Alan Klanac: We are not afraid of liberalization and are considering a race for routes in Greece, Italy, and Spain

Two months before the expiration of the transitional period and the onset of full liberalization of maritime liner traffic in the Adriatic, Alan Klanac, CEO of the Rijeka Jadrolinija, discusses the readiness of the largest domestic passenger shipping company for upcoming European competition, as well as the potential entry into the markets of other Mediterranean countries, the state of the white fleet, investments in new ships, planned projects, and the announced privatization of the state-owned company.

• Is Jadrolinija ready for market competition with EU country competitors, the complete liberalization of maritime liner traffic that will take effect on January 1, 2017? – Jadrolinija is ready. From January 1, internal transport will be able to be carried out not only by ships sailing under the Croatian flag but also by those under the flags of the European Union. We expect that many Croatian shipowners will take the opportunity to transfer their ships under other flags and thus become more competitive due to lower safety and crew member requirements, which some European flags allow, unlike the Croatian flag. Foreign companies have been able to open a company in Croatia and carry out transport here under the same rules as all others.

• The tenders for obtaining concessions have not yet been announced. Do you know when they will be and whether, considering European rules of the game, the conditions will change compared to previous tenders? – All I know are unverified information. It is expected that due to Croatia’s obligations to the European Union, the tender should be announced by the end of the year. When it comes to content and method, I really have no knowledge. I would expect, given the size of the job and the availability of capacity of those who announce them, that the tenders will be very similar to those that were three and a half years ago because they were already announced according to EU requirements, except that they differed in that at that time the ships had to fly exclusively the Croatian flag, while now they can be any flag of a European Union country.

• You hinted that Jadrolinija is considering entering markets outside the Adriatic, the broader Mediterranean market within the EU. Can you say something concrete about that? – I cannot say anything concrete, but I can say that there are several routes for which we have both knowledge and competitiveness. Jadrolinija can find its space there, most likely through the acquisition of used ships of younger ages or new builds. Our development sector is studying traffic and competition on those routes, and the opening of the Croatian market is an opportunity for Croatian companies, including Jadrolinija, to enter other markets before that happens here. I am thinking of Mediterranean countries where there are large islands and small distances, Greece, Italy, Spain. That is all I will say.

You can read the entire interview in the new issue of Lider.

Aleksandar Tešić