Croatia Today quoted Mr Jonathan Todd spokesman for European Union Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes as saying that the European Commission has signed an agreement with Croatia on the restructuring of the country’s ailing shipyards, as well as on the launch of their privatization procedure.

He added that "This is agreement on the overall capacity of the shipyards after restructuring and the privatization of Uljanik shipyard was the most essential."

Meanwhile, Mr Damir Polancec Deputy Prime Minister of Croatia said that "The sooner we start the privatization the bigger the chance to preserve both the shipyards and jobs, since, negative trends in their business results are continuing."

It may be noted that EU has repeatedly asked Croatia to cut subsidies to the sector so as to comply with competition rules in the bloc, whereas the International Monetary Fund has urged the restructuring of the shipyards to cut budget spending.

(Sourced from Croatia Today)