SARAJEVO (Bosnia and Herzegovina), June 25 (SeeNews) – The supervisory board of Bosnian aluminum smelter Aluminij dismissed Mario Gadzic as the company's director on Monday and appointed Drazen Pandza as acting director, Aluminij said.
Gadzic was sacked for failing to complete the company's restructuring plan and for creating new losses, Aluminij said in a statement.
Pandza will fill in the position for a period of up to six months.
Gadzic last week alerted local media to alleged extortion for employment in the company, which was being carried out, according to him, by the head of the independent trade union of Aluminij employees, Romeo Bioksic.
In his address to the media on Friday, published by TV broadcaster N1, Gadzic said he brought the issue to the attention of the company's supervisory board. The chairman of the supervisory board, Dalibor Milos, however, told the media on Monday that the company has been unhappy with Gadzic's work for some time.
Milos also told media, as reported by N1, that the supervisory board agreed to forward all potential evidence of extortion to the ministry of the interior.
The government of Bosnia's Muslim-Croat Federation owns 44% of Aluminij, as much is controlled by workers and other minority shareholders, while the Croatian government holds a stake of 12%.
Aluminij is based in Mostar in the Federation, one of the two autonomous entities that form Bosnia. The other is the Serb Republic.