Riga shipyard. Media: Riga Shipyard on the Eve of Bankruptcy Oleg Alexandrovich Nazarenko Shipyard Riga
History
Before World War I
In 1913, the German concern "Schichau" began buying up land for the construction of a shipyard in Mühlgraben (German: Mühlgraben, today Vecmilgravis, Latvian. Vecmīlgravis), an industrial area of Riga on the banks of the Daugava. The Mulgraben shipyard was intended to assemble nine destroyers of the Novik type according to the project of the Putilov Plant. Since the military nature of the production did not imply the presence of foreign owners, the Russian citizen Karl Jessen from the Baltic German nobles became the nominal shareholder from the German side. During the Russo-Japanese War, Jessen served in the Navy with the rank of rear admiral and commanded a detachment of cruisers. In April 1914, official permission was received from the Livland provincial government to build a shipyard.
During the independence of Latvia
In 1940, Latvia was annexed to the USSR, the plant was nationalized, restored and started repairing ships. But in 1941, before the occupation of Latvia by the German army, the retreating Soviet troops blew up the plant. In 1944, before the occupation of Riga by Soviet troops, already retreating German formations blew up the shipyard.
By 1983, the output of the plant reached 11.3 million rubles, up to 120 ships were repaired a year, and 3,040 people worked at the enterprise. In total, 2920 ships were repaired and 309 ships were built during the period from 1950 to 1991.
After the restoration of Latvian independence
In 1991, after the restoration of the independence of Latvia, the plant became the property of the Republic of Latvia. The large volume of the social sphere, the cessation of centralized financing, the reduction in orders and the rupture of economic ties led to financial difficulties and required the reorganization of production.
In 1995, the plant was privatized and a joint-stock company was formed. Since 1997, JSC shares have been listed on the Riga Stock Exchange, then on the NASDAQ OMX, which absorbed the Riga Stock Exchange.
In 2011, the Riga Shipyard delivered a drilling rig to the Ukrainian Naftogaz. The cost of the project amounted to 399.8 million US dollars. In 2011-2013, the company launched 5 SWATH-type warships for the National Armed Forces. In total, from 1991 to 2013, 8 ships and 142 ship hulls were built at the Riga Shipyard.
Shipbuilding
Tugs for the Freeport of Riga
Tug "Santa", May 2008
On March 7, 2006, an agreement was signed between the Riga Shipyard and the Freeport of Riga Authority on the construction of two multi-purpose tugs, which can also be used for small icebreaking, fire fighting, oil spill collection and rescue operations. The project of the ship was developed by specialists from the Nikolaev Shipbuilding Plant (Ukraine), they also helped organize the construction of tugs and provided architectural supervision.
The first of the tugs, Santa, was handed over to the Port Authority in May 2008. two months later, in July 2008, the port received the second one - "Stella". The ships are equipped power plant Rolls-Royce, which allows them to move forward and backward with almost the same speed and power, make sharp turns and maintain a stable position while standing still. Thus, the tugs are able to work with panamax class vessels up to 300 m in length, including winter time: the skin and design of the tugs allows you to overcome ice up to 70 cm thick.
SWATH fast ships
In June 2008, the Latvian Navy ordered a series of five SWATH-class ships, with a total cost of 38 million lats. The general contractor in the German-Latvian project was the Riga Shipyard, according to the TV show "Nekā Personīga", no competition was held.
The first ship of the series - "Skrunda" R-05 - was put into service in May 2011. The ship was built in Germany at the Abeking & Rasmussen shipyard under a cooperation agreement with the Riga Shipyard, which, in the course of work, adopted new generation technologies from partners and trained specialists and workers to build the next ships in Riga. The owner of the Riga shipyard, Vasily Melnik, called it a great achievement that he managed to come to a partnership with a serious German manufacturer in the construction of such ships. In order to master the new technology, the Riga plant has invested more than one and a half million lats, creating 75 new jobs.
The arrival of the new ship in Latvia was celebrated on the high level. The ceremony in Riga was attended by the President of the country Valdis Zatlers, the acceptance certificate from the government of Latvia was signed by the Minister of Defense Artis Pabriks. The flag of the ship was consecrated by a military chaplain, admonishing him to "keep peace and, if necessary, engage in battle."
Floating Restaurants of the Radisson Flotilla
One of the ships of the Radisson flotilla, built in Riga.
In 2012-2013, the Riga Shipyard built 5 floating restaurants for the Radisson hotel chain in Moscow, each of which is designed for 300 passengers and cruises along the Moscow River. The design of the vessels provides year-round navigation, panoramic windows - an overview in any weather. The ships are also adapted for people with disabilities.
TV5 correspondent Daniil Smirnov managed to collect a number of testimonies pointing to the crisis situation at the shipyard.
The head of the production department of the Riga shipyard, Alexander Marchenko, has been suspended from work since the end of November. He is not fired, but he is not paid a salary either. He has been with the company for 21 years. Alexander is sure that his beloved plant, which recently celebrated its centenary, is on the verge of collapse due to the fault of the current company leaders.
“We dispersed all the counterparties with whom we work. It was always tight with engineers and personnel at the plant, but at this moment almost all the old cadres, like me, were fired or not fired, and the rest all left. And the plant now, even if there are ships, there is no one to repair them," Alexander Marchenko, head of the production department of Rīgas kuģu būvētava, told TV5.
The minority shareholders of Rīgas kuģu būvētava are also concerned. They believe that their rights are being violated and they are not allowed to know about the true state of affairs at the enterprise.
"A shipyard is not a private shop and one cannot act there only for personal selfish interests," said Rainis Berzins, a representative of minority shareholders.
Meanwhile, according to the register of enterprises and the company Crediweb, the Riga Shipyard is in an excellent financial position. Last year alone, the company increased its turnover by 87% and it amounted to 262 million euros.
