Economy Minister Darko Horvat said on Monday he was confident and optimistic that a model for paying out the July and August wages in the Uljanik shipbuilding group would be found on Friday, adding that the government's intention in the next two months was to find a different model for approaching shipyard restructuring.

Speaking on RTL television, Horvat said that restructuring in the Rijeka-based 3. Maj shipyard was completed at the end of 2017 and that now it could begin in the Pula-based Uljanik but differently, so that shipyards would no longer be bailed out at taxpayers’ expense, but under a model that would make the two docks profitable.

Horvat said he, the Finance Minister and the Prime Minister were looking for a model to ensure salaries in the Uljanik Group for at least two months in line with Croatian law and without any slap on the wrist from Brussels.

The workers at the two troubled shipyards, Uljanik and 3. Maj, have been on strike since Wednesday over unpaid wages for July, which were due to be paid out by August 15.

Following a meeting with government officials in Zagreb on Monday, representatives of the striking committee at the shipyards said that money for two monthly wages might be secured by the end of the week and that the strike would end after they received their wages for July.

Horvat said 14 billion kuna (€1.8 billion) from the state budget had been pumped into Uljanik and 3. Maj to date, the last time in January when, thanks to a state guarantee, a loan was obtained from two commercial banks to ensure several monthly salaries until restructuring was completed.

After that, the supervisory board tasked the Uljanik Group’s management with finding a strategic partner, which the management had done, presenting the government with a restructuring model for the Uljanik dock, the minister said.

As for a statement by Danko Koncar, owner of the Brodotrogir dock, that he could rescue Uljanik when its management stepped down, Horvat said the government had talked with him and that Koncar said he neither wished nor could appear as the financier of the Uljanik Group before a restructuring programme was adopted.

Asked if he agreed with claims that the “fire” in the group had been put out but that it was still not known if the Uljanik dock would build ships, Horvat said “the fire still hasn’t been put out.”

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