September 4 (SeeNews) - The share price of Croatia's financially burdened shipbuilder Uljanik [ZSE:ULJN], the parent company of the Uljanik Group, fell drastically on Tuesday, after the company announced its bank account has been frozen following the loss of four vessel construction deals.
Uljanik's share price was down 56.47% at 2.22 kuna ($0.35/0.30 euro) as at 2 p.m. CET, bourse data showed.
Uljanik said earlier on Tuesday that its bank account has been frozen in the afternoon of September 3.
No further information was given.
Uljanik's bank account was frozen for a day last week as well. Since then, on September 1, the company suffered a serious financial blow when Automarine Transport Inc. and Siem Shipping Inc., both units of Siem group registered on the Cayman Islands, terminated a total of four contracts due to Uljanik's inability to deliver the ships in the agreed timeframe.
Uljanik employs some 1,800 people and has been faced with financial difficulties for several years due to the adverse effects of the global financial crisis on the shipbuilding sector in general which has led to a drop in orders for new vessels.
On Friday, 4,500 employees of the group ended a 10-day strike after they received their delayed July salaries.
Uljanik d.d. is the parent company of the Uljanik Group which comprises 12 subsidiaries.
In March, Uljanik chose local company Kermas Energija as its strategic partner under its call for recapitalisation. The two sides are still waiting for the European Commission to approve the recapitalisation plan.
The European Commission told Croatian news agency Hina last week that it still had not completed its analysis of the proposed plan.
(euro=7.42996 kuna)