The Prime Minister of the Republic of Srpska, Radovan Višković, has visited the Bema Footwear Factory in Banja Luka today.
After visiting the production facilities of “Bema”, the Prime Minister Višković stated that the footwear industry in the Republic of Srpska was deprived of its own resources, and that the possibilities of producing its own raw materials would be considered in the coming period.
“We need to consider the possibility of having our own share in the product as much as possible. BiH has almost no share in, let’s say, one shoe”, said the Prime Minister Višković.
He announced that he would instruct the line ministers as regards providing adequate staff and incentives that would save this industry in times of crisis and inflation.
The Prime Minister Višković commended the work of “Bema”, noting that last year they had generated about 500,000 KM in income in their own shoe store.
He pointed out that this factory did a lot of work for famous people, world brands and companies, and that they must produce high quality goods.
The Prime Minister Višković reminded that in the earlier period, the Government of the Republic of Srpska had adopted certain measures that had significantly improved the situation in this type of industry.
The technical director of “Bema”, Marinko Umičević, said that the Government of the Republic of Srpska had contributed with certain measures to maintain the production and business of this factory, and expressed gratitude to the Prime Minister Višković for the announced additional incentives.
“Last year, we increased salaries by almost 30 percent thanks to decisions and incentives of the Government”, said Umičević.
He stated that about 1.200 workers were employed, and that the average salary was around 850 KM.
“In the last four years, we have invested about two million euros in equipment and machines”, Umičević pointed out.
