Page 95 - SE Outlook Regions 2023

a heavy residues processing plan and should improve the
manufacturing scope of Rijeka refinery, increasing the share of
profitable “white oil” products in its output.

Another significant company for Croatia – Djuro Djakovic, one of the
biggest industrial groups in the country – has completed the
restructuring that was approved by the European Commission. Djuro
Djakovic produces vessels for the petrochemical industry, armoured
fighting vehicles and equipment for thermal and hydropower plants.

In September, in line with the restructuring plans, Czech wagon
manufacturer DD Acquisition, owned by entrepreneurs Jaroslav Strnad
and Rene Matera, acquired a 75% stake in Djuro Djakovic for €13.3mn.

DD Acquisition offered to buy the company in March 2021 and was
preferred by Djuro Djakovic as it is a large Central European
manufacturer of wagons and has close relations with the Czech
defence group Czechoslovak Group (CSG). The government will keep
a 25% stake in the company.

Before that, in May, Djuro Djakovic Group’s unit Djuro Djakovic Special
Vehicles signed a deal worth HRK83mn (€11mn) to produce and deliver
its Shimmns freight rail carriages to an unnamed Swiss company. The
wagons are designed to transport sheet metal used mainly in the car
manufacturing industry.

Croatia’s shipbuilding industry has been recovering from the tough
years and seems to have made a good start to 2023.

In November, the Czech holding company CE Industries placed a
binding bid to acquire a majority stake in Croatian shipyard Uljanik
Brodogradnja 1856, offering to pay HRK155mn (€20mn). CE Industries
wants to buy a 54.8% stake in the state-owned company. The offer is
valid for 45 days and also depends on the outcome of the ongoing due
diligence. If successful, it should be completed in the first months of
2023.

CE Industries has offered to continue using Uljanik's dock for building
new ships, and to supplement the production programme with
segments where it has specific know-how in.

In March Croatian shipping company Jadroplov signed a five-year deal
estimated at a combined $50mn with local recycling company Ce-Za-R
to provide transportation services for the next five years.

The deal was signed by Jadroplov's Marshall islands-based subsidiary
Split Maritime. The company will transport cargo using a Jadroplov
vessel from the Adriatic ports of Rijeka and Split to Turkey's
Mediterranean and Marmara Sea ports.

Croatia’s star industrial company remains the electric supercar
producer Rimac Group, which has been going from strength to strength
and is developing sharply, which is expected to continue in 2023. In
June, the company raised €500mn in a series D investment round,
putting the company’s value at over €2bn. The fundraising was led by
SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and the private equity business within Goldman

95 SE Outlook 2023 www.intellinews.com