ZAGREB, September 8, 2018 – European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said on Friday she could not set a final deadline for deciding on a restructuring plan for the Uljanik shipyard and that the most important thing was that the plan ensured the company’s long term viability.
Vestager, on a working visit to Croatia, met with Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, Economy Minister Darko Horvat and Regional Development and EU Funds Minister Gabrijela Žalac.
Speaking to the press together with Horvat, Vestager said efforts now had to focus on a restructuring plan which would facilitate Uljanik’s viability. She said one should see to it that the company did not get competitive advantage over others and that it was important that the taxpayers’ money was not wasted and that the restructuring resulted in the shipyard’s long term viability.
Vestager said it was not possible at present to give a more specific final deadline for decisions on the restructuring plan, but that what was agreed with Horvat gave space and time to do the necessary job. She added that the minister and the government’s approach to the problem was encouraging and promising.
Asked if the restructuring plan envisaged layoffs, Vestager said she would rather not prejudge the plan’s content as that depended to a large extent on what a potential investor would offer as well as on the investor’s responsibility to make the plan viable. We are very careful as this is a very delicate stage, she said.
Given its long tradition in Croatia, shipbuilding is part of the culture and the family heritage, so it is very delicate to give any details when the restructuring plan has not been fully defined yet, she added. The reason it’s difficult to give a final deadline is that I’m not a shipbuilder. I’m not the one who can personally restructure the shipyard, Vestager said.
Minister Horvat said the commissioner had given clear confirmation that the European Commission’s expert services were working on the draft restructuring plan that Croatia had sent them. “Today we have managed to get a clear position, which is that this case is really complicated and it will take additional engagement and time to shape it into a model that will be acceptable to the European Commission,” he said.
Horvat said the government would not and must not invest in projects without long term viability. The current restructuring plan, which was worked on over the past six or seven months, has not fully convinced the government that shipbuilding in Pula and Rijeka could continue in the same direction, he added.
“Some things in the shipyard philosophy must change and with that new philosophy we must convince our colleagues in the European Commission that those are postulates which give a perspective of the sustainability of the shipbuilding industry in Pula and in Rijeka, and that the government’s engagement won’t undermine any market competition,” said Horvat.
He said today’s talks also addressed a proposal for a special aid model for the eastern town of Vukovar, including on how to prevent emigration, as well as Croatian legislation on aid and investment incentives, and a model for the restructuring of the Petrokemija artificial fertiliser manufacturer and the government’s role in it.
Horvat said he expected the Commission’s consent concerning Petrokemija in the next few weeks so that its restructuring could be wrapped up by year’s end.
Vestager said the fundamental value in market competition was that everyone should be treated equally, but that she would try to find a way to help Vukovar. She said it was not easy to find the right combination of measures to help Vukovar and its people, but that with the engagement of Minister Horvat and the entire government, the Commission was fully willing to help. I believe we can meet the deadlines set by Prime Minister Plenković, she said.
As for legislation on the stimulation of investment in Petrokemija, Vestager said the government, with its direct and rational actions, had facilitated the Commission’s job in future decisions.
