Darko Pappo, Management Board member of DIV machines and bolts manufacturer from Samobor, which owns Brodosplit shipyard, confirmed for us yesterday that Italian Fincantieri shipyard and Brodosplit presented the Economy Ministry with their letter of intent yesterday, expressing interest in taking over Uljanik and 3. maj shipyards.
-We have responded to the Government's call, which was sent to all large shipyards in the area, for taking over Uljanik and 3. maj.
Negotiations
We sent the letter of intent with Fincantieri because we are business partners who know each other very well and have recognized each other as companies that can do business together - said Papo, but did not answer in which phase Brodosplit and Fincantieri are planning to become involved in restructuring of Uljanik and 3. maj. We asked Pappo whether the two partners would, for instance, enter the process before, during or after restructuring of Uljanik Grupa, on which the Government and Uljanik management are still negotiating with the European Commission (EC).
Strategic partner
The Government and Uljanik management are handling the crisis in Uljanik and 3. maj, and are the only ones with complete knowledge on the state the shipyards are in, measures that can be taken, deadlines and options for addressing the situation. Taking this into consideration, I can only speak for Brodosplit, which cannot in this stage say in which stage of the process it would become involved in solving the crisis in Uljanik Grupa as it is not controlling the process or connected processes - noted DIV MB member and reminded that entrepreneur Danko Končar's Kermas Energija energy and investment company is still involved in the restructuring of Uljanik Grupa, which previously chose Kermas as strategic partner.
Economy Minister Darko Horvat revealed on Monday that Brodosplit and Fincantieri are interested in Uljanik Grupa. He commented on the letter of intent carefully.
-Fincantieri and Brodosplit have presented us with a letter of intent through informal communication. They want to cooperate and, I can add, salvage 3. maj and prepare the shipyard for continuation of operation with an injection of private capital. They also expressed desire, willingness and intent manage restructure and manage Uljanik shipyard - said Horvat, who did not reveal information about the letter of intent sent by the shipyards from Split and Trieste in his comments on the crisis in shipyards in Rijeka and Pula, but commented on further work that is needed on Uljanik's restructuring program, which has to be approved by the EC.
Horvat warned that the current restructuring program for Uljanik Grupa does not adequately take into consideration the consequences of cancellation of contracts for construction of ships, which were recent.
Original plan
-Uljanik management should complete this in some ten days, after which they will present the new program with consultants, without said cancelled contracts. We will wait for a few days and analyze the program after that - announced Horvat. He revealed that cost of restructuring compared to the plan sent to Brussels has increased from HRK 4.38 billion to 5.27 billion.
We sent the letter of intent with Fincantieri because we are business partners, said DIV Management Board member
CEO Gianni Rossanda resigned
Uljanik CEO Gianni Rossanda presented the Supervisory Board with his resignation yesterday. Uljanik reported this through the Zagreb Stock Exchange (ZSE) and the resignation was expected as the new Supervisory Board was formed two days ago, headed by Samir Hadžić from the Headquarters for Protecting Shipbuilding in Uljanik. Also on the Supervisory Board are workers Nenad Kapuralin and Ranko Svečarovski, who started a series of interviews with potential management today.
-We have nine candidates and we have interviewed them. We would like someone from Uljanik to take over, so that new managers do not have to learn about the shipyard. We will continue interviews tomorrow and we believe we will decide who will take the helm of the company - said Hadžić after the day spent on meetings.
Shipbuilding spearheading the decline, with other branches in the red
Industrial production continued dropping in September, declining 2.6% compared to September last year, making it the ninth month of decline in the last 11 months. The drop in September was significant, the steepest since January 2015, which added to negative effects from the start of the year - industrial production dropped 0.3% on the annual level in the first nine months of the year.
The largest contribution to decline of industrial production last month came from the shipbuilding sector, which shrunk as much as 45%, but State Bureau of Statistics (DZS) records revealed that, with significant oscillation, other sectors of industry are facing difficulties as well. For instance, production of motor vehicles dropped 22% in September even though it grew 22% in first nine months of the year. Production of electrical equipment dropped 18%, followed by textile with 13.2%, metal products with 11.4%, furniture with 11%... Even production of pharmaceuticals, which was the main factor in growth of production and export for a long time, started oscillating significantly in the last period. It dropped 2% in September, but grew 8.7% in first nine months of the year.
The only sectors that boast consistent growth on monthly basis and last nine months are metal production (16.7% and 16.3%, respectively) and production of rubber and plastic, which grew 15.3% on monthly basis and 15.5% in first nine months of the year.
Production in shipbuilding dropped 45%
(Marina Klepo)