There was great joy when the Croatian DIV Group took over the Kleven shipyard in Ulsteinvik in 2020. But after only three months, the shipyard was declared bankrupt, and 80 years of maritime industrial history came to an abrupt halt. LARGE SHIPS: The Croatians bought the shipyard from Hurtigruten. And the speedboat “Roald Amundsen” was completed at Kleven Verft before the bankruptcy. Photo: Remi Sagen / news No, the bankruptcy estate meets the Croatian owner Tomislav Debeljak in court, and demands compensation of NOK 168 million. – Introduced “monopoly” DIV owner Debeljak took over as chairman of the Kleven shipyard after the purchase. He receives a particularly bad certificate from the lawyers for the bankruptcy estate: “After Debeljak started as chairman of the board in Kleven, he single-handedly destroyed all trust with the banks.” ULSTEINVIK: Kleven shipyard during the construction of “Roald Amundsen”. Photo: Per Eide “The chairman of the board gave instructions about intentional breaches of contract, introduced suspension of payments and tried to pressure the suppliers without respect for concluded and binding agreements. He single-handedly killed progress on the construction project (…)” The said construction project was a supply ship for oil platforms for a Canadian shipping company, which was referred to as the yard’s “lifeline” with earnings of NOK 301 million. But after a meeting with Debeljak, the banks withdrew all funding, since the chairman, according to the court papers, “declared that the loan agreements were going to be deliberately failed”. The final submission from the lawyers also contains claims that “after the meeting, the chairman tried to empty Kleven’s cash holdings by transferring money to Croatia”. IN NORWAY: The mood in Ulsteinvik around Tomislav Debeljak turned quickly after the acquisition. Photo: Alf-Jørgen Tyssing / Alf-Jørgen Tyssing – Be careful and loyal Chairman Debeljak and his law firm Deloitte believe that there has not been a breach of the Companies Act, but that the chairman has acted “carefully and loyally, with Kleven Verft AS’ interests in mind ». They also believe that it has not been proven that Kleven’s banks would have kept the financing even if Debeljak had behaved differently, or that it has been proven that the construction project would have provided a profit for the yard. The Croat’s lawyers believe that half of the surplus was already gone, and that the rest of the surplus would disappear if everything continued as before. “This way of running the shipyard was the reason why the old Kleven Verft was constantly in financial trouble, and without the necessary changes it was it is likely that this would happen again”, it says. NESTEN KONK: Brodosplit shipyard has, among other things, built the largest tankers that pass through the Suez Canal, here since 2005. Photo: Matko Biljak / Reuters Creative Kleven Kleven shipyard had been in financial trouble for several times in the last decade. Between 2015 and 2018, they lost around NOK 850 million, and it didn’t help with a worldwide pandemic either. When the Croatians bought the shipyard in 2020, director Kjetil Bollestad, among others, rejoiced: – I am incredibly happy on behalf of all employees in Kleven that we are now in the process of bringing in a new and solid owner of the shipyard. Now, together with the new owners, we will think long-term and develop further, said director Bollestad. Three months later he resigned, together with the finance director. – I do not want, and cannot, be part of the operation and culture that Debeljak is a part of, director Bollestad told nett.no then. In major financial trouble, DIV Group owns more than 55 companies with around 4,000 employees in 30 countries, within shipbuilding, engine production, shipbuilding, railway construction, metal and mechanical parts. In May this year, the company avoided bankruptcy, when 261 creditors accepted a plan for repaying debts. In March this year, it was reported that Croatia’s largest shipyard Brodosplit, which is owned by DIV, was headed for bankruptcy after defaulting on debts of over NOK 270 million. Although it was avoided, most of the 1,500 employees have lost their jobs. Total claims in Norway after the bankruptcy at Kleven Verft is NOK 350 million, and the creditors are now hoping for millions after three years of waiting.
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Bought an 80-year-old shipyard and bankrupted it: – Introduced monopolies and demolished all trust
