Companies in the Balkans (1950-1952)

Blerim Abedini, Institute for Security Studies and Development ISSD-NM.

Companies established after WWII starting with soft political pressure for their market direction. The collaboration between companies is different due to Pact where they belong as Soviet union and Capitalism World. We may see those early years are not fully pressured by the Socialism economy. Impacting on factories will come later by debates on communism advantage and state ownership as the only way to protect workers from Capitalist bosses. In the transition period, Yugoslavian companies are breaking collaboration step by step by making huge problems which resulted in bankruptcy for many companies. Also, we may see the hidden hand of the government for corruption due to crises in companies.

(Year 1950) Gorenje Group is one of the leading Slovenian companies for home appliance manufacturers in Europe. Gorenje includes the entire range of home products of the upper-mid price range, and Asko, which is positioned as a global premium brand. In addition, Gorenje Group has six regional or local brands. Technologically, superiorly designed and energy-efficient home appliances elevate the quality of living for the users in ninety countries around the world.

https://si.gorenje.com/

(Year 1950) MEVGAL  is a Greek brand of a dairy products company. Its name is an acronym for Macedonian Milk Industry (Greek: Μακεδονική Βιομηχανία Γάλακτος, ΜΕΒΓΑΛ). It is headquartered in Koufalia in the Thessaloniki regional unit. It manufactures dairy products that include yogurt, cheese, and dairy-based desserts which total up to 170 individual products. It purchases its raw products from up to 1,600 local farms based exclusively in Greece. Its main market is through the local Greek outlets but it also exports to 23 countries around the world. Since 2003 is expanded in the production of fruit juices and fruit drinks. Products: Beautiful -yogurt, Harmony -low-fat yogurt range, Makedoniko -cheese brand since 1965, Feta Mevgal -Feta cheese & more.

http://www.mevgal.gr/frontend/index.php?chlang=EN

(Year 1950) Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport. It was renamed in 2011 in honor of the most famous Hungarian composer Franz Liszt on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of his birth. In 1993, Malév launched the airport’s first Hungarian overseas flight, to New York.  In 2005, a 75% stake in Ferihegy Airport was bought by BAA plc for (approx. US$2.1 billion). On 18 April 2007, the renovation of Terminal 1 at Ferihegy was awarded Europe’s most prestigious heritage preservation prize, the Europa Nostra award. On 15 November 2010, Budapest Airport regained the “Schengen Clear”-status, after implementing the necessary security actions. In May 2013, Hochtief Group announced the sale of its Airports unit HOCHTIEF AirPort which held a stake in the Budapest Airport and other airports to the Canadian Pension fund Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments). Following the sale, HOCHTIEF AirPort was renamed AviAlliance. In 2019 Shanghai Airlines launched a four-time weekly service to Shanghai–Pudong also with Boeing 787 Dreamliner. In 2019 LOT Polish Airlines announced flights to Belgrade, Brussels, Bucharest, Prague, Seoul–Incheon, Stuttgart, and Sofia operated by the airline’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the Embraer E-Jet family. In 2020, according to a report from Bloomberg, it was reported that the Hungarian government was looking at buying the airport from its foreign owners.

(Year1950) MKB Bank (Hungarian Foreign Trade Bank) is a commercial bank in Hungary. Its privatization started in 1994 when BayernLB purchased a minority stake. Hungarian government bought it back in 2014. http://bit.ly/2PCTS4m

(Year 1950) Editura Militară is a publishing house based in Bucharest. It was founded as a state-run company during the communist period on 27 December 1950. http://www.edituramilitara.ro/

(Year 1951) DSK Bank (State Savings Bank) is a major Bulgarian bank. The Bank was established by People’s Republic of Bulgaria. It included the State Savings Bank and the nationalized cooperative popular banks and agricultural credit cooperatives. http://www.dskbank.bg/

(Year 1951) Hungaroton was a record and music publisher company in Hungary. At that time record labels like Melodiya, Supraphon, and Eterna from other socialist countries were in the market. Previously called Qualiton, its name was changed to Hungaroton in the mid-1960s, though the Qualiton brand remained as a label for operetta and gypsy music releases. Also, new popular music, rock, and jazz labels (Pepita, Bravó, and Krém) were founded. In 1990 the massive import of foreign records caused a serious decrease in Hungaroton’s sales. Although the original company went into liquidation, new and smaller companies arose on the ruins of Hungaroton. The Hungaroton Gong and Hungaroton Classic companies went private in 1995 and were reunited in 1998 under the name Hungaroton Records Publisher Ltd. http://www.hungarotonmusic.com/

(Year 1951) Pannonia Film Studio is the largest animation studio in Hungary, based in the capital of Budapest. https://bit.ly/3qjx06m , https://bit.ly/3sPsT3J

(Year 1951) HORA, officially S.C. Hora S.A. is a Romanian manufacturer of stringed musical instruments in Reghin. Over 80% of its products are exported to North America, Western, and Northern Europe, Russia, and Japan. HORA uses as raw materials spruce and maple wood from the Romanian Carpathians seasoned naturally for 5–10 years, as well as imported exotic wood like mahogany, Indian rosewood, and ebony. The company employs about 300 people (2017) and is the largest stringed instrument manufacturer in Europe. http://www.hora.ro/

(Year 1951) Energoprojekt holding is a Serbian construction company with headquarters in Belgrade. Originally conceived as a consulting company, it has gradually diversified its activities and today it has numerous subsidiaries and joint ventures in Serbia and abroad. Energoprojekt holding was admitted to the regulated market of the Belgrade Stock Exchange on 18 July 2007. In July 2017, after months of negotiations, ‘Napred razvoj’ became the majority stakeholder of the company. In November 2017, a new majority shareholder”Napred razvoj” has decided to sell insurance subsidiary, Energoprojekt Garant, to the Slovenian insurance company Sava Osiguranje. The projects include plant Iron Gate I Hydroelectric Power Station, near Kladovo and the dam and power plant Bajina Bašta. The company has also built power plants of Obrenovac and Obilić, while outside of Serbia it has conducted two power plants in Qatar. In Belgrade, in the field of architecture, it has built Belgrade Arena, the Hotel Hyatt Regency Belgrade, a mansion for Robert Mugabe in Harare, and others. As of 8 March 2019, Energoprojekt holding has a market capitalization of 58.33 million.

