World Cup referees to sport Bosnian-made soccer shoes

N1

Soccer shoes produced in the small towns of Derventa and Prnjavor were already worn by David Beckham, and now they are to be worn by referees at the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Russia.

The 351 pairs of top quality sneakers, with kangaroo leather, golden threads and with the logo of the FIFA World Cup, are being produced by women working at the Sanino shoe factory.

“This Copa Mundiale shoe design has already been produced for 30 years, and our company has already delivered more than 12 million pairs of sneakers to Adidas. It is a special series, very unique, which Adidas itself would probably not produce themselves,” director of Sanino, Radovan Pazurevic, told N1.

Most people are not aware of the fact that these sneakers are being produced in a factory in the small Bosnian town of Prnjavor. Apart from sports shoes, the factory also produces fashion footwear. Sanino employs some 900 people in Prnjavor and Derventa, who produce nearly 1.8 million pairs of footwear every year, mostly meant for exports.

“We have 200 people working in each shift, everyone knows what to do, and we function very well,” manager Sladjana Milic said.

World renowned brands often find that the Balkans is an attractive place for manufacturing because of the cheap labour on offer, although sports shoes are increasingly being produced in Asian countries, as their work force is even cheaper.

The average salary in this industry in Republika Srpska (RS), Bosnia’s Serb-dominated semi-autonomous entity, is 500 marks (250), and is in line with the salaries at Sanino. The factory mostly employs women, and they say they are happy they have a job.

“I am an educated salesperson. After I completed school I needed whatever job I could get. This was the quickest option, they employed me here first, the salaries are alright, and you can earn as much as you produce,” one of the workers, Nevena Ivanovic, said, explaining that workers have quotas they have to meet.

The company exported goods worth nearly 20 million marks (10 million) in 2017, and had a positive influence in the footwear production industry in Bosnia, which is the fifth largest footwear exporter in Europe.

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