ZAGREB, Aug 11 (Hina) - The majority shareholder of the "Viktor Lenac" shipyard, Giancarlo Zacchello, should in the next several days pay one million US dollars for workers' wages, after which the Croatian government, as a sign of
good will, will activate state guarantees worth US$7.4 million for the construction of a platform, Economy Minister Ljubo Jurcic said on Monday.
ZAGREB, Aug 11 (Hina) - The majority shareholder of the "Viktor
Lenac" shipyard, Giancarlo Zacchello, should in the next several
days pay one million US dollars for workers' wages, after which the
Croatian government, as a sign of good will, will activate state
guarantees worth US$7.4 million for the construction of a platform,
Economy Minister Ljubo Jurcic said on Monday. #L#
The minister today met representatives of the shipyard's trade
union and its acting manager Ognjen Antunac to discuss solutions to
the current situation in the company.
Zacchello, who according to a previous agreement is to provide
US$1.7 million, has promised to pay in a day or two half a million
dollars and by September 1 another half a million, to be used for
workers' salaries, Jurcic said.
As a sign of good will, the government will then activate 7.4-
million-worth state collateral it previously gave the shipyard for
the construction of the "Marica" platform. These funds are
earmarked funds and will not be used to cover previous losses and
expenses, the minister said.
Within a month's time experts should draw up a plan to reorganise
the company's ownership, technological and financial structure.
The government would supervise the process because of its
significant financial involvement in the company, totalling some
US$68 million, Jurcic said.
The government's objective is to keep the company operational and
to keep workers, he said.
Jurcic could not say what would happen after September 1 and until
October, when the company's owners and creditors are to reach
agreement on its financial restructuring. He did say though that
every move of the government would be conditional on concrete steps
of the owner and creditor-banks.
The minister could not say what would happen with the shipyard in
the end, but he admitted that efforts were made to postpone
bankruptcy as long as possible, as in case of bankruptcy all debts
would have to be paid.
He recalled that the company's debt totalled some US$120 million,
while its obligations towards domestic and foreign suppliers
amounted to around 25 million. The company has landed contracts
worth some 35 million dollars.
The company's owners, creditor banks and the Croatian Bank for
Reconstruction and Development signed a US$28.7-million agreement
on the shipyard's financial restructuring in July. According to
some statements, the agreement should take effect in October.
However, the agreement does not provide for the payment of debts to
domestic suppliers, nor does it cover the period between July and
October, Jurcic said.
(hina) rml