ZAGREB, April 24, 2019 – Adriatic Union leader Boris Cerovac said on Tuesday that the hearing set for Wednesday at the Commercial Court in Pazin regarding the possible bankruptcy of the Uljanik Group had two options – either the judge will decide on bankruptcy or he will receive firm guarantees that a solution for Uljanik exists and will once again adjourn the hearing.
“There are two options on the cards – from the one that the judge will decide that conditions exist for bankruptcy, to the one that it has in the meantime received firm guarantees from someone that a solution exists and that the state will indeed pay out overdue wages and that the hearing will once again be adjourned,” Cerovac told Hina.
He underscored that it was high time the agony of the Pula-based dock were resolved, claiming that the recent visit by China’s premier and a trade delegation and their possible interest in taking over the Uljanik Group is not a sufficient reason to adjourn the hearing.
The unionist commented on a press release from the Uljanik Group’s management on Monday that the shipyard “remains to be a protected area,” following the return of Uljanik’s security guards along with additional security guards from another company, claiming that he is not familiar with what sort of terms and conditions Uljanik’s management has offered to security services to go back to work.
According to Cerovac, Uljanik’s management had called on the strike committee to exempt security guards from the strike that was launched on March 21 so that the dock would not be left unguarded. The management board on Friday requested the strike committee to organise themselves and place their own guards at the dock, which they refused to do.
After not being paid for months, 150 employees in legal, personnel and IT services left their work stations as did the security guards that were guarding the entry to the dock leaving the shipyard’s property totally unguarded.
“After we received a promise from Uljanik’s management that the situation would be resolved soon, we decided to go back to work. Of a total of 18 security guards, 14 have returned to work,” the head of the workers’ committee for Uljanik’s IT system, Zoran Milinkovic told Hina.
A hearing that was scheduled for this past Friday at the Commercial Court in Pazin regarding the possible bankruptcy at the Uljanik dock was shifted to or Wednesday, April 24.
More shipbuilding news can be found in the Business section.
