Borovo chief executive still believes

06/09/2012
Croatian footwear manufacturer Borovo, once the second-biggest company in Yugoslavia, has admitted to the Financial Times that it is a shadow of its former self, but new chief executive, Hrvoje Merki told the newspaper he is determined to prevent the company from disappearing.

Vukovar-based Borovo was once the second-biggest corporation in Yugoslavia, employing 23,000 people and making 23 million pairs of shoes a year. Now it has 1,100 workers making shoes and boots and has been suffering steady losses for at least the last seven years. Its losses in 2011 were more than EUR 2.8 million, a 363% decline in performance compared to 2010.

Mr Merki said: “Borovo has the capacities, the know-how and the logistics to be the market leader in the shoe business in Croatia. The only thing that has to be done is to manage all these resources effectively and wisely.”