The convoy of KTA vehicles entered the gate of the factory in the early morning. UNMIK Pillar IV and KTA officials, accompanied by the head of the Workers Union BSPK visit the brewery to check if the company met the privatisation conditions. The newly refurbished factory is wide awake. Workers in new uniforms are already working in full speed to the sound of the bottles being transported by fast belts. A faint smell of beer is hanging in the air.
Sebastjan Gergeta, Chief Executive Officer of Birra Peja proudly presents all measures taken by the company to refurbish the factory and improve its productions capacities. A new bottling line was purchased, along with a new bottle packing unit, a machine to put the label on the bottles and a new unit which adds the CO2 to the beer. Furthermore the company bought new transport vehicles.
Peja Brewery, a formerly Socially Owned Enterprise (SOE), was privatised in the 8th wave of privatisation under the auspices of the Kosovo Trust Agency. The company was well known in former Yugoslavia. However, the war in Kosovo affected the brewery with most of its equipment stolen and the infrastructure destroyed. The winning bidder “Birra Peja Partnership” paid more than €11m and committed himself to investing an additional €15m.
An important matter for the new owners was the supply with Barley. CEO Gergeta therefore explains to the visitors the new programme the brewery implemented to ensure a sufficient supply with barley. The brewery supplies a number of independent farmers with seeds who in turn sell the barley to the brewery as a preferred customer. This concept opens new opportunities for the agricultural sector as well.
The KTA and BSPK officials praise the management of Birra Peja for their successful work. “The investments in the brewery exceeded their obligations. I’ve just seen that there are 595 employees. New investments in the production of cans will further increase the number of workers and the production,” says Paul Acda, the head of UNMIK Pillar IV, at the visit.
Today “Birra Peja” is one of the most popular beers in Kosovo. Gergeta explains that it is being sold in three types of packages. The brewery produces small glass bottles, two litre plastic bottles and draft beer. A canned beer production line will be introduced soon.
With the investments and new concepts, “Birra Peja” aims at a long-term objective: The enterprise wants to enter the regional market. Praising the taste and quality of the beer Mr. Acda called that a realistic goal. “With such good quality, the prospect of joining the European market is imminent; however, it is difficult to reach countries which have their own beer production such as Slovenia or Macedonia. But this is such a high-quality product that will certainly do well on foreign markets,” he stated. |
