The Croatian government has approved the sale of a majority stake in the country’s only fertilizer factory

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After almost two years of negotiations, INA and PPD signed a contract with the Turkish YILDIRIM group last November for the sale of the Croatian company Terra Mineralna Gnojiva, which has a 54.52 percent stake in Petrokemija. However, the process could not be completed without the government’s approval. With Thursday’s decision, Zagreb gave the green light to the transaction. Terra Mineralna Gnojiva was founded jointly by INA and PPD in 2018. After that, they recapitalized the fertilizer factory with 600 million kunas (29.6 billion forints) in a half-to-half ratio, thereby avoiding bankruptcy. The company was of strategic importance, accounting for 0.9 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) at the time, and the future of several state-owned companies depended on it. In addition to Terra Mineralna Gnojiva, the Croatian state asset management company CERP has a 17.9 percent stake in Petrokemija, the only Croatian-owned bank, Horvát Postabank, has a 12.73 percent stake, and Janaf Croatian, which manages the Adriatic oil pipeline, has a 6.09 percent stake. company, Croatian Privredna Banka with 5.45 percent, and small shareholders with 0.08 percent.

The Turkish investor is also interested in taking over the state ownership of Petrokemija, but the government is not discussing this yet, the newspaper wrote.

They added that the priority was to reach an agreement with the Turkish investor, to ensure the company’s investment obligations in the modernization of outdated plants, and to start production that had been stopped a year ago due to the high price of gas. Economy Minister Davor Filipovic emphasized at the government meeting: they would like to see Petrokemija’s production continue and jobs to remain, but they insist on it and make sure that when new investors arrive, the state does not end up in a weaker position than it was before. The YILDIRIM group operates in 54 countries on five continents and employs more than 18,000 people. Its activities are diverse, including metallurgy, mining, fertilizer production, trade in energy carriers and port services.

MTI