While everybody is thinking about football, another major company is on the brink of collapse.
The situation with the Uljanik shipyard from Pula is becoming dramatic. Quite unusual and even contradictory information is coming from official and unofficial sources, but one thing is certain – Uljanik is in a major financial crisis. In order for the company and its 4,500 jobs to be rescued, and for more than 660 million euro in state guarantees not to become payable, urgent decisions need to be made, reports Novac.hr on July 11, 2018.
In the week when the government should finally submit to the European Commission the long-awaited restructuring programme which has never been presented to the public, and which is, in fact, crucial for the further survival of the shipyard, new problems have appeared. The leadership of the Istrian Democratic Assembly (IDS), Boris Miletić and Valter Flego, met on Friday with Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and responsible ministers, and they asked for government’s assistance over the Uljanik crisis. However, the key person for the future of Uljanik, Danko Končar, was not invited to the meeting.
Končar said that he was invited unofficially by the Uljanik management, but that he never received an official invitation. When he offered that his son would represent him at the meeting, since he was out of the country, it was flatly refused. It is very strange that the government did not invite him since he is the one who has been selected to become the shipyard’s future owner.
Logical questions are whether Končar is still involved in the whole issue at all, what will happen to Uljanik, whether he participated in the drafting of the plan, why was the plan prepared by the management board which accumulated the losses, and why the state did not control how Uljanik was doing after huge guarantees were approved. It should be pointed out that, in the third quarter of 2017, Uljanik’s total debts exceeded its assets by 220 million kuna, which means the company is practically insolvent. Likewise, the accumulated debts in 2017 were higher than 3.75 billion kuna, and the audit reports are reportedly full of dramatic auditor reservations.
According to unofficial information, despite not having been at the meeting, Končar is still interested in the project and has not given up on the shipyard, although he is not fully informed about the restructuring programme which has changed several times.
The government is reportedly very skeptical and appears not to have any solution at this time. The new “restructuring plan,” prepared by the management which led Uljanik to the current state, includes provisions about the state giving them 300 million euro and asking the European Commission for prolongation.
The initiators of the meeting – Pula Mayor Miletić and Istria County Prefect Flego – did not want to comment as to why Končar was not invited to the meeting. “You should ask the government why Mr. Končar was not invited. The meeting was very constructive, and the main objective was to send the shipyard’s restructuring programme to Brussels as soon as possible, since the deadline, 22 July, is approaching. We all know that the six months for submission of the programme started running after the rescue aid’s approval this winter. The Uljanik administration prepared it in April and sent it to the government,” said Miletić, adding that his goal was to keep shipbuilding in Istria and protect jobs in Rijeka and Pula.
Prefect Flego explained that the meeting was convened because they wanted to see what the prime minister and ministers thought about the issue. “I demand the fullest responsibility of all involved in this process. On the one hand, we need to work on the restructuring plan, but we also have to build ships. I think the government understands the issue, I expect the programme to be sent to Brussels as soon as possible, and I hope the Commission will respond as fast as it did the first time,” concluded Flego.
The meeting did not include Rijeka Mayor Vojko Obersnel, who learned about everything from the media. “Nobody invited us, although the fate of the Treći Maj shipyard in Rijeka is directly linked to Uljanik. The restructuring of Treći Maj is over, but its problems stem from loans given to Uljanik,” explained Obersnel.
Translated from Novac.hr (reported by Barbara Ban).
