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Peter Finch In September this year, we travelled to Lipik, 100 kilometres east of the Croatian capital, Zagreb, for a furnace inauguration whose significance was confirmed by the presence of the Croatian president and numerous state officials. The new furnace belongs to Lipik Glas, the result of a recently established Italian-Croatian joint venture. Glass-Technology International spoke to some of the key figures in an ambitious project and toured a plant which, within the space of just a few years, should also house Isoclima CEO Alberto a Eur 80 million, 450-tonne-per-day Bertolini (right) float glass production line. accompanies President Mesic´ on his tour of the plant

n what was, until recently a violently been shot at, has seen most of the 860 or so staff troubled region, Vinko Saleta has good who worked there when he arrived lose their reason to be happy. Since starting work jobs, and has seen the company declared bank- at the glassworks in Lipik in 1988, he has rupt. Hardly what you would call a ‘safe’ job. The smile on his face today is that of a man doing a job he enjoys in a company with a future. Saleta is technical director of Lipik Glas, the new company incorporated by Isoclima of Italy and their Croatian partner INGRA Vinko Saleta when they acquired the Lipik plant of bankrupt deservedly glassmaking business HIRS (Hrvatska enjoying the Industrija Ravnog Stakla) in September 2001. inauguration We met Saleta on 10 September this year at He is in there somewhere! President Mesic´ cuts a very hot ribbon

tional. “We were introduced to Isoclima by Zampolini and began talking about the possi- 157 bility of investing together in the Lipik proj- ect.” Oppenheim knew that Isoclima’s expe- rience, technology and know-how were in themselves a guarantee of the feasibility of the venture. “We visited their plants in Italy, saw how they worked and heard how Isoclima envisaged modernization of the glassworks in Lipik,” said Oppenheim. “We agreed there was mutual interest and proceeded accord- ingly.” the official inauguration of Lipik Glas’s new The DM 5.5 million acquisition was suc- cast glass production line. cessfully completed in September 2001, with The occasion was also a celebration of the the new owners undertaking to keep on the 200- enormous amount of concrete progress made strong workforce and presenting a compre- at Lipik Glas towards successful com- pletion of the new owners’ three- phase development project, aimed ini- PRESIDENTIAL PRESENCE tially at bringing the operation tech- nologically and organizationally into International confidence In his speech, President potential.” line with that of other Isoclima in the potential of Croatian Mesic´ underlined how the “New technology has production units, but also at putting industry and the skills and partnership with a major arrived,” he said, “new Lipik Glas very much on the determination of Croatian international group markets are being European flat glass map. manpower were key clearly indicated that created, and with them, During the official speeches, in themes in the speech “there are those abroad new jobs. Workers here fact, Augusto Gasparetto, Isoclima made by President who believe in Croatia’s know how to work and Chairman, expressed his wish to Stjepan Mesic´ during his progress and industrial want to do well.” see Lipik become a “point of ref- visit to the Lipik Glas erence” for flat glass production in plant. this part of Europe. Following the death of ´ Phase 1 of the project was the Franjo Tudjman in 1999 and the parliamentary acquisition itself. Phase 2 involves elections of January the reconstruction and moderniza- 2000, Mesic´, a supporter tion of the Lipik facility, includ- of EU and NATO ing the major furnace revamp invest- membership for Croatia, ment. Phase 3 will see the con- won the presidency in struction of a 450-tonne-per-day February 2000. float glass line. President Mesic´ began his visit by cutting a ribbon to MUTUAL INTEREST – PHASE 1 symbolically start glass The common denominator in the rolling from the (already Isoclima-INGRA equation was Wal- operating) new furnace. ter Zampolini, a financial consult- The Croatian head of state ant for the Finind Group, of which then toured the various Isoclima is a part, and also an processing lines, INGRA business partner. accompanied by senior “We have a long tradition of Lipik Glas, Isoclima, Ianua Isoclima CEO Alberto Bertolini (centre) and cooperation with Italian companies and INGRA officials, who chairman Augusto Gasparetto (left) in international projects,” INGRA also illustrated plans for illustrate the development project´ to board chairman Igor Oppenheim the float glass project. President Mesic´ (front, second right) told Glass-Technology Interna-

Glass-Technology International 6/2002 www.glassonline.com The old (right) and the new at Lipik Glas 158

