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Weekly Lists
May 3, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 27
bne:
Infrastructure
Croatia looks for Chinese lifeline for troubled shipbuilder Uljanik
Following Sheremetyevo, Russian airport Pulkovo also plans expansion
A top-level delegation from China Shipbuilding Corporation is visiting troubled Croatian shipbuilder Uljanik’s shipyards in Pula and Rijeka in what Croatian government officials hope will result in a lifeline for the struggling Croatian company.
Uljanik, which owns the Uljanik shipyard in Pula and the 3. Maj shipyard in Rijeka, is in severe financial difficulties. The shipbuilder has lost several vessel construction deals and has seen its bank accounts frozen several times, while its employees went on strike due to unpaid wages.
At the end of March, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said the Croatian government was unable to endorse a proposed restructuring plan for the shipbuilder, with a cost of between HRK7.5bn and HRK10.8bn (€1bn- 1.5bn), talking of the burden this would place on Croatian taxpayers.
St Petersburg’s Pulkovo airport is planning the second stage of reconstruction worth about €500mn, Kommersant daily reported on April 30 citing sources close to the airport's operator Sky Gates of Northern Capital (VVSS).
As reported by bne IntelliNews, Russia's largest airport Sherem- etyevo is also said to be planning a $2.5bn expansion adding two more passenger terminals, a railway, and a new cargo terminal, which would double the passenger turnover capacity to 100mn people annually by 2026.
In 2018 Pulkovo reached its full capacity with passenger turnover of 18mn people. Already in 2019 minor adjustments are planned to increase the throughput to 23mn people. Pulkovo plans the total new reconstruction drive to be over in 2025-2030.
RM International, a company owned by Lorinc Meszaros, is part of the consortium that won the HUF750bn (€2.3bn) tender for the upgrade of the railway line connecting Budapest and Belgrade, local media learned on April 26.
Hungarian Foreign Affairs Minister Peter Szijjarto announced on Thurs- day in Beijing that a Chinese-Hungarian consortium has been awarded the tender for the reconstruction of the Hungarian section of the railway line, however, he did not provide details about the companies.
The Chinese firms in the consortium include China Tiejiuju Engineering & Construction Ltd., China Railway Electrification Engineering Group.
Hungarian PM Viktor Orban’s friend seals €2.3bn railway contract with Chinese firms