ZAGREB, June 2, 2019 – Economy Minister Darko Horvat said on Saturday he would be happier if he could have utilised the 4.4 billion kuna in enforced guarantees for ships for good entrepreneurs instead.
He was responding to questions from the press in Prelog, where reporters asked him about the situation in shipbuilding ahead of a court hearing on the bankruptcy of the 3. Maj dock in Rijeka and after bankruptcy proceedings were opened in Pula’s Uljanik.
Asked about a dredger for which Belgium’s Jan De Nul company has enforced guarantees, Horvat recalled that an attempt was made last October to agree on the completion of the vessel at Uljanik, but when bankruptcy proceedings were launched, Jan De Nul enforced guarantees and the Finance Ministry paid 4.4 billion kuna.
He said there were two other ships worth 120 million kuna which the government expected to be cancelled, too, because there were no prerequisites at Uljanik to resume construction.
In the wake of Uljanik’s bankruptcy and the situation in the ailing 3. Maj, Horvat reiterated that the government no longer could nor wanted to pay for enforced guarantees.
He said he would be happy if he could give good entrepreneurs 4.4 billion kuna from the state budget, adding that, combined with EU structural funds, that would make a 5% GDP growth possible.
Speaking of 3. Maj, Horvat said the clients whose ships were unfinished were interested in financing their completion and that talks were under way on the completion of four ships.
He said no money from the state budget would be transferred into 3. Maj’s account, adding that one option was to make loan arrangements whereby banks would pay invoices and bills approved exclusively by the dock’s management in order to finish at least three of those four ships.
More news about Croatian shipyards can be found in the Business section.
