BIP Brewery

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coordinates: 44°47′47″N 20°27′01″E / 44.7964°N 20.4502°E / 44.7964; 20.4502

BIP Brewery
Native name
БИП пивара
BIP pivara
Typea.d.
IndustryBeverages
Founded21 October 1998; 23 years ago (1998-10-21) (Current form)
1839; 183 years ago (1839) (Historical)
FateBankruptcy procedure
Headquarters
Bulevar Vojvode Putnika 5, Belgrade
,
Serbia
Key people
Miroljub Cicmil (Trustee)
ProductsBeers, soft drinks, vinegar and yeast
RevenueDecrease €0.70 million (2018)[1]
Increase €0.39 million (2018)[1]
Total assetsIncrease €22.84 million (2018)[2]
Total equityIncrease €5.68 million (2018)[2]
OwnerPrivatization Agency (51.9%)
Others (48.1%)
Number of employees
0 (2018)

Beogradska industrija piva (abbr. BIP; full legal name: Beogradska industrija piva, slada i bezalkoholnih pića a.d. Beograd) is a Serbian brewery, which declared bankruptcy in September 2015. It has a headquarters in Belgrade, Serbia.

In addition to a range of beers, the brewery produces soft drinks, vinegar, and yeast.[3]

History[]

19th century[]

The old Great Beer Hall in Belgrade.

The brewery was founded in 1839, although it operates under current name Beogradska industrija Piva (BIP) since January 1963.[4] BIP's 1839 predecessor was founded by the Czech miller expert Johan Weinhappl from Sremska Mitrovica. It was a manufacture for cooking of the "barley juice". At the time, the brewery was not on its present location. The brewery was moved to the neighborhood of Mostar, part of Senjak, in 1873, under the name of "Đorđe Vajfert's First Serbian Steam Brewery".[5] The entire brewery complex was completed in 1880.[6] After it was finished, the entire structure changed the urban physiognomy of this part of Belgrade. The brewery itself was designed by the foreign architects.[5]

Owner of the factory was industrialist Đorđe Vajfert. He studied beer brewing at College of Agriculture and Brewing near Munich, Bavaria. In 1892-1893, within the complex, Vajfert built a mansion which became known as Vajfert's Villa. The one-storey edifice was designed by engineer Jovan K. Ristić, in the Romanticist style. It became known for its interior, richly decorated woodworks, including the central wooden staircase. Close to the villa is the vast network of lagums, or underground corridors. The so-called Vajfert's storage cellars, the 70 m (230 ft) long and 32 m (105 ft) wide subterranean rooms were divided in 14 sections where beer was stocked in barrels and tanks. The villa became one of the most distinguished venue in Belgrade hosting numerous balls and receptions.[5]

20th century[]

Becoming one of the greatest industrialists in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Vajfert owned the brewery until his death in 1937. It was then inherited by his nephew Fernand Gamberg. The factory was damaged in both World Wars. After the Communist takeover in 1945, it was nationalized and repaired as the "7th of July" factory. On 23 January 1963, it merged into the Belgrade Beer Industry (BIP), together with the "Brewery Belgrade" (former "Bajloni Brewery" in Skadarlija) and "Bezalko" company.[6] The brewery was modernized and expanded, while the only surviving part of the original complex was Vajfert's Villa.[5]

The malting section became operational in 1965 and was the only brewery in Serbia which produced malt. "Golden age" of the brewery were the 1970s. By the mid of the decade, the factory was brewing 1.5 million hectoliters per year, covering over one quarter of the market in the entire Yugoslavia. It was invested into the most modern equipment, including the Siemens control board which at that time only existed in NASA. After the collapse of the federal state in the early 1990s, the situation in the company worsened. It was especially hit after the major fire in the factory in 1997.[6]

21st century[]

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,[7] for the 52% of the factory.[6] In February 2010, the privatization was terminated, due to non-fulfillment of investment obligations.[8] They clauses included not investing the additional €5.1 million, not buying off the rest of the shares and not paying the 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.[6] In October 2012, Privatization Agency of Serbia announced that it had won the case against the former owners, meaning they will have to pay €17 million in the name of compensation.[9]

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%).[6] Still, the brewery entered the bankruptcy proceedings in September 2015,[10] and officially went bankrupt in the early 2016.[11]

In April 2017, Macedonian investor leased brewery for the annual price of €900,000.[12] Svetozar Janevski, owner of the "M6 EDEN SRB" company 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 will be operational for the next 2–3 years, until the new brewery is built on another location. He announced negotiations with the government to reach an agreement on the new location. New investor claimed that he is not interested in just taking the highly valuable land on an excellent location, but that he wanted to revitalize the beer production. However, in the early 2019 city announced 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). Ministry of Economy stated that the brewery will not be shut down, instead, the state made a public offer for a new lease.[11] The process failed as no one made an offer by 15 July 2019, but the production continued under the bankruptcy manager.[13]

By this time part of the complex dilapidated and went out of use, reducing the factory's capacity. The lagums haven't been inspected for a long time while the terrain of the complex is prone to the mass wasting. In 2009 the 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 city published the detailed regulatory plan for the area, 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 the Vajfert's Villa, which was placed under the preliminary protection. A minimal beer production in some of the new objects may be preserved for the touristic purposes.[5]