The presidential helicopter touches down

hensive development plan. PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING INVESTMENT – PHASE 2 The plant at Lipik was obviously looking at its best on 10 September – the massive invest- ment by the new owners helped make sure of that. control systems were implemented, and new Apart from the new production and process- power supply systems were installed. The ing technology installed, many buildings had revamp was completed in just two months. been repaired, roads inside the plant had been resur- “We shut down the old furnace in mid-June, built faced and the gardeners had clearly been busy. and equipped the new one, pre-heated in 17 days The most impressive structures at Lipik Glas and began producing glass towards the end of remain, however, the original, towering brick chim- August,” said Ianua’s Andrea Provvedi, furnace ney and massive, but now derelict production hall, revamp project manager. He also praised the a spectacular backdrop for the arrival by helicopter attitude of workers at Lipik Glas. “They accept of Croatian president Stjepan Mesic´ but also a that they need outside help and guidance, and reminder of the devastation of war and industrial are both attentive and receptive to it.” decline. What President Mesic´really came to see, Lipik Glas processes more than just its own though, accompanied from Zagreb by government The new cast glass, of course. The float glass currently vice-president Slavko Linic´ and numerous oth- furnace and processed for the increasingly quality-conscious er public officials, was the new glass furnace and annealing markets of the region comes from the Guardian the various processing lines. tunnel group’s Hungarian production unit, Hunguard. The total revamping of the cast glass furnace has increased produc- tion capacity from 45 to 60 tonnes a day. The old furnace (which had been in operation for 10 years) was shut down in June and a new Ianua oxy- fuel one was erected. A Cnud annealing tunnel was added, automatic Safety glass pro- biggest investment duction technology will be in the con- 159 includes a Glasstech struction of a 450- DB4 horizontal tem- tonne-per-day float pering furnace for glass production flat and curved glass, bought in 1989, a Swiss- Engraving line for clear and parsol sheets in thicknesses made Cattin vertical tempering furnace and an work on a of 2-15 millimetres. In this part of south-east- autoclave for laminated glass production. Bavelloni ern Europe, a region with a population of around A new tempering line, Isoclima CEO and KAM 102 32 million, there is not a single producer of float vice-president Alberto Bertolini told us, is due glass, while consumption is estimated to be to be installed within the next two-three months. approximately 110,000 tonnes a year, 80 per cent New or fully reconditioned processing of the planned capacity at Lipik Glas. With machinery at the plant includes automatic global float glass consumption having increased Copmes cutting tables, an Intermac worksta- on average by 5-10 per cent annually over the tion, Bavelloni KAM 102 engraving, grinding last 15 years, and given the rapid development and polishing table, Deltaprogetti grinding under way in the region, this bold investment machine, Schiatti edging and drilling machines, certainly appears to be a worthwhile one. two new Ianua screen-printing lines and a Economic feasibility studies on developing For.El. insulating glass production line. an autonomous float glass unit have been com- A vast storage area was restructured (with new pleted and the aim is to have the line on stream roofing, new heating and water recycling sys- by 2005-2006. A hall which will house part of tems) and transformed into a hall to house the the line already exists and is currently being used new processing machinery. More machinery as a temporary storage area. has been bought but is still waiting to be Heading the Finind Group’s recently creat- installed. Saleta pointed out that when existing ed float glass department, and in charge of the machines need to be replaced, Lipik Glas will Lipik Glas float project, is the highly experienced obviously adopt technology from Finind Group engineer Andrea Greinschgl of Ianua. He assured partner Ianua where possible. IT control systems The For.El. Glass-Technology International that the group’s have been introduced, with new hardware, soft- insulating involvement in float glass production projects ware and an optic fibre network, and comput- glass line is destined to increase. er courses have been organized for staff. In terms of employment (and much to the sat- isfaction of a local population which has seen so much tragic loss in recent times), once the float glass line is operational, there will be an estimated workforce of 380 people, nearly double the current size. SUPPLY AND SHIPMENT LINES In terms of basic raw materials, Lipik is relatively well placed. Lipik Glas project coor- dinator Danijel Zadjelovic´ explained to us that Lipik has obtained long-term quarrying rights from the Croatian authorities for three sand pits located around 30 kilometres away. One of these is already operational and each, said Zadjelovic´, is good for around 20 years’ supply for cast glass production. Though the quality of this sand is not suf- ficiently high for float glass, the company has also obtained quarrying rights to another two pits THE FLOAT CHALLENGE – PHASE 3 which are 70 kilometres away – these will pro- Perhaps the most ambitious, and certainly the vide Lipik Glas with float-quality sand for

