Fate of Gdansk Shipyard hangs in the balance

The ailing Gdansk Shipyard in Poland, which went bankrupt in 1998 and has since been part of the state-controlled Gdynia Shipyard group, is up for grabs again because Gdynia group is itself on the verge of bankruptcy and looking to obtain funds from a share issue.

The government wants the Gda?sk Shipyard to be separated from the Gdynia group before it is handed to private investors. Although rumours appeared that the well-know investor, Roman Karkosik, was interested in buying the firm, only two contenders actually submitted their offers.

The first one, the state-owned energy distributor Energa, wanted to purchase Gda?sk Shipyard in a consortium with the Industrial Development Agency (ARP). Gdynia Shipyard owes Energa some $6.1 million for energy supplies, so the takeover would be a method of debt restructuring. Two weeks ago, however, the management of Energa was changed and the current managers haven’t decided if they want to maintain the offer.

The second potential buyer is the Gdansk Shipyard Holding, in which a 60% stake is held by trade unions and the remaining 40 by a Gda?sk Shipyard subsidiary.