The aluminium smelter in the Bosnian town of Mostar has fallen eerily silent since its electricity was cut in July, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. The only visitors to what was once a model factory in former Yugoslavia are staff filling in redundancy papers. The closure of debt-laden Aluminij Mostar is symptomatic of the challenges facing countries across the Balkans as they try to keep loss-making state-owned businesses inherited from the communist era afloat in market economies. The demise of the aluminium exporter also shows how 25 years after the end of the Bosnian war, everything from ethnic rifts to weak corporate governance to corruption are hindering growth, just as the world economy is slowing and European Union membership looks ever more remote. Read more
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