TRIESTE – The bankruptcy proceedings for the historic shipyard “3. Maj” in Rijeka (Croatia) have taken a decisive step forward. The creditors’ meeting has approved the court settlement with the Republic of Croatia, which provides for the payment of more than €6.6 million into the bankruptcy estate.
The signing of the agreement, carried out in recent days before the Commercial Court of Rijeka, closes the dispute over the acquisition of the assets and unlocks the sale process.
Under the agreement, as reported by several Croatian media outlets, the state has committed to pay €6,665,100 within 90 days. The funds will first be used to settle senior creditors in full, in particular around 300 former shipyard workers and the state agency that had advanced wages in previous years.
A key element of the deal is the withdrawal of the legal actions that had blocked the transfer of the shares in the company “3. maj Rijeka 1905”. The bankruptcy trustee, Loris Rak, has in fact dropped the injunctions that prevented the disposal of the assets, allowing the Centre for Restructuring and Sale of State Assets (CERP) to proceed with the tender. The agreement also carries significant legal weight: the state acknowledges that the previous acquisition of the subsidiary through the set-off of claims was not consistent with bankruptcy law, because it did not ensure equal treatment for all creditors. With the settlement, the financial and legal relationships are closed out.
On the industrial front, however, the outlook remains fragile. As previously reported by Adriaports, only one binding bid has been submitted in the sale process for Rijeka’s slipways, from the Iskra Brodogradilište shipyard in Sebenico. The lack of other bidders confirms the market’s difficulties and tempers expectations on the value of the assets—an issue that had also fuelled debate among creditors.
