Failed attempts
Public bidding for the sale of the company in 2004 failed. In another attempt, in July 2007, the factory was sold to the Swedish-Lithuanian consortium. The consortium consisted of United Nordic Beverages AB and Alita for €26.5 million,[14] for 52% of the factory.[12] In February 2010, the privatization was terminated due to non-fulfillment of investment obligations.[15] The clauses included not investing the additional €5.1 million, not buying off the rest of the shares and not paying taxes. The consortium also administered the properties contrary to the contract: they sold the offshoot factories in the neighborhood of Krnjača and the town of Čačak and even pawned the company's brand for a credit of €1.1 million without consulting the administrative board.[12] In October 2012, the Privatization Agency of Serbia announced that it had won the case against the former owners, meaning they would have to pay €17 million in the name of compensation.[16]
The malting section was repaired and became operational again. In 2014, the products of the factory were beer (80%), kvass (10%), soft drinks (5%) and vinegar (5%).[12] Still, the brewery entered bankruptcy proceedings in September 2015,[17] and officially went bankrupt in the early 2016.[18]
In April 2017, a Macedonian investor leased the brewery for the annual price of €900,000.[19] Svetozar Janevski, owner of the company M6 EDEN SRB which leased the factory, and who also owns the Tikveš vinery and the Skopsko beer brewery (both in North Macedonia), announced that the old brewery would be operational for the next two to three years until the new brewery is built in another location. He announced negotiations with the government to reach an agreement on the new location. The new investor claimed that he was not interested in just taking the highly valuable land on an excellent location, but that he wanted to revitalize the beer production. However, in early 2019 the city announced a new urban regulatory plan for the area where the brewery is, envisioning the conversion of the land from "economic" to "commercial". On 1 July 2019, Janevski broke the lease, claiming the "concept" of BIP has no future. In 2017, the brewery had a total loss of 51.5 million dinars (€435,000). The Ministry of Economy stated that the brewery would not be shut down; instead, the state made a public offer for a new lease.[18] The process failed as no one made an offer by 15 July 2019, but production continued under the bankruptcy manager.[20]
By this time part of the complex became dilapidated and was taken out of use, reducing the factory's capacity. The lagums had not been inspected in a long time while the terrain of the complex is prone to mass wasting. In 2009, a partial supporting wall was built to prevent the soil from moving while the unbuilt part of the complex became covered in overgrowth. In November 2019 the city published the detailed regulatory plan for the area, the work of urbanists Radmila Grubišić and Milica Andrejić. It anticipates the complete demolition of the entire complex and construction of the commercial neighborhood with hotels, business offices and malls. The only surviving part of the former complex will again be Vajfert's Villa, which was placed under preliminary protection. Minimal beer production in some of the new areas may be preserved for tourism purposes.[11]
One of the pre-war inheritors, the Veljković family, threatened to sue the state because the factory was not returned to them in the process of restitution. In February 2020, director of the Restitution Agency, Strahinja Sekulić, said that they decided not to return the factory as natural restitution, but instead to financially compensate the shareholders (including the Veljkovićs), as the brewery was a joint-stock company when nationalized.[21]
On 14 March 2020, an ammonia leakage was reported from the brewery. White ammonia smoke covered the area, and 18 people were hospitalized.[22]
Selling and future
In July 2021, the brewery was offered for sale once more, for an estimated worth of 4.17 billion dinars, or €35.5 million. Offered assets include the factory complex at Mostar (26,700 m2), a juice factory, the brewery in Čačak, commercial offices in Obrenovac, Kosovska Mitrovica and Alibunar, a retail store in Kragujevac, and an apartment in Budva, Montenegro.[23] In August 2021 the company was sold to the only bidder, a consortium consisting of DL Holding from Hamburg, Germany, and the Serbian company Auto Čačak, for half of the originally offered price (2.09 billion dinars or €17.8 million). The new owners announced that the brewery complex at Mostar will be turned into the "most modern business park in Europe", while the rest of the company "will be further developed".[24][25]
The sale sparked further controversies. Members of the Veljković family continued to claim that the restitution process was not finished and that company was sold illegally. Bogdan Veljković described the entire sale process as "criminal, lawless, corruption", claiming the entire worth of BIP was €300 million. Small shareholders were also dissatisfied, especially with the low price, claiming the company's bankruptcy was forced. Investment expert Mahmut Bušatlija said that the sale was probably done for the sake of building the shopping mall on the brewery location.
