Economy Minister Darko Horvat said on Monday that Italy's Fincantieri, Ukraine's Smartholding and the Dutch Damen Group all expressed interest in investing in the two collapsing shipyards in Pula and Rijeka, as workers at 3. Maj marked two weeks of strike by marching through the centre of the port city of Rijeka.

Asked by state news agency Hina whether strategic partners were at all interested in investing in Uljanik, Horvat said there were some who are.

“Fincantieri, Smartholding and Damen have all expressed interest in the Rijeka-based 3. Maj dock, and some are interested in Uljanik. There is interest for investing, but we have to be aware that we cannot just give away shipyards to investors, because of the difficulties at Pula and Rijeka. These docks have the know-how, tradition, and brand, which has its value,” Horvat said on Monday.

Horvat added that he would hold his first meeting with the newly appointed Uljanik management on Tuesday afternoon.

On Thursday, the group’s supervisory board appointed new members to the company’s management board, in hopes that they would be able to find a solution to the company’s problems.

“We’ll see if these new people have new ideas. From our perspective, the position is relatively clear, we know what the government’s obligations at this moment are,” Horvat said, commenting on possible activation of government-issued guarantees for projects at Uljanik which have been cancelled since the crisis at the company started earlier this year.

Horvat also commented on the new overhaul plan, which Uljanik is still working on after their original restructuring plan was rejected by the European Commission, which filed 75 objections to the plan.

He said that in the restructuring, the docks in Rijeka and Pula should be treated differently.

“Their situations are entirely different, the situation in Rijeka at the 3. Maj shipyard is that it could still be saved, there are still contracts for Rijeka, some strategic partners who wish the shipbuilding at the company to continue, and the local government is in favour of saving shipbuilding on the seaside location taken up by 3. Maj. As for Pula, there is still some confusion there, there is almost no consensus on whether we want the shipbuilding to continue there, or if we want to turn a part of the dock’s land into a real estate business,” Horvat said.

Asked to comment on workers’ protest in Rijeka, where 3. Maj employees took to the streets earlier on Monday, after having been on strike for two weeks over unpaid salaries for September, Horvat said his position on this issue remained unchanged.

On Monday morning, more than 1,000 workers of the Rijeka-based 3. Maj shipyard went on a protest march through the city centre, where at noon they staged a rally and demanded that their company is saved from bankruptcy.

“The government cannot make any more interventions (to pay salaries at the dock). The sooner we all agree, the sooner there will be a way out of this situation, a light at the end of the tunnel,” Horvat said, adding that the government wants to get actively involved in the overhaul of both shipyards.

“We will help, but legitimately and slowly, after the new restructuring plan gets approved by the European Commission,” Horvat said.

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