Out of around 700 active workers, the company for the production and processing of nickel and its products, Ferronikeli, today only has 80 employees in administration, while production machinery has been completely stopped for some time now.
Once one of the main pillars of the metallurgical industry and Kosovo's economy, the company that exported products worth over 80 million euros in 2020 alone, today faces a grim reality: zero production, terminated contracts, and waiting for more favorable market conditions.
Two decades have passed since its privatization, but recovery continues to remain a challenge.
From economic symbol to almost empty complex
Ferronikeli, located in the town of Drenas – about 34 kilometers from Pristina – was for years a symbol of Kosovo's industrial power.
Today, the industrial complex looks almost deserted. Most of the workers have been left without employment contracts, while production has completely stopped.
Company officials are optimistic that the machines will be turned on again, but when market conditions, according to them, are more favorable.
They say that the company remains committed to restoring production and that, even during the shutdown period, millions of euros have been invested in production technology and environmental protection, to be ready when it reopens.
Why did production stop?
According to Shpend Gudaqi, head of the community liaison and public relations office at NewCo Ferronikeli Complex, the main factors that led to the halt in production are related to international markets, REL.
"Over the past few years, the price of nickel on international exchanges and the price of electricity on European markets have been unfavorable for sustainable production at the factory," he tells Radio Free Europe.
As a result, the company has been forced to take drastic measures to reduce costs.
"One of the most important decisions was to turn off the electric furnace in March 2025, to mitigate the high cost of electricity," explains Gudaqi.
Ferronikeli consumes up to 420 thousand megawatt-hours of electricity per year.
Since 2017, energy has been purchased directly from external markets, without being supplied from within Kosovo.
At current prices on the Hungarian HUPEX stock exchange – over 140 euros per megawatt-hour – the annual energy cost, in the event of production, would reach over 58 million euros, a figure that increases the pressure on the plant's sustainability.
Severance of contracts and a signal of hope
At the end of 2025, the company faced an even more difficult decision: the collective termination of employment contracts for over 600 workers, even though they had been paid for almost two years without active production.
"The process was implemented in accordance with the Labor Law, fulfilling all obligations towards employees until November of last year," says Gudaqi.
"I supported my family with my Ferronikeli salary"
For Rexhep Ademi, over 50 years old, Ferronikeli was not just a place to work.
For 18 years, he was the main source of economic security for his family. Therefore, the moment when he was notified of the termination of his employment contract remains one of the most difficult in his professional life.
"With Ferronikeli's salary, I supported my family," Ademi tells Radio Free Europe, recalling the years when the stability of the complex also guaranteed stability for hundreds of families in Drenas and beyond.
After the production halt, Ademi managed to find another job, but the desire for Ferronikeli to resume operations remains alive.
"I would only return with better conditions and a higher salary, not what it was before," he says.
According to Ademi, the average salary for technical workers at Ferronikel was over 550 euros, depending on experience, years of work and the position they held.
Several media outlets have previously reported that, when market conditions allow production to resume at Ferronikel, affected employees will have priority to return to their jobs.
And, recent developments in world markets have brought a cautious signal of hope.
From mid-December 2025 to January 2026, the price of nickel has increased from around $14.200 to $18.900 per ton – an increase that could influence the revision of production plans.
History of Ferronickel
Ferronikeli was built in 1984 and consists of two production lines, two electric furnaces and two rotary kilns.
Nickel ore is sourced from the Çikatova and Gllavica mines, as well as from Albania and other countries.
The decline in production began in the 90s, after the imposition of repressive measures by the then Serbian regime.
Until then, the company was one of the leading nickel producers in the region.
After the war, in 2006, it was privatized by the Kosovo Trust Agency – today the Privatization Agency of Kosovo.
It was initially purchased by a London-based company for 30.5 million euros, on condition that it employ up to 1.000 workers and invest 20 million euros, according to contractual commitments.
A year after privatization, production began under the name NewCo Ferronikeli.
After more than a decade of operation, in 2018, the company changed ownership, passing under the management of another British company, where a company from Albania was also part of the ownership structure.
In 2022, then, Ferronikeli passed into the hands of the current Turkish consortium, Yildirim Group.
Production resumed in 2023, after a nearly two-year hiatus caused by the rapid rise in electricity prices in European markets, but stopped again in November of that same year and remains suspended.
Production capacity over the years reached up to 6.000 tons of nickel per year, making Ferronikeli one of the country's largest exporters.
During 2020 alone, the company realized exports worth over 80 million euros.
The Privatization Agency of Kosovo monitored the company's work until July 2009 and, as a result of fulfilling contractual commitments, decided to release it from further monitoring and reporting, the agency said in a response to Radio Free Europe.
Criticism of privatization and the economic consequences
Professor Izet Ibrahimi, from the Faculty of Geosciences at the "Isa Boletini" University in South Mitrovica, says that state institutions should show more serious commitment and review the privatization process.
"The process should be returned to the point before privatization and the company should be reprivatized on clear and transparent grounds," he tells Radio Free Europe.
According to Ibrahim, Ferronikeli has contributed up to 10 percent of the Gross Domestic Product, while the halt in production has deepened the trade deficit and negatively affected the country's entire industrial chain.
"... because the interruption of production at the complex not only affects workers' salaries, but also has direct consequences on the state budget and the country's overall economy," says Ibrahimi.
The NewCo Ferronikeli Complex company says that they have continuous cooperation with central and local institutions and that, within the legal framework, they have found understanding.
"Our insistence is that the company, although private, be treated as a national asset and strategic asset, as it is the largest exporter and one of the main employers in Kosovo," the company's statement says.
Gudaqi adds that they are open to cooperation with institutions, with the aim of finding solutions that would enable the return of production and workers to their jobs.
Radio Free Europe asked the Kosovo Government and the Ministry of Economy whether there has been any official request from Ferronikeli to find a solution and whether there are legal possibilities for taking any measures.
The Ministry of Economy said that the Government does not intervene in the management of private companies and that they are not aware that the company in question has addressed any issues directly with this institution.
The state-owned company, Trainkos, which provides rail transport services in Kosovo, in its Business Plan for 2025 had foreseen transport for the export and import of ores and the final product of Ferronikeli worth about one million euros - or 430 thousand tons of ore.
In addition, several private companies also had active contracts to perform field work, which were directly affected by the production shutdown.
In Kosovo, the privatization process began in 2003 by the Kosovo Trust Agency and continued by the Privatization Agency of Kosovo after 2008.
So far, over 2.300 assets worth hundreds of millions of euros have been privatized.
However, the process has been criticized for several reasons, related to efficiency, transparency, and economic consequences.
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