“Unfortunately… no agreement has been reached,” Marić told the press.
He said the Brodosplit situation became even more complex in the past few weeks due to the opening of pre-bankruptcy proceedings. They imply an additional procedural as well as “temporal component” regarding the approval and regime of state aid, he added.
Also, he said, the Finance Ministry has been analysing the technical, legal and financial justification of a protested guarantee request.
Our talks and cooperation with the HBOR (Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development) are in line with that, Marić said, regretting that “such conclusions have been made” based on “certain talks, questions asked and answers given.”
He would not say if the situation was closer or farther from an agreement being reached, saying it is still not clear if the business model in question is viable.
Marić said the HBOR had a very responsible approach to its job and that he was sorry it was exposed to “such pressure” only for showing good will.
Earlier today, Debeljak told N1 television that a meeting was held at the HBOR two days ago, that a solution had been found and that Brodosplit’s problem would be solved in three months.
Late in March, the shipyard said €60 million from loans given by the Russian-owned VTB Europe bank it was using to finance the building of two ships had been blocked. The bank is subject to restrictions due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Brodosplit asked the government to support a proposal that the loans be rescheduled with HBOR funds. One loan would be repaid by the end of the year and the other over a longer period of time, which would allow the shipyard to operate normally.
Earlier this week, Debeljak filed a second pre-bankruptcy motion for Brodosplit after the first one was dismissed due to procedural error.
According to unofficial reports, HBOR is willing to lend the money to Brodosplit pending a government decision.
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