“Today, the actual situation is such that the brilliant financial performance of the last two years was secured by one intermediary transaction. And it is not known whether the plant has earned something from this. We want to know where this money has gone,” Berzins said.
The mediation deal in question is a construction contract oil platform. The Riga shipyard sent its workers to Ukraine for its construction.
"The platform was not built at the plant, and the money never reached the shipyard. Where they went, let those who are supposed to figure it out," Marchenko said.
The current management of the company claims that everything is in order at the enterprise.
"The company is working stably. The company has incoming orders. The company has the current construction of ships, planned approaches to repair, and so unequivocally state ... As far as I know and see this situation, this is not true. This is a complete lie," - said TV5 member of the board Rīgas kuģu būvētava Vladislav Blooms.
The TV5 film crew was given a tour of the shipyard and showed the construction of 4 new fishing seiners, which were ordered by Norwegian companies. Work on their creation is in full swing. However, at the same time, the alarming fact is that the entire old board of the plant was recently fired in full force.
"As far as I know and am aware, their work was not always coordinated with the chairman of the board, which caused some controversy and today he has been removed from his post. An internal investigation is being carried out, therefore, as in any enterprise, as in any business, when there is inconsistency interests, sometimes there is a dispute," Blooms explained.
In addition, TV5 was contacted by three contracting parties of the shipyard, to whom Rīgas kuģu būvētava, according to their assurances, owes hundreds of thousands of lats. They intend to create a club of creditors of the enterprise and file a claim for its insolvency.
At the same time, the head of the production department Alexander Marchenko admits that the oldest and largest enterprise in the country may suffer the fate of the Liepaja metallurgist.
In the coming days, subcontractors, minority shareholders and suspended shipyard employees intend to attract the attention of state regulatory authorities to evaluate the activities of large shareholders. And, if possible, they prevented the death of the oldest shipyard in the country.
"Riga shipyard” (Rīgas kuģu būvētava) is experiencing serious financial difficulties. Hundreds of workers are delayed wages, many leave their jobs, writes portal Delfi.lv. “The tax debt of the shipyard to the state exceeded one million euros,” - according to the program "Personal business" of the LTV7 channel. At the shipyard, the situation is explained by the protracted period of cold weather and the unfavorable economic situation in the region. But former employees and part of the company's shareholders have a different version.
“Arbitrariness and lawlessness,” Gennady Slezkin, a former worker of Rīgas kuģu būvētava, describes what is happening at the Riga Shipyard. According to him, delaying salaries at the shipyard began in the spring of last year. And since that moment, several dozen employees have left the plant. Someone himself, someone was asked. According to former and current employees of the plant, the actual power at the shipyard belongs to the millionaire, the current head of the company's board Vasily Melnik, who a few years ago introduced his daughter Catherine to the board. Now the company is losing customers. And, according to Gennady Slezkin, who until recently headed the shipbuilding department, this is due to a careless attitude towards customers. “Now the shipyard's dry docks are more often empty,” says Slezkin. Recently, few people decide to repair ships in Riga, more often the ports of Klaipeda, Tallinn, Gdansk are chosen for this.
Vera Shashina still works at the shipyard as a designer. She claims that the working day was first reduced to four hours, then to two, but even that is not paid. The situation at the shipyard causes concern among a number of small shareholders of the enterprise. They call the actions of the government plunder and sawing. In the last twelve months alone, five insolvency proceedings have been initiated against the shipyard: but the plant each time managed to reach an agreement with the applicant. “Essentially, the plant should start the process of insolvency or legal protection. But they do not do this, because they want to sell the company in parts. Dry docks are the main asset. But if they are sold through the insolvency process, as expected, then there will be an official auction. The money received from the auction will go first of all to employees, for taxes, etc. Then the main shareholder Vasily Melnik and his family will have nothing left,” says Reinis Berzins, representative of small shareholders of the Riga Shipyard.
The shipyard confirmed the delay in wages. “The joint-stock company does not deny that in recent months the payment of wages has been delayed. Payments to subcontractors are also delayed. There are objective reasons for that. Due to the protracted period of cold weather and adverse weather conditions, customers postponed the entry of ships to the shipyard for repair work at a later date. As a result, there was idle time in the production halls and docks during the winter period,” reads the letter received by LTV7. In addition, management says that the work schedule for the near future is very tight. Behind Last year shipyard shares fell in price by a third. The company has not yet submitted an audited financial report for the entire year 2017 to the exchange, in connection with which the Riga Stock Exchange has applied the supervisory status to the plant - this is a signal to other market participants. The turnover of the shipyard for the nine months of last year compared to the same period in 2016 decreased by almost a quarter. Losses amounted to 774 thousand, a year earlier there was a profit - 481 thousand. The shipyard is seriously indebted to the state. The State Revenue Service (SRS) noted that the total debt of the Riga Shipyard to the state exceeds 1 million euros.
“For a company of this size, a debt of one million euros is not an extraordinary risk, but we are monitoring its dynamics,” says Santa Garancha, head of the tax collection department of the SRS. The service also imposed a ban on a number of actions with the property of the shipyard. Moreover, the labor inspectorate has already received 14 complaints from the plant's employees this year - mainly about delays in paying wages. Last year, the Riga Shipyard employed an average of 462 people. According to the Labor Inspectorate, 352 people have not received their salaries since December last year. That's three-quarters of the employees. The inspectorate has no information that the debt to them has been repaid. If workers are not paid their wages by June 21, they have the right to apply to bailiffs to recover the wage debt from the company's accounts - if there are enough funds for this. Otherwise, the plant is waiting for another insolvency process. According to unofficial information, a number of workers are already preparing an application to the court.
