ZAGREB, April 30 (Hina) - The government will take steps to help the shipbuilding industry with 915 million kuna (EUR121 million) worth of guarantees for long-term loans for the rescheduling of shipyards' old debts and loans for the
upgrading of shipyard technology and severance pays. The government will also provide 1.1 billion kuna worth of guarantees for loans for the needs of current production.
ZAGREB, April 30 (Hina) - The government will take steps to help the
shipbuilding industry with 915 million kuna (EUR121 million) worth
of guarantees for long-term loans for the rescheduling of
shipyards' old debts and loans for the upgrading of shipyard
technology and severance pays. The government will also provide 1.1
billion kuna worth of guarantees for loans for the needs of current
production. #L#
The government on Wednesday analysed the situation in the
shipbuilding industry and adopted financial measures to help the
industry.
Last year two shipyards made profit -- Pula's "Uljanik", which made
27 million kuna, and "Brodosplit", which, after the state took over
its debts, made a profit of five million kuna.
The other three shipyards -- Rijeka's "3. maj", "Brodotrogir" and
"Kraljevica" -- together incurred a loss of some 300 million kuna.
Of the 915 million kuna worth of guarantees, almost one half, i.e.
447.8 million, is intended for "3. maj"; 224.6 million is intended
for "Brodosplit", almost 174 million for "Brodotrogir" and 49
million kuna for "Kraljevica".
After last year's financial rehabilitation and today's measures,
the shipyards are expected to make profit this year. The planned
results are to be achieved with the help of government subsidies
worth ten percent of a ship's value, without which no shipyard could
achieve positive business results, said Economy Minister Ljubo
Jurcic.
He blames inefficient management and supervisory boards for the bad
situation in the shipbuilding industry.
He recalled, however, that shipbuilding was an exceptionally
important branch of the economy which makes up for around 10 percent
of Croatia's overall exports.
This year, shipyards should deliver 20 ships. The planned value of
the ships is US$586 million, with effects in other production
branches totalling some 1.15 billion dollars.
The shipbuilding industry directly employs 12,000 people and
another 5,000 in sub-contractor companies. Some 30,000 people are
connected to the shipbuilding industry through domestic
production.
The government today endorsed the signing of an agreement on a
guarantee between Croatia and the World Bank for the project of
financing the reconstruction of the Rijeka highway.
This project is worth a total of 264.6 million US dollars, of which
155 million would be provided by the World Bank in the form of
loans.
The government supported with a majority of votes a bill on health
care and tertiary education and forwarded it into parliamentary
procedure.
The bill envisages the functional integration of universities
which would fully transfer financial and legal activities to
universities instead of faculties.
(hina) lml sb