BELGRADE – Serbian Minister in charge of Kosovo-Metohija (KiM) Aleksandar Vulin has said that the Serbian government will not allow forgings maker Lola-FOT, based in Lesak, in the Leposavic municipality in the province’s north, to go under.
Vulin told reporters in the Serbian parliament on Wednesday that the debt-burdened Lola will join the process of restructuring of enterprises in Serbia very soon.
He said that the government will help the factory to make it possible for its employees to continue working and keep their jobs. It will not be doing so just to have someone’s debts written off, he added.
The minister said that the factory’s account, whose RSD four million debt rose to 42 million due to accumulated interest, must be unfrozen.
Vulin said that the Serbian government and its Economy Ministry have showed a little bit more understanding for this case and they will continue doing so when it comes to the operation and survival of enterprises in the southern Serbian province.
“We will not allow Lola to go under,” but the employees in this enterprise need to know that huge problems are facing workers in other parts of Serbia as well, the minister said.
Lola’s workers blocked the traffic on the Kosovska Mitrovica – Raska main road yesterday morning, but Kosovo special police pushed them away with force around 11.30 a.m., arresting 15.
The workers told a Tanjug correspondent that they blocked the road to make the authorities in Belgrade pay closer attention to the bad situation they are in, including the fact that the enterprise’s account has been blocked since January 14.
They said they have not been paid any money for four months now and they fear that they will their jobs, which provide living not only for them, but also for about one thousand members of their families.
Lola-FOT d.o.o. Beograd-Lesak manufactures forged and extruded steel and non-ferrous metal products. It is the only company registered in Belgrade with all of its plants in Kosovo and operating under Serbia’s regulations.
