On Thursday, the Croatian government said it would provide a loan guarantee of up to 150 million Kuna ($23 million) for a shipyard in the country to maintain its operations and to set aside time for it to find long-term strategic partners. The shipyard is one of the largest shipyards in Croatia.

The 3. Maj shipyard in Riyeka, a port in the northern Adriatic Sea, is owned by Uljanik, the largest shipbuilding group in Croatia. The group's shipyard in Port Pla has started bankruptcy proceedings.

According to EU state aid regulations, the government can not provide financial support for shipyards, but can guarantee loans provided by other parties.

Darko Horvat, Croatian Minister of Economy, said at a cabinet meeting: "The government will guarantee loans provided by HBOR or other commercial banks of the Croatian National Development Bank. Our aim is to continue the construction of ships that are almost finished and to reduce the loss of the national treasury.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said the government's long-term goal was to provide time for 3.Maj to find a strategic partner to help achieve sustainable business development in the future, including the transfer of some business to Port Pla, the headquarters of Uljanik Group. The Croatian government owns 25% of Uljanik Group.

Over the past two years, the Croatian government has paid 4.5 billion Kuna to lenders because Uljanik's two major shipyards were unable to deliver shipbuilding orders and the two shipyards were guaranteed loans by the Croatian government.

Over the past two years, Croatia has had two consecutive fiscal surpluses, and these guarantees have weakened the country's previously robust fiscal position. A good budget position will be a key factor for the development of the EU in the next four to five years.

The Croatian government expects a fiscal deficit of 0.3% of GDP this year, with a fiscal surplus of up to 1% in the next three years.