Slovak firm dressed German police officers and Olympians. Today, it's applying for bankruptcy.
Itimex also sewed for brands like Lacoste and Escada.
For decades, the town of Šahy used to be one of the textile centres of Slovakia thanks to the Pleta company, which supplied the domestic and foreign market with sweaters and other knitted products back in the day.
The state giant had its operations in Šahy, Banská Štiavnica, Nitra and Veľký Krtíš. It employed 3,500 people, writes the Index magazine.
But after the Velvet Revolution and the fall of communism in 1989, the privatisation of state-owned enterprises followed, causing an earthquake that pushed many factories to the brink of collapse. The state giant Pleta was divided into three individual enterprises. Each was soon privatised. The one in Šahy was first renamed Ipeľská Textilka, and its owner became the company Itimex. Instead of the Soviet Union, the company started producing goods for Western markets in Šahy.
The firm, whose major customers have included famous brands, police forces and the army, managed to overcome several crises over the years. However, today, its owner has decided to turn to the courts and requested bankruptcy proceedings.
Made in Germany
It was in the 1990s when the textile company entered into contracts with several multinational manufacturers. In Šahy, products were sewn for brands like Lacoste and Escada, although the labels indicated “Made in Germany”.
“I can’t discuss specific brands. If I revealed them, everyone would turn their backs om me,” said the owner, Dušan Weiss, in a 2017 interview, noting that the company’s golden years were in 2005 and 2006 when they collaborated with the luxury brand Escada.
At that time, Itimex employed 500 people and had annual revenues of about €5 million.
The lucrative contracts for Escada ended, and shortly thereafter, the company had to deal with other issues: gas and economic crises, the cancellation of quotas for Chinese textiles, and the transition to the euro. Weiss mentioned that these issues had led the company to existential problems.
Uniforms for police forces
In addition to contract manufacturing for well-known brands, Itimex also began producing clothing for police, fire, and military units. Their customers included, for example, the Austrian and German police as well as the German Olympic team.
Weiss boasted in the interview that, in 2016, his firm supplied 17,000 caps for Slovak police officers and another 3,000 for firefighters. Shortly before the 2020 parliamentary elections, the Defence Ministry controlled by the nationalist Slovak National Party signed a contract with Itimex for a period of four years to supply the military police and the armed forces with knitted accessories, namely scarfs, gloves and caps. The ministry also turned to the firm last year, requesting the supply of knitted clothing accessories worth almost €871,000.
Profits and debts
Itimex, owned by Silvia Semancová since 2018, did not respond to Index’s request for a comment. Semancová is Weiss’s daughter. Weiss serves as the firm’s executive director.
In recent years, Itimex has consistently reported profits. Since 2018, it has also appeared among debtors to several insurance companies.
Seven years ago, the textile company also had to address complaints from dissatisfied employees. An official inspection even took place at the company. Several dozen violations of legal regulations were identified, including seven undocumented workers and deficiencies in safety measures.
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