Under the radar, thousands of people have left the embattled group.
Between the start of the extraordinary administration process in Agrokor in April 2017 and the beginning of 2018, the group, including its companies in other countries in the region, lost about 2,300 workers out of 58,300 employees, it was confirmed by the group. According to unofficial sources, former government-appointed administrator Ante Ramljak decreased the number of workers in silence, with no mention about it in his ten reports on the work of the extraordinary administration, reports Večernji List on March 2, 2018.
However, both Agrokor and the trade unions say that the group’s collective agreement with employees has not been discontinued. Although salaries in the trade and agricultural-food sector in Croatia are not high, and that includes Agrokor’s 14 companies, trade union leader Šimo Orešković says that all workers’ rights have been respected, salaries have been paid on time, and there are severance payments for those who want to leave the company.
“There were no mass dismissals. In the past year, many people have left Agrokor’s companies, but Ramljak is not responsible. That was a consequence of the general situation in Croatia. Agrokor companies employ workers who have been rapidly moving out of Croatia in recent years, and therefore some of the group members, such as Jamnica, are now looking for new employees,” said Orešković. In addition to the Jamnica mineral water company, Zvijezda, Tisak and Konzum are also looking for employees, although the main tourist season is still many months away.
The several thousand missing employees mostly refer to the parent company, Agrokor, which has seen the number of employees almost halved. Also, there are many employees whose contracts have expired or who retired last year. “Competition is looking for high-quality staff, while some employees want greater security than the company can currently offer them. Also, some of Konzum’s outlets have been taken over by Tommy, Spar and others,” said private consultant Drago Munjiza, a former head of Konzum.
In the meantime, about a hundred Konzum stores have been closed, those which were losing money over a more extended period of time. The workers were sent to other shops, and some of the old shops have been taken over by the competition, which is a reason why in recent days there are rumours about the drop in turnover in the rest of Konzum’s stores and Velpro by as much as 30 percent.
Interestingly, the administration has not published its report for December. The company explains that the report is missing because it is about to release a more extensive report for the whole of last year. Munjiza says that, according to his opinion, Konzum’s turnover has fallen by about 10 percent in relation to its best days, but there has been the growth of revenues for the majority of domestic suppliers since Konzum has reduced import of products and distribution of its own brands.
Events connected with Agrokor are being followed closely by people working in its companies, including in Vukovar-Srijem County, where about 900 workers work in Vupik and PIK Vinkovci. “We work as usual. Salaries are being regularly paid, and we pay all taxes and vendors in time,” said CEO of PIK Vinkovci Vladimir Džaj. “There have been no layoffs in the last ten months. The situation in the company is nor regular, but the workers do not feel that in any way,” claims VUPIK.
Translated from Večernji List (reported by Jolanda Rak Šajn and Branimir Bradarić).
