Today, potential investors for Stocznia Gdynia were supposed to submit binding offers. However, the Ministry of the Treasury prolonged the deadline. No one knows, how much more time there will be to submit offers. Initial offers were submitted by the following companies: Amber (a company of Przemyslaw Sztuczkowski, head of Zlomrex), Chinese-Korean C&Heavy Industries, Marine-Co (a company founded by several businessmen from Gdansk) and Ray Car Carriers (a company owned by Israeli ship owner Rami Ungar). According to unofficial sources, the list will be much shorter.
“The Koreans will probably not submit their offer. Rami Ungar will also fail to submit one”, a person close to the tender believed. Rami Ungar was worried that the ministry asked the shipyard to sign any contracts until potential partner for exclusive negotiations is chosen. The Ministry is worried that the shipyard bases so strongly on cooperation with Rami Ungar.
The shipyard cooperates with the ship owner so closely because it has no other choice. So far, it was mainly thanks to his borrowings, that the shipyard could pay wages, buy materials or pay its bills.
“The request is a problem for us. We are talking with many ship owners but they want to make orders for ships after privatization which will last several months. And we need orders”, Arkadiusz Aszyk, Stocznia Gdynia deputy CEO said.
The shipyard has contracts till the middle of 2009.
The only partner who wants to sign contracts for 2009 is Rami Ungar.