Four investors are showing interest in acquiring a stake of over 50 per cent in Varna Shipyard, Slaveiko Staikov, chairman of the Board of Directors, told the press on Monday.
Navigation Maritime Bulgare (Navibulgar), Varna Shipyard’s owner, is looking for a serious partner to rely on, Staikov said. The shipyard can make only scheduled repairs now. If it is to start building ships, it will need an injection of 40 million leva ($20.6 million), which is unfeasible without a joint venture with a foreign partner.
When it is announced that a strategic partner is needed, more prospective buyers will register an interest, said Staikov.
The oldest ships of Navigation Maritime Bulgare will be sold as scrap and the proceeds will go towards the purchase of new ones, Deputy Transport Minister Krassimira Martinova said. This is done to renew the fleet and is one of the priorities set in the draft strategy for water transport development, she said.
Other goals set in the draft strategy are the liberalisation of port services, improving their quality, and bringing the industry in line with EU requirements. “We will try to make navigation a competitive mode of transport and will work to restore short-distance shipping,” Martinova said.
Four companies are currently holding talks on acquiring the shipyard but Staikov named only two of them: Indonesia’s SiGasco and South-Korean Hyundai. The other two potential buyers have asked for confidentiality. Staikov said Greek Kiriakou Group was not among the candidates.
Back in April, state-owned Navibulgar won the tender for the Varna shipyard with a 35.5 million leva bid. Now, Navibulgar is also facing privatisation, a sales consultant is currently being selected.
Money is being sought for the Varna Shipyard but the state will not continue to finance the plant and employment will depend on orders, Transport and Communications Minister Plamen Petrov said at a meeting last Wednesday with senior officials of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB). The meeting took place on an initiative of the trade union, CITUB said in a press release.
The press release said that Petrov did not make a commitment for payment of the workers’ back wages, exceeding 10 million leva. “Only the Bank Consolidation Company can take a decision on the shipyard’s obligations,” sources of the Transport and Communications Ministry’s press office said.
In an open letter circulated last Wednesday, the trade union local of the Podkrepa Labour Confederation and Varna Shipyard called on the President of the Republic, the Council of Ministers, the National Assembly, the Supreme Judicial Council, the Justice Ministry Inspectorate and all media to monitor an urgently scheduled court proceeding on the objections against the distribution of proceeds from realisation of the company’s assets. The trade union local argues that the interests of the staff are prejudiced in this way.
Navigation Maritime Bulgare (Navibulgar), Varna Shipyard’s owner, is looking for a serious partner to rely on, Staikov said. The shipyard can make only scheduled repairs now. If it is to start building ships, it will need an injection of 40 million leva ($20.6 million), which is unfeasible without a joint venture with a foreign partner.
When it is announced that a strategic partner is needed, more prospective buyers will register an interest, said Staikov.
The oldest ships of Navigation Maritime Bulgare will be sold as scrap and the proceeds will go towards the purchase of new ones, Deputy Transport Minister Krassimira Martinova said. This is done to renew the fleet and is one of the priorities set in the draft strategy for water transport development, she said.
Other goals set in the draft strategy are the liberalisation of port services, improving their quality, and bringing the industry in line with EU requirements. “We will try to make navigation a competitive mode of transport and will work to restore short-distance shipping,” Martinova said.
Four companies are currently holding talks on acquiring the shipyard but Staikov named only two of them: Indonesia’s SiGasco and South-Korean Hyundai. The other two potential buyers have asked for confidentiality. Staikov said Greek Kiriakou Group was not among the candidates.
Back in April, state-owned Navibulgar won the tender for the Varna shipyard with a 35.5 million leva bid. Now, Navibulgar is also facing privatisation, a sales consultant is currently being selected.
Money is being sought for the Varna Shipyard but the state will not continue to finance the plant and employment will depend on orders, Transport and Communications Minister Plamen Petrov said at a meeting last Wednesday with senior officials of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB). The meeting took place on an initiative of the trade union, CITUB said in a press release.
The press release said that Petrov did not make a commitment for payment of the workers’ back wages, exceeding 10 million leva. “Only the Bank Consolidation Company can take a decision on the shipyard’s obligations,” sources of the Transport and Communications Ministry’s press office said.
In an open letter circulated last Wednesday, the trade union local of the Podkrepa Labour Confederation and Varna Shipyard called on the President of the Republic, the Council of Ministers, the National Assembly, the Supreme Judicial Council, the Justice Ministry Inspectorate and all media to monitor an urgently scheduled court proceeding on the objections against the distribution of proceeds from realisation of the company’s assets. The trade union local argues that the interests of the staff are prejudiced in this way.
