Raiffeisenbank Austria to Provide Additional Liquidity for Uljanik Plovidba Shares

A contract for the listing of Uljanik Plovidba shares on the Official Market was signed at the Zagreb Stock Exchange, along with a contract for the specialist services for Uljanik Plovidba shares between the Zagreb Stock Exchange and Raiffeisenbank Austria (RBA).

The first trading day for Uljanik Plovidba shares on the Official Market is Thursday, April 22. By signing the contract for the specialist services for Uljanik Plovidba shares, the company has become the second company in Croatia (after Atlantic Group) for which a specialist will provide additional liquidity for its shares. The sponsor for the listing of Uljanik Plovidba shares on the Official Market is RBA, which is also the specialist (market maker) for these shares. RBA Management Board member Zoran Koščak emphasized that Uljanik Plovidba shares deserve greater attention from investors and that they have also received a mandate for commercial papers of the company amounting to 150 million kuna.

The program for issuing commercial papers allows the company to issue multiple tranches of commercial papers, as short-term financing instruments, up to the total value of the program. The duration of the program is five years, and the arranger and sole dealer of the issuance is RBA. The first tranche of commercial papers from the new program, as announced by the Pula company at the end of last week, is planned to be issued at the beginning of May.

They decided to perform specialist services because they believe that new moments are emerging in the Croatian capital market that could define some new development concepts, said Koščak. Uljanik Plovidba Director Dragutin Pavletić pointed out that one of the key reasons for listing on the Official Market was even greater transparency. He notes that there are no companies in the Croatian capital market with which they can be compared, or that they are most similar in terms of business volume to Tankerska Plovidba. The company’s primary activity is maritime cargo transport with a fleet of three bulk carriers and five tankers for transporting oil products and chemicals.

Pavletić also stated that they have high efficiency in the use of ships, with a level of 355 days a year, which is very high and within the range of world-renowned shipowners. They hold the title of Croatian shipowner with the youngest fleet, with an average age of four years, which ranks them among the ‘youngest’ shipowners on a global scale. Since 2004, they have invested 350 million dollars in the construction of new ships, and they build their ships in Croatia, specifically all their ships are built in Rijeka’s ‘3. maj’. By 2015, they plan to increase their fleet of ships (to 12 to 15 ships), but their goal is also to maintain the trend of a young fleet, said Pavletić. (H)