ZAGREB, December 21, 2018 - The supervisory board of the Uljanik shipyard has decided to terminate the strategic partnership with Danko Končar and his Kermas Energija company, and seek another partner who will be willing to invest in the shipyard's restructuring, the Pula-based shipyard said on Friday.

The decision was made at a joint meeting of the shipyard's supervisory and management boards on Friday. The agreement with Kermas Energija was reached on March 28.

Uljanik invited all interested investors to express their interest in a strategic partnership and recapitalisation in accordance with decisions reached at shareholders' meetings of February 16 and October 16 this year. A data room will be opened for all prospective strategic partners.

The shop steward of the Metal Workers' Union, Đino Šverko, hailed the decision, saying that "any progress is welcome for the shipyard."

"This decision could have been taken six months ago. The question now is how the workers will survive the next five weeks. They don't have any more time to wait. Unfortunately, there has been a lot of blame shifting lately," Šverko said.

The head of the strike committee, Boris Cerovac, also welcomed the decision, saying that "the trade unions were always against Danko Končar and his Kermas Energija being Uljanik's strategic partner."

"This decision should have been taken six months ago, but obviously it didn't suit someone. Someone wanted us to disappear, they wanted workers to give notice of their own accord. This decision is good, but what will happen if we don't find a strategic partner?" Cerovac wondered.

More news on the Uljanik shipyard can be found in our Business section.

ZAGREB, November 29, 2018 - Croatian Minister of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts, Darko Horvat, on Thursday confirmed that he had received a new restructuring concept for the shipyards in Rijeka and Pula, but said the government still isn't certain whether Uljanik has a strong strategic partner that can financially support the dynamics of the restructuring.

"I received the new concept yesterday, the seventh or eighth draft of the restructuring programme, and it foresees 50% participation from a strategic partner, while the other 50%, about 660 million euro, would have to be provided by the state. However, the thing we don't have at the moment or something neither the government nor I are certain of, is whether the state or Uljanik have a strong strategic partner that is prepared and capable of financially supporting the restructuring dynamic," Horvat said in Brussels where he was attending a Competitiveness Council meeting.

Horvat added that, unlike three or four months ago, today there are "two very concrete proposals, two reputable shipbuilding groups that have managed in their business operations to secure the continuation of shipbuilding."

"The Italian Finacantieri and the Ukraine Smart Holding have very clear guidelines that we are currently agreeing so that we can enable them to access the data room and conduct due diligence of all processes and the actual financial situation in the 3. Maj and Uljanik docks, so that they can submit a relevant bid that is acceptable to the management board and the government. That would be a good and clear sign of the possible start of restructuring of shipbuilding in Pula and in Rijeka," Horvat said.

The government's role is to assist the management board in finding a strategic partner for the restructuring of the two shipyards that would be prepared to cover 50% of the costs of that process. According to EU rules, the state's share in restructuring can be no more than 50%.

Horvat also said that he had received an appeal for assistance from workers at the 3. Maj dock, but noted that 3. Maj was owned by the Uljanik Group and that the government doesn't have the legitimacy to treat the companies within the Group separately.

For more on the Croatian shipyard crisis, click here.

ZAGREB, November 20, 2018 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković received on Monday the owner of Ukraine's Smart Holding Group, Vadim Novinski, for talks on its interest in investing in Croatia's ailing Uljanik shipbuilding group. Plenković and the Ukrainian investor had a constructive and open talk, the government said in a press release.

Novinski requested more detailed information about the current state of affairs in Uljanik and it was agreed that the Economy Ministry, in cooperation with the group's management, would provide it, the press release said, adding that Economy Minister Darko Horvat was present at the talks.

In the meantime, workers of the Pula-based Uljanik shipyard, who have been on strike over unpaid salaries since October 20, will resume work on November 20, suspending the strike until the end of the month, strike committee chairman Boric Cerovac told Hina on Monday after a meeting between workers and management.

The meeting discussed the shipowners' dissatisfaction with the fact that work on their ships has been stopped, unpaid salaries, and the workers' wish to prove to the government that they want to earn their pay, he said.

At the end of the month, the decision to suspend the strike will be discussed again and it will certainly depend on the payment of salaries for September and October as well the government's endorsement of a restructuring programme the dock, Cerovac said.

He added that the strike might resume even before the end of the month if the dock's problems were not dealt with.

Cerovac said management told workers the restructuring programme would be sent to the government today, but workers were not told when the salaries for September and October might be paid.

For more on the problems in Croatian shipyards, click here.

ZAGREB, October 23, 2018 - Striking workers in the Rijeka-based 3. Maj shipyard on Tuesday continued their industrial action over unpaid wages, and in the morning they left the premises of the dock to take a protest walk through that northern Croatian coastal town.

ZAGREB, September 8, 2018 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Saturday the government expected more work to be done on a restructuring plan for the Uljanik shipbuilding group and that it had the impression that some stakeholders were interested in Croatian shipyards.

ZAGREB, August 22, 2018 - Employees in the Rijeka-based "3. Maj" and the Pula-based “Uljanik” shipyards, that are parts of the Uljanik Group, on Wednesday began their industrial action because they didn't receive their pay for July on Tuesday and they will strike at their work stations until they get their salaries.

April 2, 2018 - USNS Carson City joined its sister ship Trenton at the shipyard in Rijeka