HeidelbergCement in Bosnia and Herzegovina

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History

1974	Construction of Kakanj cement plant started. The investor was construction company GIK "Hidrogradnja" Sarajevo. Construction works were performed by more than 1500 workers from more than 50 companies from whole ex-Yugoslavia and several foreign companies - "Uzinaexport" from Romania, and "Pfister", "Claudius Peters" and "PHB" from Germany.
1978	Construction was finalized on June 30th. Detailed testing works started which lasted until December 15th when the Kakanj Cement Plant was officially opened.
	Before this plant was built, Bosnia and Herzegovina relied on cement from distanced cement plants and from imports. Construction of the cement plant in Kakanj generated great savings, and transport costs within Bosnia and Herzegovina significantly reduced. Continuous supply of excellent quality cement is secured.
1979- 1990		In the following years Kakanj Cement plant continuously improves its production and business results. In 1979. the plant produced 331.000 tons of cement, while in 1984 it produced 512.000 tons of cement. Record production in this period was made in 1989. with 553.000 tons of cement.
	In this period the Kakanj cement was built into the biggest economic and infrastructure objects in Bosnia and Herzegovina including hydro power "Bočac", "Salakovac", "Mostar", and "Višegrad", as well as in sport objects for Winter Olympic Games held in Sarajevo in 1984.
1990	At the referendum held on September 20th majority of employees of Kakanj Cement Plant voted for separation of the plant from the group GIK "Hidrogradnja" Sarajevo.
1991	From this year Kakanj Cement Plant is an independent shareholders company.
1992- 1995	Production continued also during the war, but due to war activities and lack of basic technologic fuel, it was very limited. In this period the Kakanj cement was very important for reconstruction of economic and housing objects damaged by war actions.
1996- 1997	After the war, the plant is recovering swiftly. In this period the plant was reconstructed, and the value of this project was 300 million DEM.
1998- 1999	In this period the ownership structure was made and company prepared for privatization process.
2000	Through the pilot project of large-scale privatization in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the major stake in Kakanj Cement Plant was bought by German company HeidelbergCement. Share Purchase Agreement between the Agency for Privatization and HeidelbergCement was signed on July 21st, 2000. In this way the Kakanj Cement Plant became member of one of the world's biggest producer of building materials - HeidelbergCement Group.

2000 - 2002		First phase of modernization lasted 24 months, and in this period 12 million EUR was invested into the plant. Greatest attention was paid to environment protection, so in this phase of modernization, which was finalized in July 2002, around 9 million EUR was invested to environment protection equipment. Old electro-filter was replaced by a baghouse which is much more efficient. Dust emissions reduced by more than 90 percent. Today, emissions are lower than those permitted by EU standards and do not exceed 10 mg/m3.
	We also invested into related business. Kakanj Cement Plant established a daughter company TBG BH for production and delivery of ready-mixed concrete.

2003	Investing continued, so in April 2003 new coal mill was put into operation. The value of this investment was 10 million EUR. Project of opening our own quarry started in this year. New concrete plant was opened in Sarajevo with the state-of-art equipment for concrete production and own laboratory for quality control. In this year Kakanj Cement Plant completed the development of the system for quality control management and environmental protection management and gained ISO certificates ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001:1996.
	In June 2003, HeidelbergCement acquired additional 2.105.638 shares of Kakanj Cement Plant or 22.22% of total capital. HeidelbergCement in this way increased its shareholding to 73,94%.

2004	New terminal for cement packaging and delivery was opened in Sarajevo, providing Sarajevo region with faster cement delivery. Activities on opening the new quarry are intensified. Record in cement production and sales was realized in the amount of 613.000 tons.

2005	One of the biggest investment projects was finalized - new quarry was opened providing Kakanj Cement Plant with raw materials for the next 30 years. Kakanj Cement Plant together with its daughter company TBG BH organized the first post-war symposia on concrete called "Days of Concrete 2005". Experts from the whole region including HeidelbergCement's experts from Poland and Hungary participated in this event. The subjects varied including presentation on concrete road construction, EU standards for cement and concrete production, quality control, and many other related subjects.
	Kakanj Cement Plant and HeidelbergCement organized a presentation for the representatives of authorities and media on the occasion of five years of successful privatization of Kakanj Cement Plant. The most significant investment results are: capacity increase by 10%, emission reduction by 99%, high level of environment (ISO 14001), decrease in energy loss, quality control improvement (ISO 9001). More than 45% of investment works was done by B&H companies. Around 33 million EUR have been invested since 2000.

2006	Record in cement production and sales achieved in the amount of 630.000 tons of cement. Kakanj Cement Plant is a proud owner of another certificate: OHSAS 18001:1999 Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems. Primary crusher was replaced by a new one thus reducing operational time of the crusher by 50%, and additional noise isolation was made. Raw material storage hall was equipped with devices for sprinkling thus reducing dust emissions in the storage hall by 70%. New concrete plant was opened in Banjaluka which is operated by TBG BH. HeidelbergCement increased its stake to 85,94% through additional purchase of shares.

2007	New record in production and sales of cement set in the amount of 707.000 tons of cement. Modernization of clinker transport to silos was finalized. in this year we successfully completed the project of oil collector installation which prevents any possibility of waste oil leakage to the sewage system and Bosna river. Temperature measuring on the kiln shell is another automation project started in 2006. Scanners for continued measuring of temperature were purchased and installed, so the temperature can be read now directly in the central command room. HeidelbergCement purchased additional shares and increased its stake in Kakanj Cement Plant on 91,154%.
2007

2008	Best results in the history of Kakanj Cement Plant achieved: 770.00 tons of cement was produced and sold. In 2008, we started the project of constructing closed circulation system for cooling water which should be finalized in the first half of 2009. The value of this project is more than 560.000 EUR.
Today, Kakanj Cement Plant is a world-class producer. Previous and future investments ensure bright future for the plant and its workers, as well as a wonderful palette of top quality building materials for its buyers, and finally a clean and healthy environment for Kakanj inhabitants.

Contact

Tvornica cementa Kakanj d.d. Kakanj
Selima ef. Merdanovića 146
72240 Kakanj
Bosna i Hercegovina

Tel: +387 (0)32 557 500
Fax: +387 (0)32 557 600

www.heidelbergcement.com

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