September 4 (SeeNews) - Croatia's financially burdened shipyard Uljanik, the leader of the Uljanik group, said on Tuesday its bank account has been frozen, after it lost four vessel construction deals over the weekend.
Uljanik's bank account was frozen in the afternoon of September 3, the shipyard said in a filing with the Zagreb Stock Exchange.
No further information was given.
Uljanik's bank account was frozen for a day last week as well. Since then, on September 1, the company suffered a serious financial blow when Automarine Transport Inc. and Siem Shipping Inc., both units of Siem group registered on the Cayman Islands, terminated a total of four contracts due to Uljanik's inability to deliver the ships in the agreed timeframe.
Uljanik shipyard is struggling to meet its costs. Uljanik employs some 1,800 people and has been faced with financial difficulties for several years due to the adverse effects of the global financial crisis on the shipbuilding sector in general which has led to a drop in orders for new vessels.
On Friday, 4,500 employees of the group ended a 10-day strike after they received their delayed July salaries.
Uljanik d.d. is the parent company of the Uljanik Group which comprises 12 subsidiaries.
In March, Uljanik chose local company Kermas Energija as its strategic partner under its call for recapitalisation. The two sides are still waiting for the European Commission to approve the recapitalisation plan.
The European Commission told Croatian news agency Hina on Wednesday that it still has not completed its analysis of the proposed plan.