President of the financially-troubled Croatian shipbuilder Uljanik, Gianni Rossanda, presented his resignation to the Supervisory Board of Uljanik d.d. on Tuesday, August 28.
The resignations were offered by 14 management directors of the Uljanik Group as well.
Rossanda said that his decision was triggered by the pressure from the media and the public as Uljanik’s workers were forced to seek their outstanding salaries on the streets of Pula.
In his statement for the media, Rossanda indicated that he wanted to withdraw from the position once the new management was appointed, however, as the pressure mounted he decided to resign because he didn’t want to make any actions without the support of the group’s shareholders. He added that he remained at the workers’ disposal for all technical support related to the promised payment of workers’ salaries.
On Tuesday morning, over 3,500 workers of the shipyard took to the streets voicing their dissatisfaction over the unpaid wages and the governemnt’s approach to the burning issues at the yard, Al Jazeera reported.
The union representatives met with the government the day before and it was agreed that two salaries could be paid to the workers. Nevertheless, the workers insist the strike will be ended once they get their salaries for July.
A general strike at Uljanik and 3. May facilities of the Uljanik Group was launched on August 22.
The Croatian shipbuilder suffered a major blow from the downturn of the shipbuilding sector back in 2016. The salvation of the company is being sought in financial restructuring, which will include reduction of the company’s output and a switch of focus on the construction of highly-sophisticated vessels.
Rossanda said earlier that over EUR 450 million (USD 551.5 million) is needed for the shipbuilder’s financial restructuring. Following a consultation process, Danko Koncar-led Kermas Energija was selected as Uljanik’s strategic partner for the restructuring process in May 2018.
World Maritime News Staff; Image Courtesy: Janko Hoener / CC-BY-SA-4.0.