The indebted Pula-based Uljanik shipyard company, which owns the dock of the same name in Pula and another major shipyard 3. Maj in the port city of Rijeka, said on Thursday it selected a new "strategic partner" to save it from bankruptcy, accepting a bid sent in by another Croatian dock, Brodosplit, based in the city of Split.

In a statement sent to the Zagreb Stock Exchange, Uljanik management said that the decision was made at a joint meeting of the company’s management and supervisory boards earlier on Thursday.

“An agreement will be concluded with the selected strategic partner to regulate mutual rights and obligations. Under the agreement, the strategic partner will be required to draw up an acceptable and implementable restructuring programme for the Uljanik company and shipyard,” the statement said.

Brodosplit, who partnered up with Italy’s major shipyard Fincantieri, is now expected to acquire a stake in Uljanik and take part in financing its restructuring programme to stave off its bankruptcy. The bids submitted for Uljanik earlier this month were never publicly released.

The long-running saga of Uljanik’s demise started in January 2018, when the government agreed to issue a €96 million guarantee for a bank loan Uljanik management needed to borrow, which obliged the company to find an investor within six months willing to partner up with the perenially indebted dock.

In March 2018, Kermas Energija, a smaller shipbuilding company owned by local entrepreneur Danko Koncar, was selected as Uljanik’s strategic partner, but in December that year, Uljanik’s supervisory board decided to terminate the partnership with Kermas Energija.

In the meantime Uljanik management drafted another restructuring plan worth around €584 million which they sent to Zagreb, asking the government and the future partner to evenly split the cost of the dock’s restructuring. However, the plan was rejected by Brussels which sent 75 objections to it.

The management then came up with new versions of the plan, which was never shown to the public but which local media speculate has ballooned to some €1.3 billion, and involves re-purposing portions of seaside land in Pula owned by the dock for tourist accomodation and a marina.

Meanwhile, the company, which specialises in building bulk carriers and oil tankers, was hit by a string of cancelled orders and blocked bank accounts due to unpaid suppliers, as well as strikes of workers who are also shareholders of Uljanik, owning a 47 percent stake at the company.

In addition, the government had to pay out some 2.35 billion kuna (€317 million) in bank guarantees claimed by the end of 2018 by clients who had cancelled their orders due to the dock’s inability to deliver contracted ships.

Follow N1 via mobile apps for Android | iPhone/iPad | Windows| and social media on Twitter | Facebook.