Warsaw (Puls Biznesu) – Stocznia Szczecinska Nowa (SSN) may find an investor who will be offered a strategic stake if he offers a social package.
SSN will have its capital increased by PLN 95m (EUR 24.4m). Two companies are interested in acquiring its stake: Zlomrex and a Norwegian company whose name remains secret. The potential buyer will have about 30 percent stake after the capital increase.
“Every investor who seriously considers buying a stake will not end with a minority one. When he injects cash in the shipyard, he wants to be sure that he will be able to decide about its development and management”, an anonymous representative of the shipyard sector said.
This means that either the investor raises the capital of SSN again or the other owners, including the state-owned Agency for Industrial Development (ARP) and its subsidy Korporacja Polskie Stocznie (KPS), sell their stakes.
“I’m not against privatization. We consider selling our stakes and letting a strategic investor into the shipyard but of course everything depends on his conditions. KPS will lead detailed talks”, Pawel Brzezicki, ARP CEO said.
“We employ 5,500 people in the shipyard but we need people because the employees have better conditions abroad and they are leaving. We don’t want to be a unit of the labor office in Szczecin any longer. We want an investor to have a controlling stake because this is the only partner we can talk with about a social package for our employees”, Andrzej Antosiewicz, the head of Solidarnosc trade union in the shipyard said.
Roman Pniewski, another representative of the staff, said that it is more important that the investor stops the outflow of employees. This means not only higher wages but investment to improve working conditions.
Whether an investor comes into SSN and how depends on the approval of the European Commission. EC is viewing the restructuring program and is investigating the subsidies received by the shipyard so far. Decision should be made in November although the deadline may be shifted till February.
(PLN 1 = EUR 0.257)