Government fails to bail out Stocznia Szczecinska
Economy Minister Jacek Piechota, Labor Minister Jerzy Hausner and management and trade union representatives discussed alternatives for the possible bailout of the troubled shipyard Stocznia Szczecinska, but as a result, a decision was taken for the company's bankruptcy. Piechota said, however, there was a possibility of resuming production in a newly created, debt-free company controlled by the Treasury and capitalised by the Industrial Development Agency (ARP). The decision followed the failure of all the seven banks that had credited the shipyard to writte off as much as 80% of the company's debt. Analysts said, however, that the insolvency itself did not relieve any of the many problems troubling the shipyard's parent firm Porta Holding, which is burdened with a gigantic PLN 1.85bn debt. They also expect that bankruptcies of other companies, such as the shipyard's supplier of ship engines Hipolit Cegielski Poznan (HPC) and the shipyard in Gdynia, are likely to follow. The Szczecin shipyard owes PLN 128mn to its 15 suppliers, including PLN 100mn to HCP alone. kp,bb
Źródło:Polski IntelliNews
