AUSTRIAN COMPANY TO OPEN CHOCOLATE FACTORY IN REPUBLIKA SRPSKA

An Austrian company, STYX Naturcosmetic GmbH, plans to establish a production facility in the Gradiška area of Republika Srpska, including a chocolate production operation, Republika Srpska Minister for European Integration and International Cooperation Zlatan Klokić said.

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Klokić said that company owner Wolfgang Styx has already launched the initiative and established a company in Republika Srpska with the aim of building a production facility in Gradiška. The investment is estimated at around BAM 1 million.

INVESTMENT IN GRADIŠKA

“The goal is to select a construction company that will carry out the works,” Klokić told reporters in Banja Luka following a meeting with Styx.

He added that the Gradiška City Administration and the relevant ministry would provide the necessary support to accelerate the implementation of the investment.

“The company's products are 100 percent organic and based on natural ingredients. I am therefore confident that our local producers will also be able to establish successful cooperation with this company. I expect the company to begin full-scale production as early as next year,” Klokić said.

CHOCOLATE MADE WITH LOCAL INGREDIENTS

Styx said that the company would initially focus on chocolate production in Republika Srpska.

“We also make this product in Austria, but here we will produce it using local ingredients. Over the next two years, we intend to employ at least 10 workers and make significant investments,” Styx said.

The company also plans to establish a distribution centre in Republika Srpska for its products, serving markets throughout the former Yugoslavia.

“We have had positive cooperation with the relevant ministry and the local authorities in Gradiška, who have provided us with excellent conditions for doing business,” Styx said.

NOVA TOPOLA ATTRACTING INVESTMENT

Gradiška Mayor Zoran Adžić welcomed the investment, saying that the local community was open to and well prepared for new domestic and foreign investments.

“Mr Styx will build the company in Nova Topola and will have our full support,” Adžić said, adding that as many as 12 investments have already been implemented in Topola, creating around 1,200 jobs.

GROWING AUSTRIAN INTEREST

Mladen Filipović, Head of the Republika Srpska Representative Office in Austria, said that the office had strongly supported the investment.

“We are pleased that this and numerous other Austrian investments are increasingly being implemented here, as we are creating favourable business conditions for investors. Austria is showing growing interest in economic cooperation with Republika Srpska,” Filipović said.