Private investment for the Port of Rijeka.
The Port of Rijeka is no longer a fully state-owned company, after the management and Supervisory Board decided to issue 7.5 million new shares, with a total value of 300 million kuna. Vedran Devčić, CEO of the Rijeka Port, said the original decision was taken in May. “The interest was so great that 32 percent more shares were reserved than we could actually offer. Total demand was for 9.898.591 shares”, said Devčić, according to a report in Poslovni.hr on July 30, 2015.
Most shares were bought by domestic pension funds (55.4 per cent), followed by a strategic foreign investor – Polish company OT Logistica which bought 37.4 percent of the new shares. A smaller number of shares were bought by voluntary pension and investment funds and individuals. Until now, the state had about 83 percent of shares of Rijeka Port, and now its share has dropped to 38 percent, but it still remains the largest single shareholder. The money from the sale of the shares will be invested in a new port terminal in Rijeka, and the construction should start by the end of the year.
Transport minister Siniša Hajdaš-Dončić said that Rijeka was the last major port which was owned by the state and that the fresh capital will give it a new momentum. Minister said that it is possible that the government will later decide to sell its remaining shares, if it concludes that the price is right. Polish partners also have high expectations from the Rijeka Port. They have announced that their goal is to triple the revenues of the port.
“We are a long term investor and we aim for Rijeka to become the largest port on the Adriatic coast, especially on its eastern shore. Croatia and Poland have very strong connections in cultural, religious and political sense, and now we want to increase our cooperation in the economy as well”, said Zbigniew Nowik, CEO of OT Logistica, which is the largest Polish logistics company which employs more than 2.000 employees in many countries of Central and Western Europe and in the United States.
