ZAGREB (Croatia), July 28 (SeeNews) – Croatia's government said it is exploring ways to inject 200 million kuna ($29.4 million/26.7 million euro) into majority state-owned fertiliser producer Petrokemija [ZSE:PTKM-R-A] to help it solve its financial difficulties.
An unnamed strategic partner has placed a bid for the company, which is currently being evaluated by the economy ministry, the government's press office also said in a statement on Wednesday following a meeting of prime minister Tihomir Oreskovic with Petrokemija representatives.
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The statement elaborated that the government, which owns nearly 80% in Petrokemija, is considering providing it a loan via the state-owned development bank, Hrvatska banka za obnovu i razvitak (HBOR), and with the aid of natural gas suppliers INA and PPD.
Petrokemija share price jumped 16.6% to 20.20 kuna on the Zagreb bourse by 9:57 CET on Thursday.
In May, Croatia's government removed Petrokemija from a list of companies regarded to be of strategic importance for the country and banned from privatisation, along with a further seven big firms. It had said earlier that it would like to find a strategic partner for the company, while retaining a stake of at least 25% plus one share.
In November last year, Petrokemija announced it had received five expressions of interest from investors ready to recapitalise the company as part of an ongoing restructuring push.
The consolidated net loss of the Kutina-based Petrokemija narrowed to 93.2 million kuna in 2015, from 463 million kuna a year earlier. It had long-term liabilities of 139.9 million kuna and current liabilities of 954.3 million kuna as at end-March.
(1 euro=7.48426 kuna)