With contributions of 500 to 1500 euros, 676 workers of the failed "PPT hydraulics" founded "PPT Petoletka doo" in 2019. The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, then expressed his admiration in an emotional rapture and promised them all possible help. And then the state, which he leads, left them in the lurch and let them fail
In February 2019, the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, tried to popularize Comrade Tito's idea of a "factory for workers", and thus, during his visit to the Rasin district (he was "spontaneously" warmly welcomed everywhere, of course), he also visited the "PPT Petoletka doo" factory in Trstenik, which was founded after bankruptcy by the workers of the former "PPT hydraulics", with stakes from 500 to 1500 euros.
At that time, Vučić told the workers that the state would give them the building in which they work, help in the purchase of new equipment, and that in 10 days the director of the Russian "Kamaz" would come to him, which implies that the production of the factory, which is unique in Serbia, would increase by the way in which 676 workers limited themselves and continued production. He also said that the state will allocate two million euros for them, in different ways.
At that time, he said in his characteristic "emotional rapture" that he had seen different kinds of love, "but that kind of love for the factory, for the machines and most of all for the people in the factory, has never existed, and not only among the management, but among all the workers." .
Revocation of irrevocable resignation
Four and a half years later, the reality of this factory is harsh: the account is blocked due to an unpaid debt to suppliers and the state of 71,5 million dinars (612.000 euros), and the workers are desperate. All previous debts of that company, and they were not small, were paid off by the workers-shareholders. The company entered the system of the Defense Industry of Serbia, and the salaries of employees with high school education are 60.000-70.000 dinars, much less than other companies of that system, and they are delayed - workers receive their salaries in installments of 10.000 per month "when the money is collected".
That is why the director of "PPT Petoletka doo" Ljubisav Panić submitted his resignation to the Supervisory Board on July 25.
The President of the Trstenik Municipal Assembly, Mario Spasić, immediately came to the meeting of the Supervisory Board, which was also attended by union representatives, and "warned that the resignation of Panić is unacceptable for the local the self-government that will not allow the factory to close and 650 employees "to take to the streets due to the irresponsible business of all those who have influenced this situation, until they resolve what they have done by their own decisions complicated".
"We will not allow an individual to ruin a company that employs 650 workers," Spasić wrote on his profile on a social network. He did not specify which individual he was referring to, and the employees think that it is the "boss" of Namenska in Trstenik, former minister Anđelka Atanasković. According to the employees, Spasić, Panić and the company's delegation went to the Government of Serbia last Friday, asked for an appointment with Aleksandar Vučić, and returned from there "broken". Only they know what they were told.
And then, on Monday, July 29, director Panić, which is ridiculous to say the least, "revises his position", as they used to say in the time of socialism, submits a "revocation of resignation" to the Supervisory Board, explaining that it is necessary to preserve the company in at this critical moment and continue working.
"Aware of all the difficulties we have overcome in the previous almost nine years since its creation, I believe that we can overcome this situation with an agreed solution to the problem." I believe that we can achieve unity and strength, that we can work harder and more responsibly, to realize big jobs that guarantee the further development of the Company, I gained on the basis of a large number of requests to revoke my resignation, sent both from the relevant authorities and from a large number of employees" Panić stated.
It is obvious that someone in Belgrade ordered and promised him something, because it is about an important defense system factory that at one time made an extraordinary and hitherto unrecorded undertaking in the way of raising the dome on the Temple of Saint Sava in Belgrade (the one that Vučić claims to have he "built").
Vrhuška has more work to do
In order to calm the workers, information was spread among them on Tuesday, July 30, that Minister of Defense Bratislav Gašić, who is the "political boss" of the Rasin district, would visit them and discuss overcoming the problem with them, and that he might explain to them why the factory, which has been in the system of the Defense Industry of Serbia since 2018, it does not receive funds like all the others, some of which are big losers. However, this did not happen, so the fate of "PPT petoletka doo" is still uncertain.
Because Vučić, who promised them everything, has "obstacles, statesmanship". And Prime Minister Miloš Vučević is infected with corona. The Minister of Economy is not asking about anything anyway. In popular terms - he does not interfere in his work, nor do 90 percent of other ministers, it is known who decides on everything. The project "Factory for workers" failed at the start, but it doesn't matter, new ones will be invented, that's why there are "spin doctors".
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