Liquidation or salvation, the Creditors’ Assembly will decide on January 31

The Creditors’ Assembly of Viktor Lenac Shipyard will decide on Wednesday, January 31, on the proposed bankruptcy plan based on which the shipyard would begin its exit from bankruptcy, secured creditors would write off part of their claims, convert part into ownership shares, and the largest individual ownership share would be held by the Pula shipyard ‘Uljanik’.

    The bankruptcy administrator of Viktor Lenac Shipyard, Ombretta Belić-Ilijašić, stated today that in the ownership structure, besides Uljanik, which has purchased claims from IFC and DEG and would also take over claims from the Ministry of Finance (a total of 60.4%), there would also be the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (16.08%), Croatia Insurance (2.3%), the Development and Employment Fund (3.9%), and the Croatian Privatization Fund (9.4%). Owners with smaller shares would include OTP Bank, R.L.E. Obrt from Drniš, the Croatian Pension Insurance Institute, REGOS-Central Register of Insured Persons, the Croatian Health Insurance Institute, and the Croatian Employment Service.

The total assets of the Shipyard were estimated at 244 million kuna after the opening of bankruptcy in December 2003, while the claims of creditors with mortgage rights amount to a total of 690 million kuna.
If the proposed bankruptcy plan is accepted, secured creditors will write off 545 million kuna of claims, and 144 million kuna of claims will be converted into ownership shares. General creditors, mainly the shipyard’s contractors, will not be able to settle their claims of 273 million kuna as that part of the debt would be written off according to the bankruptcy plan.  Some contractors are dissatisfied with the proposed solution, and prior to the creditors’ assembly, they announced that if their claims are not settled or converted into ownership shares, they will file lawsuits at the High Commercial Court in Zagreb.

According to the bankruptcy plan, workers would be paid part of their claims amounting to 15.4 million kuna. Bankruptcy administrator Belić-Ilijašić stated that discussions are ongoing regarding the possible entry of Zadar’s Tankerska Plovidba into the ownership structure of Lenac, or the possibility that part of the claims from the Ministry of Finance, along with Uljanik, would also be purchased by that Zadar company. This, she added, would not affect the implementation of the proposed bankruptcy plan. Viktor Lenac Shipyard operated with a positive zero in 2006 and, as the bankruptcy administrator stated, regularly settled all obligations.

Currently, 560 workers are employed at the shipyard, with an average net salary of around 4,200 kuna, and about 200 more workers are employed through contracting companies. If the Creditors’ Assembly accepts the proposed bankruptcy plan, Viktor Lenac Shipyard could continue successful operations. If the bankruptcy plan does not receive sufficient creditor support, liquidation is likely – settling creditors with mortgage rights from the sale of assets and closing several hundred jobs. (H)