Admetam is about to finish its consultancy activities and will soon hand in a report to the company, also tackling the issue on how to fill missing workplace, argues the Bank Assets Management Company (BAMC), also known as the Slovenian “bad bank”. In a statement for Radio Slovenija, its CEO Imre Balogh explained that Alpina was in poor condition due to poor management in the past years. BAMC has increased its capital by converting its debt and granting two loans. The investment will need to be returned to the taxpayers.

BAMC has been attempting to find solutions for Alpina in talks with its workers and the municipality of Žiri, where the company is located. The workers have threatened to stop Admetam’s consultants physically from entering the premises of Alpina. “Emotions run too high in this story,” said the head of BAMC and appealed for de-escalation of the situation. Balogh believes that Alpina’s competitiveness could be re-established, yet currently the company “has very low productivity, high costs and some products that cannot be sold”.

The bad bank’s CEO also emphasized that only 30 per cent of Alpina’s employees work in Slovenia, where a fifth of its production runs, while the remaining three factories are located abroad. “In total, only a half of the production capacity from these four factories is exploited,” he stressed. This means that two factories will have to be closed, concluded Balogh, adding that the factories abroad would be relatively more affected than the central one.

Slovenian company also in need of a “diet”
BAMC has approved a re-structuring program, which includes a firm pledge that all central functions and production of high added value items would stay in Žiri. Alpina’s key employees will take part in re-structuring, while those who are made redundant will be aided in search for a new job or job retraining, assured Balogh. And how long will payments to Admetam continue? “I strongly hope that three months will suffice,” estimated the chief of BAMC.

Admetam’s plan on how to save Alpina cannot be made public, explained Balogh, adding that he believed Alpina would soon find its feet and return the taxpayers’ money that its owner, BAMC, had lent.

M. D. (Radio Slovenija); translated by K. Z.