Prime Minister Viskovic visits the “Mladeks pak” factory in Prnjavor

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Srpska Radovan Višković has stated today, after visiting the “Mladegs pak” factory in Prnjavor, that the Government of Srpska would help this family business to complete the production process, and thanked the hosts for recognizing how Srpska could continue to develop. The Prime Minister Višković stated that “Mladegs pak” had started to deal with this business partly before the war in BiH, but that they had entered a serious investment cycle after 2000. “Mladegs pak” today earns 27 million KM annually, and almost 50 percent is outside BiH, since they export throughout Europe. The Prime Minister Višković said that the primary production of this company was ketchup, and that the rise in prices of raw materials they imported, as well as the rise in transport, had forced the company to go in the direction of its own production, so they had addressed the Government of Srpska. “We have already made a decision at the last session of the Government of Srpska to raise the issue of issuing a concession to this business entity on about 130 hectares in Prnjavor,” said the Prime Minister. He explained that the company would expand and complete the production process with additional investments, because the production requires specific machines, i.e. tomato harvesters. “This enables not only this business entity, but also future subcontractors who want to cooperate with them, to be able to participate in the production process. They have to work on plots that are measured in hectares, so that all the necessary mechanization can be used. “They want to invest in the purchase of that equipment as well”, said the Prime Minister Višković. According to him, all of this is a significant investment, but it is not measured only in money. The value of this investment is that the production process is completed, from the raw material itself to the final product, which is then placed on the picky European market. That is the goal of the Republic of Srpska and the Government of Srpska”, emphasized the Prime Minister Višković. He thanked the hosts for recognizing how Srpska could further develop, and that was to have as many domestic final products as possible, “which are the product of Srpska in full form, from the plot on which it is sown to the final product.” The Prime Minister Višković said that he was surprised by the range of products made there, such as 50 types of tea from all areas, under the brand “Bonito”. The Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management Boris Pašalić, who visited this company with the Prime Minister Višković, pointed out that the Ministry’s position was that it made no sense to support only primary agricultural production, but also the food segment, so that additional funds were provided for investments as well. “Our goal is that they provide as many raw materials as possible on the domestic market and that is why we want to link our primary agricultural producers with factories that deal with processing. Of course, we cannot produce everything, but we can do most of it”, says Minister Pašalić. He stated that by the end of the year this company would be provided with 130 hectares of concession land, where they would be able to organize their production and would no longer depend on import.