ZAGREB, April 20, 2018 – The new chairman of the board of the INA oil company Sandor Fasimon, speaking in Budapest on Thursday, announced the closure of plants at the Sisak oil refinery, promising that the workers will be taken care of and emphasising that INA must continue its successful performance.
“My view, considering the company’s business results, is that Sisak is not making money. That means that it needs a transformation. What will most likely happen is that the refinery will be at one location, while the other one will be used for logistics, for other industrial purposes,” Fasimon said in an interview with the RTL commercial television channel.
Fasimon is taking the helm of INA at a time when Croatia is looking for a way of buying back the shares from the Hungarians. On the other hand, he says that he is coming to Croatia to raise the company to a higher technological and production level.
He recalled that Hungary used to have five refineries. “Today we have one, but we have not abandoned any of the previous locations, but have launched new operations: bitumen, petrochemical industry, logistics.”
Fasimon said that, by looking at figures, he would prefer to concentrate the refinery in one location. “Most likely in Rijeka, but I don’t want to say definitely. Considering economic factors, that should be the case. We should certainly shift the bulk of the investment into one part of this story. That does not mean that we will leave the location, we will keep the industry and see what we will produce there.”
Asked how he would solve the social problem, Fasimon said he would first have to decide what to do and how many people he needed for that. “It depends on the need for workers, we will see what will happen with them. INA always looks after its workers and no one will end up in the street. In the worst case, if there are any surpluses, severance packages will be fair, that’s not questionable at all. We want to continue the business and use the full potential of INA. I know that it exists, I know my colleagues and I know how professional they are.”
MOL is also interested in entering the ownership structure of the Kutina-based fertiliser manufacturer Petrokemija with strategic partners. “It is no secret that we are in negotiations. If this company can be run on a market basis, without all its previous problems, then we can certainly be interested in such cooperation. It is a new business line,” Fasimon said.
Fasimon will formally take up his position at INA in mid-June, when he will visit Zagreb.
