Damen pulls out of Romanian shipyard Mangalia

The Dutch group Damen and the Romanian state-owned company 2MMS agreed to terminate the association contract signed in 2018 for the shared operation of Mangalia Shipyard (Santierul Naval 2 Mai).

Under the contract signed in 2018, Damen Holding – which took over 51% of the shipyard from Daewoo in the same year – passed a 2% stake to the state-owned shareholder 2MMS in exchange for the management rights. The agreement is no longer complying with new regulations on the management of state-controlled companies approved in 2023, but the management appointed by Damen was not pulled out.

Separately, the financial performance of the shipyard deteriorated, and the companies in the Damen group decided to phase out the financing, triggering the insolvency process.

Currently, most of the 1,500 employees are technically unemployed.

The two sides have not agreed yet on the compensations that Damen Holding should receive in exchange for their 49% stake, according to Europa Libera. The press release issued by the shareholders of the shipyards does not mention such compensations.

Notably, Damen Holding is among the creditors of the shipyard, which complicates the settlement of the compensations mentioned by Europa Libera.

Damen Holdings claims RON 700 million (EUR 140 million) and, separately, the shipyard should return a RON 1 billion (EUR 200 million) payment in advance, according to Profit.ro.

In total, according to the preliminary report published in the Insolvency Bulletin and consulted by Europa Liberă, 147 institutions and companies (most of which are part of the Damen group) demanded almost RON 2 billion (EUR 400 million).

The decision comes after a discussion between Arnout Damen, CEO of Damen Shipyards Group, and Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu. The meeting was confirmed for Europa Libera both by sources from the management of the shipyard and by high representatives of the Romanian Government.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Daniel Stoenciu)