"I discussed with Commissioner Almunia the current situation of the privatisation process," said Popijac who was attending an informal meeting of ministers in charge of the energy industry from EU countries and EU candidate-countries.
Popijac told reporters that the restructuring and privatisation of the shipyards was proceeding according to plan and that "eventually it would be successful".
"We have sent restructuring programmes to the Market Competition Agency, which will assess them and if necessary, adjust to EU rules, and then send them to the European Commission. We have not discussed any concrete dates, but intensive work is under way and it is proceeding within the set time frame," Popijac said.
He would not speculate about possible deadlines for the completion of work regarding the restructuring of shipyards, which is one of the conditions for the closing of the policy area Competition Policy in Croatia's EU entry talks.
"It is one of the most sensitive areas, a lot of work remains to be done, but I believe that at present we are really on the right track when it comes to solving the problem of the shipyards' survival and finally closing that policy area."
The European Parliament's Rapporteur on Croatia, Hannes Swoboda, told the Austrian news agency APA that the issue of shipyards must be settled before the signing of the accession treaty between Croatia and the EU.
There can be some transitional periods when it comes to implementation, but not when it comes to crucial decisions, Swoboda said.