Glass-Technology International 6/2002 www.glassonline.com around 50 years. 160 Glass-Technology International asked Isoclima’s Bertolini about the apparently disused railway line running into the plant. He told us that there are plans to reactivate it and that it would cer- tainly be important for the delivery of raw materials. As regards using the line for ship- ments of finished prod- ucts, he said he was less certain about the extent to which it could be exploited, given the rapid delivery times required by processed glass consumer com- panies. INGRA chair- man Oppenheim con- firmed that talks are currently under way with Automotive for use in solar panels, especially for water Croatian state railways and that the branch windscreens heating, but also for photovoltaic panels,” line should be reopened by the end of this awaiting Bertolini explained. “The glass is cast, cut year. shipment and tempered at Lipik,” he continued, “ready In terms of road communications with the for mounting on the panels.” region’s markets, Lipik is situated close to The company’s main clients for this type of the trans-European E70 motorway, part of a glass are in Austria and Germany. Bertolini told largely complete network which gives the us that Isoclima has also been assessing the company access through Slovenia into Austria Italian market but that there does not appear and Germany, northwards out of Croatia to to be any significant Italian-based production Hungary and eastwards into Serbia. of such panels as yet. Along with standard ornamental glass in TARGETING THE REGION’S MARKETS thicknesses of 3-10 millimetres and sheet With over 40 processing machines, Lipik sizes of up to 2,100 by 3,300 millimetres, the Glas is in a position to supply flat, curved, new 60-tonne-per-day furnace also rolls out six- laminated, tempered, patterned, cut, engraved millimetre U-glass in lengths of two and six and screen-printed glass for the construction, auto- metres. “We are one of only a few European pro- motive, shipbuilding and furniture industries. ducers of this type of glass for the construction Within this comprehensive range, there are sector,” said 25-year-old Andrej Marin from the two particular products which already give foreign sales department.” Current markets Lipik Glas a market edge: glass sheets for solar include Croatia, all of ex-Yugoslavia, Hungary panels and profiled U-glass. and Italy. Lipik Glas also has hopes of pene- Isoclima’s Bertolini told Glass-Technology trating the German market. International that Lipik Glas is the only com- With the processing capability now available pany in Europe producing the 1,000-dot solar at Lipik, Isoclima has also transferred some pro- panel glass now coming out of the new furnace. duction there from Italy. “It has very low iron content, energy trans- This, Bertolini told us, includes bullet- mission of close to 91 per cent, and is destined proof glass for security doors and glass for the

Glass-Technology International 6/2002 www.glassonline.com BACK TO BUSINESS WITH SERBIA 161 Bertolini, Oppenheim and others we spoke to during the inauguration con- firmed the importance of the unified states of Serbia and Montenegro (ex- Yugoslavia) as a market for Lipik Glas output. Along with Hungary, Serbia and Montenegro are the most windows of railway carriages. For the auto- The hall due populous of Croatia’s neighbours, with around motive sector, current production is exclu- to house part 10.5 million inhabitants. Bertolini pointed sively that of replacement glass. of the new out that, in addition to offices in Zagreb and Lipik Glas certainly now has the potential float line Split, Isoclima also now has an office in the for OEM production too, stressed Marin, but Serbian capital, Belgrade. this will have to wait until the company com- It seems unlikely, though, that a certain pletes the ISO certification now required by all degree of suspicion and ill-feeling towards of Europe’s car makers. the former enemy are far below the surface in

