Economy Minister Darko Horvat said on Wednesday the 3. Maj shipyard had a future and reiterated that Chinese investors were interested in the Brodarski shipbuilding institute.

Asked on Croatian Radio if 3. Maj could be salvaged, he said that legally, the biggest problem for the government was that the shipyard in Rijeka was part of the Uljanik shipbuilding group’s bankruptcy estate.

Horvat said bankruptcy was the last thing he wanted for 3. Maj. He said that if the government invested in the completion of four ships now in the dock, it wanted guarantees that, once they were finished, the money would be returned into the state budget.

Such a model of state aid should work also for the building of future ships, he added.

Horvat said no state guarantee had been enforced in 3. Maj over an undelivered ship and that all talks about the shipyard would end if and when a guarantee was enforced.

He went on to say that Chinese investors wanted to revamp seven of Brodarski Institut’s 15 labs, but that he still had not received their response about potentially entering 3. Maj or Uljanik.

He said it was very likely that Belgium’s Jan De Nul company would buy a dredger for which the state recently paid EUR 130 million in guarantees, so that between EUR 100-115 million will be returned into the state budget.

The minister also announced the further reduction of administrative barriers to doing business and investments.