Romania’s authorities are reportedly negotiating with Turkish company Desan Shipyard, which is pondering the option of taking over the activity of Damen Shipyards Mangalia, abandoned last year by its 49% strategic shareholder Damen and currently under insolvency, according to Replica Online.
Last week, the Minister of Economy, Bogdan Ivan, announced that the Government has reached advanced negotiations with a potential investor who wants to lease the employees and the facilities at the Damen Shipyards Mangalia, without disclosing the investor’s identity.
The deal, consisting of renting the production capacities and the workforce, would be a bridge solution for the troubled Mangalia Shipyards.
Desan Shipyard is a family business with over 1,000 employees, USD 431 million in revenues in 2024, and highly ambitious expansion plans. Their shipyard in Tuzla, near Istanbul, is, however, over 30 times smaller than the one in Mangalia.
Currently, the situation of the Mangalia construction site is far from its glory days. Once a colossus with over 1,500 employees and a business worth hundreds of millions of dollars, it now has only about 1,000 workers, all technically unemployed. Almost 300 employees have been laid off in the last two months.
Damen, which is among the creditors of the shipyard, claims RON 700 million (EUR 140 million) from Damen Mangalia Shipyards and is also seeking the return of an advance payment of RON 1 billion (EUR 200 million), according to Profit reporting on the insolvency procedure, last December. Overall, creditors—including 147 institutions and companies, most linked to Damen—have lodged claims amounting to nearly RON 2 billion (EUR 400 million), as outlined in the preliminary insolvency report reviewed by Europa Liberă.
Damen pulled out from its partnership with the Romanian state last year, accusing the authorities of not respecting the contract.
(Photo: Adriana Sulugiuc/ Dreamstime)
iulian@romania-insider.com
