The Israeli company M.T. Abraham Group, which plans to relaunch production in the Mostar-based Aluminij Industrija, has signed a ten-year contract on strategic partnership with Advaita Group under which that company will supply raw material for Aluminij and sell 50% of its products.

Advaita Group is based in Dubai.

Cooperation with Advaita Group and its experienced team will greatly contribute to the sale of Aluminij’s products on new markets, which is crucial for the company’s future growth, said M.T. Abraham Group executive and Aluminij Industrija CEO Amir Gross Kabiri.

With its developed sales network Advaita Group will help promote Aluminij’s re-entry into the global market and by signing the contract, Aluminij has found an important partner in the global trade in aluminium products.

Aliminij Industrija said earlier that it planned to reactivate its foundry soon and that it had hired more than 80 workers. By the end of January 2021 the company will have re-hired 170 workers who had worked for it before it stopped production in July 2019.

After suffering extensive property destruction during the war in the early 1990s, Aluminij Industrija resumed operation in 1997 with the support of the Croatian government but stopped production in July 2019 after incurring a debt of €220 million.

The government of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Federation entity and workers each hold 44% of shares in the company, while the remaining 12% is held by Croatia’s government.

In spring this year, the Federation government approved a business cooperation agreement with the Israeli-Chinese consortium, led by M.T. Abraham Group, to lease the Mostar-based aluminium smelter.