Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Friday the government was working on ensuring wages for Djuro Djakovic workers as well as on a long term solution for the metal engineering group in which the "Defence Ministry will play a crucial role."

He was responding to questions from the press in Pleternica, asked if he had a message for the group’s workers and if he planned to visit Slavonski Brod.

“We must find a way to ensure production as well as financing in the next few years. The Defence Ministry will play a crucial role in that,” Plenkovic said.

He would not say who a strategic partner to Djuro Djakovic might be. “We have a whole concept of how to ensure jobs for Djuro Djakovic, which also means wages for workers in the next few years.”

A member of the press noted that the group’s workers were still on strike and feared possible bankruptcy, to which he said, “We’ll take care of the wages.”