The striking committee of Croatia’s Uljanik shipyard unanimously decided to end the strike begun on August 22, after workers’ July salaries were paid, N1 Zagreb reported on August 31.

On August 22, the workers at Uljanik went on strike requesting payment of delayed salaries as well as a management change. The government has helped to resolve the crisis, and there are also plans for a restructuring of the shipyard.

Considering the complex issues related to the future of the companies in the Uljanik Group, the committee will not be disbanded, but will continue to function, although the strike will end, committee chairman Djino Sverko said.

Uljanik accounts were unblocked on August 30, after they had been blocked one day before. On August 30, the Croatian government said it had provided state guarantees to local Croatian Postal Bank (HPB) for changing insurance instruments for earlier HPB loans to Uljanik from 2015 and 2016, which will make it possible to now pay wages in the group.

The president of the management board of Uljanik shipyard, Gianni Rossanda, resigned on August 28, a week after workers went on strike.

The Pula-based shipyard — Croatia’s largest — was reported earlier this year to be in crisis. In January, the European Commission cleared Zagreb’s plans to grant the shipyard a state guarantee for a €96mn loan, allowing Uljanik to meet its urgent liquidity needs while preparing a restructuring plan. This prevented the shipyard going out of business immediately, the EC said at the time. 

Uljanik controls two docks, in Pula and Rijeka.