Another day of protests at the Mangalia Naval Shipyard. The employees have not received their salaries for three months
Several hundred employees of the Damen Mangalia Naval Shipyard continue on Friday, March 20, for the second consecutive day, to protest in the yard of the company, the people being dissatisfied that they have not received their salaries for over three months.
Protest at the Damen Shipyard PHOTO: BNS
According to representatives of the National Trade Union Bloc (BNS), the protest actions will continue until the responsible authorities find a solution so that the shipyard workers receive their outstanding salaries.
The leader of the Free Navalist Union, Laurenţiu Gobeajă, stated that, although at the meeting that the trade unionists had on March 2 with the Minister of Economy, they were promised that they would be paid their salary arrears based on the amendment of the legislation on the Guarantee Fund for the payment of salary claims, the rules for the application of this normative act have not yet been adopted, according to Agerpres.
“Employees have reached the subsistence limit due to the lack of money”, said Gobeaja.
Damen Mangalia Shipyard, insolvent
The Damen Shipyard in Mangalia has been insolvent since June 2024, and due to the lack of orders the situation has become critical.
The judicial administrator of the company, Casa de Insolvență Transilvania (CITR), announced in March of this year that Damen Shipyards Mangalia is entering the race for a strategic investor, and a reorganization plan was submitted to the syndic judge.
Since last year, trade unionists from the Damen Naval Shipyard in Mangalia, a company with employees who have been fired or are technically unemployed, have organized a series of protests, including at the Ministry of Economy and even in front of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and at the headquarters of the judicial administrator, in Bucharest.
At the Mangalia construction site, the Romanian state is the majority shareholder with 51%, and the Dutch company Damen has 49% of the shares.
Disputes and Termination Notices
In 2023, the Damen group announced that it issued the notice of termination of the association agreement concluded in 2018 between Damen Holding BV and the Romanian state because, “through the adoption of Law no. 187/2023, the legal framework under which the association between the Romanian state and Damen operated with regard to the Mangalia Shipyard was annulled”, between the parties there is an international arbitration dispute. Later, Damen Holding requested the insolvency of Damen Shipyards Mangalia, the Constanța Court opening, on June 19, 2024, the respective procedure.
In 2018, Damen invested in the Mangalia Naval Shipyard, acquiring the majority stake from the Korean company Daewoo, then agreeing to cede 2% of the shares to the Romanian state to become the majority shareholder, with 51%, on the condition that the Dutch partner has operational and managerial control of the shipyard.
