Saranovic: I am buying Kras shares because the company has great potential 

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Serbian businessman Nebojsa Saranovic has said that he is buying shares of Croatian confectionery company Kras on his own behalf because he believes the company has great potential. "We have been operating in the region's confectionery industry for a number of years and achieving very good results. 

That is why we regularly follow the industry in this part of Europe and believe that Kras has great potential. It has an amazing brand, outstanding products and excellent employees. We believe it has a lot of potential for further growth and development, and we think that due to our experience in the industry we are a good investor who can bring additional value," Saranovic said in an interview with Croatian daily Jutarnji List, carried by Serbian daily Blic. 

Saranovic, owner of Cyprus-based Kappa Star Limited, which owns several companies in Serbia including Jaffa and Banini, pointed out that those companies' products were well known in Croatia. "Since we became their owners, they (the companies) have become much more successful. 

We constantly invest in technology and development. We've invested EUR28.6m in Jaffa alone. Since our takeover, the company has quadrupled its revenues, we've increased production manifold, as well as the number of employees," he said. 

Commenting on the fact that he had begun buying Kras shares at prices of HRK400-500, which many described as too expensive, and eventually reached the price of as much as HRK1,090, Saranovic said that he was paying for Kras, in which he now owns a 25.6% stake, the price he considered fair value which the small shareholders and employees should get. "We have invested more than EUR45m in Kras so far. We strongly believe in the legal system of the Republic of Croatia and we think a minority set of shares can be profitable, so we are ready to participate in Kras with a minority stake, too. 

We've been aware of that possibility from the start, which has not changed our decision to invest. Many are warning us about examples of synchronized activity by the Kras Management and Mesna Industrija Braca Pivac, but we pay that no mind because we believe that there are laws and regulators for everything. That's their job. It would not be good if the Management prevailed in this process, with any move it made, to the detriment of all workers, the other shareholders and the company itself," said Saranovic. 

As for unofficial information that if he became the majority owner of Kras he would relocate production to Serbia or, if production remained in Croatia, he would dismiss a large number of workers, Saranovic said those were "malicious interpretations and completely untrue."