Representatives of the government, the largest creditor of the bankrupt Uljanik shipyard, based in the northern Adriatic city of Pula, decided at a meeting of creditors at Commercial Court in Pazin on Tuesday that the Uljanik Brodogradnja 1856 company would be offered for sale by public auction.

The government thus accepted the proposal from official receiver Loris Rak that the model of sale by public bidding be abandoned.

The auction is expected to be held in the first half of May, when the 54.77 percent stake in Uljanik Brodogradnja 1856, held by the government, would be offered for sale at a higher price than the €20.57 million offered at the start of the year by the Czech group CE Industries.

The starting price will be €20.73 million, which is 75 percent of the estimated value.