feeling complete," said Ivan Vujović on behalf of the workers.

Elektroprivreda bought the property of Željezara for 20 million euros from the Turkish company Tosčelik, which operates within Tosjali Holding, and after paying the second installment in mid-February, registered the company EPCG Željezara Nikšić.

The work will be organized in four segments, and as previously announced, it is planned to employ 304 workers.

Tosčelik, who bought the assets of the Nikšić factory in 2012 for 15,1 million euros, suspended production in March 2021, and on September 1 last year all 229 production workers were fired. In recent months, they protested on the roof of the Željezara, fighting, as they constantly pointed out, for the factory, their jobs and the existence of their families.