GLASSMAKING AT LIPIK: BULLETS, BANKRUPTCY AND A NEW BEGINNING

Construction of the glassworks at Lipik HIRS was not only of economic was estimated at Eur 11 million. began on 1 April 1963. Production at importance for the area; it was also an The damage in terms of lost markets the new HIRS (Hrvatska Industrija important weaver of the social fabric, and, as a sad consequence, lost jobs Ravnog Stakla) plant then got under building around 200 homes for its was much greater. way just over two years later, on 15 workers, participating in local area With peace re-established and with May 1965. Initial output of the plant, improvement projects and actively moves by independent Croatia’s new designed by engineers from Poland, supporting various cultural and government towards a free market was around 450 tonnes of flat glass a recreational groups. When war broke economy, HIRS was privatized in 1998 day, flowing from three furnaces. out in 1991, Lipik found itself sitting and taken over by a Croatian A 250-tonne-per-day Fourcault line right between the two opposing armies. businessman unfamiliar with the ways produced glass for the automotive “The Serb army shelled the glassworks of the glass industry. industry, while the 115-tonne-per-day and also cut the main gas supply to the Debts accumulated, taxes and wages and 60-tonne-per-day lines produced plant,” recalls technical director Vinko went unpaid, with the result that, in patterned glass. Saleta. Glass production came to a early 2001, the Zagreb courts declared The workforce totalled 350. standstill for nine months as the plant HIRS bankrupt. In June of the same In 1966, there was a significant became the target of heavy mortar fire. year, offers were invited for the increase in both output and quality, “The glass mass cooled in the acquisition of the HIRS Lipik facility. establishing HIRS as a major flat glass Fourcault furnace and the larger of the In September 2001, having made the producer and processor, supplying other two furnaces was irreparably best offer, the Italian-Croatian principally the whole of former damaged – only the partnership of major glass producer Yugoslavia with a full range of cast, 60-tonne-per-day patterned glass Isoclima, merchant bank FINEST patterned and profiled glass, tempered furnace survived,” Saleta told Glass- and Zagreb-based industrial and laminated safety glass, as well as Technology International. conglomerate INGRA acquired siliceous sand used also in the As the fighting continued but moved the Lipik operation for DM 5.5 million construction industry. away from Lipik, operations gradually and incorporated a new company, Just before the civil war which broke resumed, but with the pre-war Lipik Glas, with an initial capital of HrK out following Croatia’s declaration of workforce of over 800 reduced to 337. 61 million and an undertaking to keep independence in 1991 and lasted until A Swiss Cattin vertical tempering on a workforce of 200. 1995, HIRS was providing work for furnace came into operation in April Following the creation of Lipik Glas, the over 800 people, approximately 10 per 1992 and the only surviving furnace process of modernization of both cent of the working population of the came back on stream in July 1992. production and plant management Pakrac province in which Lipik lies. Official war damage at the glassworks immediately got under way.

Glass-Technology International 6/2002 www.glassonline.com Croatia, reinforced by some still 162 very evident signs of war – roadside A WHO’S WHO OF LIPIK OWNERSHIP tombstones, bullet-peppered walls, Isoclima FINEST grenade-scarred floors inside the Together with sister companies SPS, A merchant bank and financial Lipik plant. Sad memories of war Iontech, Isiglass and Sivis, Isoclima is services provider created specifically will naturally and perhaps neces- a leading international producer of flat to help businesses based in sarily remain, but what better way to and curved tempered and laminated the north-east of Italy wishing to move forward towards normalization safety glass for a broad array of establish or expand operations in of relations and economic recovery applications including glazing for central and eastern Europe. For the than by repairing the damage, elim- major architectural projects; bullet- Lipik Glas project, inating the visible reminders of war proof anti-penetration glass for FINEST worked and nurturing healthy two-way trade? banks, embassies and armoured closely with SIMEST, On 15 July this year in Sarajevo, vehicles, glass for the automotive and the state financial institution for the President Mesic´ met with his coun- aerospace industries, solar control development and promotion of Italian terparts from Serbia and Montene- glazing and glass sheets for solar business abroad. gro and from Bosnia-Herzegovina panels. Isoclima is based in Este, near and, in the words of their joint state- Padova, Italy. It is part of the Finind ment, “considered, in a compre- Group, which also includes the flat glass technology operation, Ianua. hensive, friendly and open discussion, the most important aspects of our INGRA mutual relations and of the situa- A Croatian conglomerate, tion in the region.” headquartered in Zagreb, active This was the first meeting of the principally in the field various heads of state since the end of civil engineering of the hostilities and a clear sign of (the construction of roads, bridges, progress towards normalization. dams, industrial plants, hospitals, The bright and sunny weather airports) but also in other sectors – which lasted throughout the 10 power generation and distribution, September celebrations at Lipik shipbuilding, transport, tourism, Igor Oppenheim, Glas matched the overall mood of financial services. INGRA Chairman enthusiasm and optimism among all those present. The only ‘cloud’ in the sky was the absence of Lipik Glas gener- al manager Vladimir Stric´evic´, who was under- NO SMOKE, BUT….. going treatment in a Zagreb hospital. Seriously damaged The challenges which still face Lipik Glas during the 1991-1995 are undeniably enormous. However, the desire war, the original 76- among the people of Lipik to rebuild a facto- metre brick chimney ry and re-create jobs (and the relief at now hav- of the old 250-tonne- ing the opportunity to do so) combined with the per-day furnace at ambition of Isoclima and INGRA to turn Lipik Lipik is now being Glas into a key regional producer of not only carefully restored. cast but also float glass will certainly make many Although it will no obstacles much easier to overcome. ■ longer be used, it remains a fine example of industrial architecture and a potent symbol of survival and rebirth. Information Service no. 104 See Contents for Info Service page

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