As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 30th of April, 2019, Croatian Finance Minister Zdravko Marić said on Tuesday that he still needs to see if there really is specific interest from the Chinese shipbuilding company, whose representatives are visiting the ailing shipyards in Pula (Uljanik) and Rijeka (3 Maj), saying that it’s too early to be able to say anything and that we “need to be completely realistic”.
When aked by a journalist about the expectations of the Croatian Government, given that a delegation from the Chinese shipbuilding company China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) has visited the Uljanik and 3 Maj shipyards, Marić said that first of all, we should be realistic and after CISC’s representatives get a proper look at the state of affairs with those shipyards and answers to the questions they are interested in, we will need to wait and see what their response to all of it will be.
At this point, it’s still too early for that, he added, recalling yesterday’s introductory meeting between the Croatian prime minister, his ministers and the aforementioned Chinese delegation at Banski Dvori in Zagreb, where everything was transparent and very clearly presented.
“A really high level team from the perspective of that company has arrived, but on the other hand, we need to be completely realistic. So, today they will spend all day in both Rijeka and Pula and then after that, of course, we can’t expect it immediately but within a reasonable time frame, they’ll determine what they saw, state what they think about it, and whether or not there is a certain level of interest,” said Marić when answering journalists’ questions after attending the annual European Investment Bank (EIB) press conference.
The CSIC delegation, headed by Hu Wenming, arrived at the enfeebled Uljanik on Tuesday morning, where talks with the members of Uljanik’s management board and its supervisory board took place. Assistant Minister of Economy Zvonimir Novak has also been participating in these talks.
Several representatives of the aforementioned Chinese company arrived at Uljanik as early as Monday afternoon, where they viewed the plants and made an unofficial assessment of the capabilities of the Pula shipyard’s production facilities, ie, they got better acquainted with its technical capabilities, the processes that take place there, the technology and its general capacities.
What will coe of the visit is anyone’s guess so far, but despite suspicion from some, an injection of Chinese money could truly be Uljanik’s very last hope.
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