Serbian Economy Minister Mlađan Dinkić says that production of the Fiat Punto at the Zastava factory will have to be temporarily stopped in the wake of Saturday’s fire, which is estimated to have caused more than a million euros worth of damage. Photo: Aleksandar Dunkić.

Serbian Economy Minister Mlađan Dinkić has said that the production of the Fiat Punto Classic model at the Zastava factory will have to be temporarily stopped in the wake of Saturday’s fire, which is estimated to have caused more than a million euros worth of damage, reports B92. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.

Kragujevac Mayor Veroljub Stevanović and Zastava Vehicles Group General Director Zoran Radojević said that there will soon be estimates made on exactly how much damage was done and when the Punto assembly will be able to begin working again. Dinkić said that the Serbian government will do everything it can to get the production up and running as soon as possible.

The investigation into the cause of the fire and the estimates of the damage incurred are ongoing. After visiting the factory, Dinkić said that the fire damaged the assembly line where the Puntos are put together and also several storage facilities that contained finished products. He said that the damaged should be able to be fixed in several weeks, and that it is most important that there were no people injured in the fire.

Stevanović said that the damages could be fairly substantial. “I think that we can clean up relatively quickly, and in my opinion, the assembly line could begin to work again very soon,” he said. “There will be a period of stoppage, but we have yet to see how long it will actually be,” Mayor Stevanović added.

Report courtesy of B92