(Year 1951) Niš-Ekspres is a bus company based in Serbia. Production of buses under the name Nibus in 1996. They developed their first model, tourist coach Nibus 350 powered by MAN engine. After five years of continuous development, Nibus 350 evolved into Nibus 400. On 1 May 1999, a bus was struck by a NATO missile during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. The Niš-Ekspres bus was operating on the Nish-Prishtina line. http://www.nis-ekspres.rs/

(Year 1952) The Bulgarian Mint established for the production of tender coins in Bulgaria. It is owned by the Bulgarian National Bank. The Bulgarian Mint also produces high-quality gold and silver jubilees, medals, orders, and other insignia of honor, necklaces, seals, mint collector sets, and custom-made badges, pins, etc. The Mint is officially appointed to produce Bulgaria’s orders and medals by the Presidency. http://mint.bg/

(Year 1952) Mehano is known for producing toys for children. Special attention is paid to the in-school functions of each toy, from design to the selection of the right materials in production.www.mehano.si

(Year 1952) Luka Ploče is a Croatian company that operates port facilities at the southern Croatian Port of Ploče in the Mediterranean Sea. It is listed on the Zagreb Stock Exchange.

(Year 1952) MFS 2000 Inc is a Hungarian ammunition manufacturer located in Sirok. Initial military production declined during the 1960s and 1970s. The company produced military ammunition with a plant code of “23”. Factory code “21” is also associated with the company. After the Cold War and the ending of the Warsaw Pact, the company was privatized in 1990 as “Hungarian Ammunition Manufacturers, Ltd.”. They were reincorporated in 1999 in MFS 2000 Inc. MFS is one of a relatively small number of producers of commercial 7.62×39mm hunting ammunition. It was subcontracted by Fiocchi America under its Fiocchi Int’l brand to manufacture 7.65x17mm Browning (.32 ACP), 9x18mm Makarov (PM), 9x18mm +P Makarov (PMM), and 9x19mm Luger ammunition. In 2008, the company’s ammunition featured indirectly in a controversy oversupply of the Afghan army and police forces by a contractor to the US Army. In 2009 the firm was absorbed by RUAG Ammotech to become RUAG Ammotec Magyarországi Zrt. They assemble components to make .380 Auto, .40 S&W, .45 ACP, and 7.62x39mm Soviet civilian ammunition. Almost $10 million in development has also put in place a new ammunition assembly machine, which has made it more efficient to combine powder, projectile, and shell. http://bit.ly/3c6ucVa

(Year 1952) Neobus was a Serbian bus manufacturer. The major shareholder from 2004 was a Saudi businessman. Neobus produced buses on its original chassis and on the chassis of other manufacturers such as VolvoDAF BusMercedes-BenzFAP. In 1986 started the golden era for Neobus. Also was extended in more than 20.000 square meters in surface placed on a plot of 110.000 square meters, 700 workers produced as many as 650 buses. With the dissolution of Yugoslavia, there is an interruption of business relations between Autokaroserija and Slovenian TAM. Autokaroserija became an independent bus manufacturer but had many difficulties mostly due to the economic sanctions the United Nations imposed on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In 1992 the name was changed to Neobus and the company was limited to the Serbian market. Neobus entered bankruptcy in 1999. By 2001, the firm managed to get out of bankruptcy and started producing buses again. In 2004 The Serbian Privatization Agency held an auction in which Neobus was sold to Alaa Maghrabi Mohammedali A, from Saudi Arabia. The new owner has his own transport enterprise in Saudi Arabia called Maghrabi Hajj Transport Company. The company purchased hundreds of buses from former SFRY manufacturers in the 1980s which led to the acquisition of Neobus. In 2006 Neobus signed a Strategic Cooperation Agreement with Volvo, making Neobus Volvo’s official bodybuilder for South-Eastern Europe.  On 22 November 2012, Neobus was declared bankrupt. In 2013, China’s Yutong Bus was in talks to purchase Neobus, but the deal is never done. http://bit.ly/3uSiXIC

(Year 1952) İTÜ TV is the first Turkish television station that occurred at Technical University’s electrical engineering department. ITU broadcasts continued until 1970, and in 1971 ITU’s facilities and equipment were ordered to be transferred to the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation, and ITU TV was closed down forever. To improve the technical quality of the building was erected antenna on October 17, 1959. In 1960, ITU TV has experienced a stagnation period. The reason for the interruption is the 1960 Turkish coup d’état. May 2, 1960, the ITU Radio and Television sealed by the police. Later, the first live broadcast match took place on May 1, 1966. TRT broadcasts began in 1971 in Istanbul but using ITU TV materials. ITU TV in 1971 published in the last time match. After closing all the material he gave to TRT and ITU TV was permanently shut down at once. From March 1, 1991, ITU TV was replaced by a new channel called Show TV. The first football match broadcast took place in 1961. The match was held at Inonu Stadium. Fenerbahçe-Galatasaray match on January 1, 1962, was published. On March 27, 1963, a TurkeyItaly match was broadcast live. http://bit.ly/3sPCpUv