University of Maribor Faculty of Arts

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University of MariborFaculty of Arts

• Transformation Processes
• of the Industrial Area in Maribor
• Ass. prof. Lucka Lorber
• E-maillucka.lorber_at_uni-mb.si

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Industrial development in Maribor

• Industrial development in Slovenia was closely
  correlated to the development of
  Austro-Hungarian state, although Slovenia already
  had some important mines and manufacturing shops
  in the beginning of the industrial era.
• During the manufacturing-industrial period, 19.1
  of all companies of the Slovenian territory were
  located in Maribor. The companies were run
  predominantly by foreign-owned capital mostly by
  owners from the centres in Vienna, Graz and
  Trieste.
• With the abolition of feudal relationships in
  1848, building of railways, administrative
  inclusion of suburbia and with building of
  railway workshops in 1863, the administrative,
  commercial and industrial development of Maribor
  began. Its population grew by 14 times in 100
  years. Rapid development caused Maribor to
  urbanize hastily.

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Period 1918 - 1941
After the World War I, in the period between 1918
and 1945, the development in the newly formed
state redeployed from food-, leather- and timber
industries to textile- and metal industries.
Maribor became the first Yugoslav centre of
textile and metal industry1. Based on the
development of classic industrial branches the
first industrial zones Melje, Tezno and Studenci
were formed. 1 At the end of 1938, Maribor
had 27 textile factories where 6,293 workers were
employed or in other words 35.7 of all
Slovenian textile workers. The metal industry of
the time employed 3,700 workers.


Figure 1. First industrial zones
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Maribor after the World War II

• After the World War II, in the socialist
  administrative-centralistic era (1945-1952), the
  most intensive economic development of the city
  followed.
• The process of nationalisation, performed in
  years 1946 and 1948, brought the nationalisation
  of sixty larger and smaller industrial companies.
  
• Electrification and development of hydroenergetic
  system on the River Drava enabled the enhancement
  of production capacity and development of new
  industrial branches.
• Until 1952, thirteen industrial branches evolved
  in the city. In the 1952, metal industry took the
  leading role with 48.2 of all industrial
  workers while textile industry with its 33.6 of
  workers generated the largest share of national
  income of the city industry. Timber industry
  with 6.2 and the production and processing of
  electric energy with 3.8 of employees in
  Maribor industry were following.
• In the socio-economic circumstances of that era,
  a distinctly unilateral economic structure arose
  in Maribor having emphasis on production of
  vehicles, means of production, investment
  equipment and textile.

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Maribor in sixties
In the sixties, Maribor industrial sector reached
its mature stage of development. Metal industry
with 45 , textile with 19.8 and
electrotechnical industry with 9.5 were still
holding the leading position. Three new
industrial branches arose non-ferrous metal
industry, building-material industry and
production of petroleum products. The after-war
industrial development was based mainly upon
extending of traditional industrial branches.
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Maribor in seventies and eighties
In the period of self-government economy
(1952-1989), the state interfered with the
organisation of business systems by its political
moves. Economic policy of the socialist system
had not allowed timely restructuring of classic
industry in compliance with the requirements of
market economy and of new economies that began to
evolve in the European area in the 1960s. In
the seventies, Maribor industrial sector entered
the phase of stagnation and falling behind the
pace of development in the rest of Slovenia.
Investments in that period are decreasing
typical are self-sufficiency, self-confinedness
and fragmentation of industrial companies as well
as their technological obsoleteness. The
eighties delineate regression regarding the
Maribor economy which is showing in cessation of
population growth, reduction of employment
positions, decreased share of national product
and in level of new investments which was below
the republic average.
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Revenue share of Maribor economy in RS revenues
in the period 1986-2004
Maribor economy experienced a rapid decline of
industrial production in the end of 80s because
of its unpreparedness for social and economic
changes that followed. The structure of Maribor
industrial sector was based upon capitally
expensive structure and upon limited structure in
terms of income. It was concentrated in giants
which had reached their climax in the sixties.
After this period, a constant decline of national
product in the national product of Slovenia
followed.
Source SDK, APP, APPI, AJPES, authors
calculations.
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The trend of revenues in individual sectors of
Maribor economy
After 1991, some major changes occurred in
Maribor economy regarding the structure of
industrial companies, the structure of economic
revenues and in production according to sectors
of activity. The share of the industrial sector
in the Maribor economy revenue was falling
rapidly in the period from 1989 through 1991
while the decline was somewhat slower after 1991.
The fall in industrial production plays a leading
role in economic recession of Maribor compared to
the republic.
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The trend of revenue shares in the sector of
manufacturing activities
The main disturbance in the Maribor manufacturing
activities occurred in the few year period before
gaining independence and the first years after
that. It is thus typical for Maribor economy to
have experienced a shock as early as in 1988, the
year of crucial political events that eventually
brought to the disintegration of Yugoslavia. The
production share in the sector of manufacturing
of transport equipment (DM) began to fall
drastically. The Yugoslav Army ceased to buy from
Maribor companies almost entirely in the 1988.
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The first phase of 1988-1995 crisis in the
sector of transport equipment manufacturing (DM)
The first phase (1988-1995) was the beginning of
the crisis in the companies that produced
commercial vehicles and which also included
dedicated production for the purposes of the
Yugoslav Army. Consequence was the falling share
of revenue in this sector DM from 34.9 percent in
the year 1987 to 3.1 percent in the year 1995.
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The second phase, 1992-1996 the crisis in the
manufacture of machinery and equipment (DK) and
manufacture of electrical machinery and equipment
(DL)
The second phase (1992-1996) delineated the
crisis in the companies producing investment
equipment. It was typical of these companies to
have been operating mainly in the common Yugoslav
market and, together with the large state-owned
companies, in the foreign markets of the Third
World. At the same time, the employees from
these working environments were the main holders
of constitution of small enterprises both,
those production- as well as those
service-oriented.
Metalna
Elektrokovina
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The third phase, 1994-2005 the crisis in the
textile sector
Third phase (1995-2006) delineates the crisis in
companies in the textile sector (DB). This
sector experienced three critical periods. The
first period was the year 1995 when more than 25
of all jobs in this sector were cancelled,
while in the 1998 over 30 of the remaining jobs
were also cancelled thus, the number of the
employees decreased to under 2,000 employees for
the first time. The last crisis is placed in the
years 2004 and 2005 when additional 300 jobs were
lost.
MTT
MTT
Svila
Merinka
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Conclusion

• The essence of restructuring processes in
  Maribor economy is in adaptation to circumstances
  on the global market. Economic goals of long-term
  growth of added value and productivity should be
  followed in pursuance of assuring
  competitiveness.
• Urban design of Maribor is focused on additional
  construction of free and unused urban surfaces
  and on rounding-up of industrial-business zones
  that will have the adequate infrastructural
  equipment and appropriate connections to
  transport corridors. Protection of environment
  and humanization of life are future development
  perspectives that will ensure a more qualitative
  urban image of the city and improve residing of
  its inhabitants.