PM launches new high-voltage laboratory in Koncar electrical company

Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic on Tuesday inaugurated a new high voltage laboratory in the Koncar - Distribution & Special Transformers company and on that occasion said that Koncar was an "exception that confirms the rule" that companies with a majority state ownership can do successful business if the state keeps "its hands out of it".

The new laboratory represents an investment of HRK 106 million and is a step forward in the manufacturing of medium energy transformers.

Milanovic recalled that he had visited Koncar when he was 15, when it looked like a "dark factory" while now it looks "like a pharmacy, a modern factory" that resembles those in Germany.

"Unfortunately, you are an exception and not the rule. An exception that shows that companies where the state has a majority stake can do business successfully if the state keeps its hands out of it", Milanovic said, adding that the state would continue to support the company.

What you need most is cheaper and competitive money and that is the only obstacle to this successful medium-sized company becoming an even more successful big firm, he said.

Koncar is not lacking in know-how, ambition, experience and attitude, but it needs better access to capital and for the time being we are doing what we can, but will have to do better in the future, Milanovic said.

"The EU is not an obstacle here. And when they ask me how we intend to protect some industry.. We won't protect it. We can assist and stimulate it, but to protect it how that used to be done once upon a time, when people were given a false sense of security, won't happen anymore. Whoever is not ready to adapt and live according to those rules will not progress", the PM said.

Koncar CEO Darinko Bago stressed that the company's investment cycle has continued over 11 years, with more than HRK 630 million invested and more than HRK 15 billion worth of transformers released on the market.

"This places Croatia amongst the leading manufacturers of transformers per capita", he said.

He pointed out that the average wage for around 4,000 employees - the majority of whom have higher education - was around HRK 8,500 net, which is 56% above the Croatian average pay.

The company has continued to record a growth in sales and exports and plans to increase this even more. There are problems and it is necessary to restructure companies that are not involved with our core activities, which is the key to our prosperity, Bago concluded.

Last year Koncar D&ST sold goods and services to the value of HRK 680 million, 75% of which was generated through exports to Sweden, Germany, the Czech Republic and Finland. The company exports its products also to the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Ghana and Morocco.

(Hina)



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