Milk for schools, kindergartens, hospitals - PKB plans new investments and primary production expansion in 2012

By investing in a new cow farm, which should be completed until the year's end, PKB Corporation plans to open a way for even bigger growth of milk production. Although they are currently engaged only in primary production, people at this agricultural giant announce they intend to start supplying kindergartens, schools and hospitals with yogurt and milk in the future.

- We plan to expand our business in the following period and to start making products with higher added value. These projects will definitely be launched this year, and I hope we will manage to finish their implementation until the end of 2012. If not, we will do that until early 2013 – PKB CEO Rajko Mandic explains to eKapija.

He stresses that the milk production grew by 5 percent last year although the number of heads of cattle was the same as in 2010, adding he expects even better results in the following period.

This Belgrade-based corporation will open a farm with 2,500 cows until the year's end, for which between 3.5 and 4 million euros will be set aside. Also, the procurement of new machines worth about EUR 3 million is underway and, as it was earlier announced, PKB should get the 10 largest tractors and trailers in this part of Europe as early as in March.

These investments and orientation towards new business successes are made possible primarily by the end of months-long negotiations and the conclusion of a collective agreement between the management and workers, ensuring security for both sides.

This collective agreement was signed on February 1st between Rajko Mandic and representatives of two representative trade unions. In that way, all employees, 2,086 of them, have secured their jobs. As Mandic explained on that occasion, the conclusion of that agreement "guarantees the sustainability of the corporation and enables new investments, thus ensuring greater productivity and enhanced quality of animals we grow."

PKB also announced that it planned to start seeking a strategic partner to bring new values and knowledge and enable better contacts with the world financial institutions. However, this step will follow the end of the ongoing restructuring process.

- The City of Belgrade, as a majority owner of PKB, first wants to complete the restructuring process and then seek a strategic partner, which would be a minor shareholder - said Mandic.

(Rajko Mandic)

As the CEO of this agricultural company announces to eKapija, PKB's plans do not end here. After the company recovers, new investments will be made in renewable sources of energy.

- We absolutely plan to keep investing in that field in the future because our corporation possesses a great quantity of biomass, which is not sufficiently used. We will definitely work on that, but not over the next few months, because we first need to recover the company - Rajko Mandic explains to our web portal.

Manager of the Year

PKB Corporation CEO Rajko Mandic is the laureate of the Young Manager of the Year Award, which was presented to him on February 6th by the Club of Business Journalists.

PKB has been in the possession of the City of Belgrade since 2010.

M.S.