One of the pre-war inheritors, the Veljković family, threatened to sue the state because the factory is 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 the natural restitution, but instead to financially compensate the shareholders (including the Veljkovićs), as the brewery was the joint-stock company when nationalized.[14]

On 14 March 2020, the leakage of ammonia was reported from the brewery. White ammonia smoke covered the area, and 18 people were hospitalized.[15]

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 factory complex at Mostar (26.700 square metres (287.40 sq ft)), juice factory, brewery in Čačak, commercial offices in Obrenovac, Kosovska Mitrovica and Alibunar, retail store in Kragujevac, and an apartment in Budva, Montenegro.[16] In August 2021 the company was sold to the only bidder, consortium consisting of "DL Holding" from Hamburg, Germany, and Serbian company "Auto Čačak", for the 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".[17][18]

The sale sparked further controversies. The 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 the BIP was €300 million. Small shareholders were also dissatisfied, especially with the low price, claiming the bankruptcy of the company was forced. Investment expert Mahmut Bušatlija said that the sale was probably done just for the sake of building the shopping mall on the brewery location.[19] Company "Auto Čačak" also participated in many other deals with state, selling or leasing thousands of passenger vehicles to state organs and companies, including the police (over 700 cars) and city of Belgrade.[20][21]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "БИЛАНС УСПЕХА (2018) - BIP Brewery". apr.gov.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  2. ^ a b "БИЛАНС СТАЊА (2018) - BIP Brewery". apr.gov.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  3. ^ "Beogradska Industrija Piva, Slada i Bezalkoholnih Pica A.D. - U Restruktu , Brewing, Serbia". Seenews. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
  4. ^ "O nama". bip.rs (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 23 July 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  5. ^ a b c d e Milan Janković (17 November 2019). Пословни комплекс поред Вајфертове виле [Business complex next to the Vajfert's Villa]. Politika (in Serbian).
  6. ^ a b c d e f Nikola Belić (19 April 2014), "BIP toči pivo i bez državne pomoći" [BIP pours the beer even without state help], Politika (in Serbian)
  7. ^ "BIP prodat za 26,5 mil EUR švedsko-litvanskom konzorcijumu". ekapija.com (in Serbian). Tanjug. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  8. ^ "Raskinut ugovor o prodaji BIP-a". b92.net (in Serbian). Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  9. ^ "Srbija dobila spor protiv kupca BIP-a". vesti-online.com. Beta. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  10. ^ Bulatović, S. (2 September 2015). "BIP ode u stečaj". novosti.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  11. ^ a b Jovana Rabrenović (6 July 2019). Македонски закупац напустио БИП, тражи се нови [Macedonian leaseholder left BIP, new one is being looked for]. Politika (in Serbian). p. 10.
  12. ^ "Makedonski biznismen zakupio BIP, gradi novu pivaru". n1info.com (in Serbian). Beta. 28 April 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  13. ^ Radio Television Serbia (18 July 2019). "Propao pokušaj iznajmljivanja BIP-a, proizvodnja se ipak nastavlja samostalno" [Attempt at leasing BIP dialed, production continued anyway] (in Serbian). N1.
  14. ^ Следи исплата аконтације обештећења за одузету имовину [Advance payments for the compensation for the nationalized property will ensue]. Politika (in Serbian). 7 February 2020. p. 10.
  15. ^ Заустављено цурење амонијака у БИП-у [Leakage of ammonia in the BIP was stopped]. Politika (in Serbian). 15 March 2020. p. 10.
  16. ^ "BIP u stečaju ponuđen na prodaju" [Bankrupt BIP offered for sale]. Politika (in Serbian). 17 July 2021. p. 10.
  17. ^ Tanjug (1 September 2021). "Potpis na prodaju BIP-a: Među kupcima i Nemci, planira se "najsavremeniji biznis park"" [Signature on the BIP sale: among the buyers are also Germans, "most modern business park" is planned] (in Serbian). B92.
  18. ^ ПКС поздравио долазак немачког "ДЛ холдинга" у БИП [Serbian Chamber of Commerce hailed DL Holding's entrance into the BIP]. Politika (in Serbian). 2 September 2021. p. 11.
  19. ^ Maja Đurić (19 August 2021). "Stručnjak: Poslednje poglavlje u priči o čuvenom BIP-u – tržni ili biznis centar" [Expert: final chapter in the story of famous BIP - shopping or business center] (in Serbian). N1.
  20. ^ Ana Novaković (13 December 2021). "Poverenik: MUP da dostavi BIRN-u informacije u vezi sa nabavkom Škoda" [Commissioner: Interior ministry to send information to BIRN regarding acquisition of Škodas] (in Serbian). BIRN.
  21. ^ Nataša Latković (18 August 2021). "Ko je i šta sve ima vlasnik "Auto Čačka" koji je kupio BIP" [Who is the owener of "Auto Čačak" who purchased BIP, and what properties he owns] (in Serbian). Nova.rs.
Retrieved from ""