Lay-offs as Bosnia’s Economic Woes Bite

Sarajevo _ Bosnia’s third-biggest export firm, Asa Prevent, is cutting 200 jobs because of reduced demand for its products due to the worsening economic crisis in the country and abroad.

Asa Prevent group produces and exports car-seats covers, sells Volkswagen group vehicles in Bosnia and is also involved in finances, insurance, real estate, information technologies and other sectors. Because of the reduced demand the firm was not able to extend contracts to more than 200 of its employees, the firm’s spokesman Vedran Perisic told media over the weekend.

Several other firms have also announced lay-offs amid growing evidence that the economic recession has started affecting the country’s industrial sector, local media reported on Monday. The head of the Federation Chamber of Commerce, Jago Lasic, said that more than 700 workers have been already laid off across the country but that the public is still unaware of this data.

Adding more to this grim news, statistics bureaus are reporting that Bosnia’s exports fell by 3.5 percent from September to October, while imports rose by 4.6 percent in the same period. This latest data shows that Bosnia’s trade deficit – seen as one of the biggest economic threats – has exceeded €4 billion in October and is likely to exceed €5 billion by the end of the year.

In addition, the first two Bosnian broker companies declared bankruptcy last week. They complained that the local securities sector has become unbearable for small brokers.