May 29 (SeeNews) - Montenegrin steelworks EPCG Zeljezara Niksic, a company set up by state-owned power utility EPCG, said it is planning to hire 1,500 workers in the next 18 months, local media reported.
The new hirings will start in the autumn when some new projects are scheduled to begin, public broadcaster RTCG reported on Friday.
The company plans a programme for production of reinforcing mesh and operations at the forging unit will be launched in autumn, RTCG quoted Djordje Manojlovic, executive director of EPCG Zeljezara Niksic, as saying.
“Numerous contracts have been signed with companies from Europe, including with a German company for the production of steel cables, and we are talking with companies for the production of steel barriers,” Manojlovic added.
EPCG Zeljezara Niksic is installing of a 1.7 MW rooftop solar photovoltaic power plant at its site and is working on the construction of a ground-mounted 6 MW solar park.
Manojolovic said in March that the company plans to start producing electricity by June.
EPCG bought the Zeljezara Niksic steel mill from Turkey's Toscelik for 20 million euro ($21.5 million) under a deal signed in December.
Toscelik acquired Zeljezara Niksic in 2012 for 15.1 million euro after placing the best bid in a tender launched by the Montenegrin government. The Turkish owner suspended production at Zeljezara Niksic in March 2021, due to a drop in orders caused by the coronavirus pandemic. In September 2022, Toscelik dismissed all 229 workers from the steel mill.
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