Kleven eyeing investment in Polish shipyard

Regional authorities of Western Pomerania, MPs from the region where the investment is to be located, and Mariusz Kolwas, chief executive of state-owned investment fund Silesia which owns the shipyard, discussed the project with the Polish Ministry of Treasury, reported public radio broadcaster Radio Szczecin.

Mr Kolwas told local news site gs24.pl that there were ongoing talks with potential investors interested in the Szczecin-based shipyard. The chief executive said that the shipyard site has a total space of some 500,000m³, but not all of it would be sold to the investor.

”There are 26 companies operating on a portion of the shipyard site, they are managing quite well,” Mr Kolwas said.

The Szczecin-based shipyard was declared bankrupt in December 2011. Ten years earlier, it had been acquired by the Polish Treasury.

Kleven says it posted its strongest annual financial results to date in 2012. Last year, the company’s two Norway-based shipyards built seven new vessels for an aggregate contract value of about NOK 2.7 billion (US$ 465 million), according to data released by Kleven.