Kosovo’s Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj has held today a working visit to the Ferronickel factory in the municipality of Drenas together with the President of Balfin Group, Mr. Samir Mane.

Haradinaj was also accompanied by the mayor of Drenas, Ramiz Lladrovci and some councilors.

During the visit to the plant premises, during his speech to the media Mr. Haradinaj expressed that this factory is the most important exporter in Kosovo, while also giving guarantees to the investors.

“Today we are in a work hour at Feronikeli, which is a big manufacturer, a great exporter and an important investment for Kosovo. I thank Mr. Samir Mane, who has invested. There are 800 regular employees, but investors in Kosovo are never alone and from here we transmit the message that they have where to invest because they have partners to cooperate “– said Haradinaj.

On the other hand Mr. Mane also said that now, Newco Ferronikeli will have full cooperation not only with the local government where the enterprise is located, but also with the central one.

“We are currently located to the central part of the Ferronikel factory, I thank the Prime Minister who came to visit. We showed the premises where Ferronikeli is being produced, one of the most important factories for Kosovo, the performance of these months since we acquired the factory, as well as plans for continuous cooperation not only with the local government, as we talked with the mayor but also with the central government wherever we can find cooperation points,”– said the president of the Balfin Group.

Mr. Haradinaj accompanied by the President of Balfin Group, Mr. Mane, and the mayor of Drenas, Mr.Ramiz Lladrovci visited the production department where he closely saw the production process and was informed by the representatives about the process of metal working and the processing in this factory.

In a later post about the meeting, in his Facebook profile, Kosovo’s Prime Minister gave even more details.

“NewCo Ferronikeli is the largest private exporter and employer in the country, with about 800 workers and 400 contractors. During a work visit, I expressed my gratitude to the main shareholder Samir Mane and Balfin Group for investing in this asset of strategic importance for the country’s economy. From the management I was informed about the progress of production restoration during these months, the possibility of increasing production capacities and future operational plan. Investors in Kosovo find the government as their permanent partner, which will always support them on their way to the development and advancement in the domestic and international markets”– concludes Ramush Haradinaj on his post.

Balfin Group acquired the Ferronikel plant last year, when the factory was going through a difficult moment, as the factory had suspended production for months and had created financial obligations to its suppliers and employees.

But one of the first steps that Balfin and Mr. Mane undertook were the liquidation of the backlog of factory’s employees and negotiate with other companies to solve inherited problems.

“Newco Ferronikeli” with over 800 employees currently represents the largest employer in Kosovo and is responsible for at least 1,500 other jobs related to the supply of raw material and logistics plants in Kosovo and Albania.