PM: Opening of bankruptcy proceedings for Uljanik is not the end

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Monday that the opening of bankruptcy proceedings for the Uljanik shipyard was not the end, but the beginning of a new phase, announcing that a Chinese delegation would again come to Croatia in about ten days to visit the shipyards and the Shipping Institute.

"The Commercial Court in Pazin on Monday opened bankruptcy proceedings for Uljanik after the shipyard's account had been blocked for 231 days in a row.

Speaking to reporters during his visit to the coastal city of Sibenik, Plenkovic said that the decision was made by the court and that bankruptcy proceedings were initiated for the Uljanik shipyard and not for the Uljanik d.d. shareholding company, insisting on the distinction between the two.

He said that a delegation of the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) were expected to make their second visit to Croatia in about ten days. "They will again visit Uljanik and the Shipping Institute, and will make a thorough and comprehensive analysis."

A CSIC delegation visited the shipyards in Pula and Rijeka in late April and early May, but their intentions about the Uljanik and 3. Maj shipyards are still not clear.

Plenkovic dismissed statements by some political parties about who was to blame for Uljanik, putting them in the context of campaigning for the forthcoming European Parliament elections.

"This government didn't give up on the shipyards and shipbuilding, or Uljanik. If anyone has done a lot for the shipyards, it's this government, which had to pay HRK 3.2 billion (in state guarantees). There's no other private company into which we paid so much budget money, while at the same time running a surplus," the PM said.

He said that the Uljanik shipyard workers would now receive money that was owed to them, which was not possible before the bankruptcy process. "But the bankruptcy is not the end, it is different from liquidation. This is the beginning of a new phase," Plenkovic said.

Text: Hina

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