The past year was a year of investments for AS Holding. One of the most influential BiH. businessman Rusmir Hrvić continues at the same pace.
How Akta.ba learns this company took over Milkos from the previous owner Nedim Čaušević.
According to official data, the new owner of Milkos is the company UPI Star (Mustafa Hrvić), which became known to the public after AS Holding bought the confectionery brands of the Slovenian company Žito through it.
AS Holding already operates in the dairy industry, considering that it has a dairy in Zenica, as well as a number of other food companies.
Negotiations have been ongoing since November last year, but official confirmation was awaited.
His entrepreneurial story begins in 1988, when his uncle Sulejman Hrvić and aunt Azra opened a small grocery store in the village of Vukovo near Jelah. Young Rusmir then helped in the family store, acquiring his first business skills.
He actively joined the AS company in 1995, right after college, assuming the position of deputy director. Under his leadership, the company recorded continuous growth and transformed into a powerful group known as AS Group.
Today, the group includes 17 brands operating in dozens of markets in the food and textile industries. Among the members are companies like Agrokomerc, Klas, Oaza, Svjetlostkomerc, Napretka, Solana Tuzla and Fortitud. AS Group employs thousands of workers and exports products worldwide.
His last major business acquisition was realized, also this year, through the Sarajevo company UPI Star, with which he took over the confectionery segment of Slovenian Žito, part of Podravka. The transaction, worth 8.6 million euros, includes the recognizable brands Šumi and Gorenjka, which further strengthened AS Group’s presence on the regional market.
Seven decades of tradition and development
On the other hand, the Sarajevo dairy Milkos occupies a special place in the history of the food industry of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Its beginnings go back to 1953, when, with the support of UNICEF, it was founded with the mission to help feed children in post-war Sarajevo. It was one of the first organized dairies in the country, and over time it became an important part of the economic system, first as an independent company, then as part of IPK Sarajevo, and later as part of the UPI system.
Milkos has been synonymous with stable production and quality for many years. That continuity was interrupted by the beginning of the war in 1992, after which the dairy fell into a difficult period that lasted more than a decade.
The upheaval came in 2004, when the company was taken over by Teloptic, headed by Nedimo Čaušević, who became the sole owner. Privatization brought a new beginning, Teloptic undertook to assume all financial obligations, save existing workers and create new jobs. The promises were fulfilled, and thus the foundation was created for the renewal and modernization of production. After the successful privatization, more than 30 million KM have been invested in new facilities and equipment.
Until 2007, Milkos worked in Sarajevo’s Pofalići neighborhood, near the city center. However, given the daily influx of fresh milk tankers, such a location was no longer practical for the company or the local population. That’s why a strategic decision was made to build a new dairy in the Hadžići industrial zone. Investments were made in the most modern equipment and technology, which gave Milkos capacities in accordance with European standards and the needs of the modern market.
Today, Milkos produces a wide range of dairy products – from fresh and tetrapak milk, to yogurt, kefir and sour cream, to cheeses, spreads, juices and water.
Spreča farm
As part of the cooperation with Teloptic, Milkos built a modern farm “Spreča” in Kalesija, which is one of the most equipped in the Balkans. This farm produces between 16,000 and 18,000 liters of milk per day, which covers almost a third of the dairy’s needs.
The rest of the raw material is provided by a network of about 1,500 subcontractors, who together deliver an additional 40,000 liters of medicine every day. In this way, Milkos not only maintains domestic production, but also actively supports the development of local animal husbandry.
Today, the company exports between 20 and 25 percent of its production, mainly to the countries of the CEFTA region – Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Albania. The best results are achieved in the markets of Montenegro and Macedonia.
The capital value of Milkos dairy is KM 26.9 million, and last year it operated with KM 15,805,024 in revenue and KM 135,853.00 in profit.
