October the 16th, 2026 – The Turks are set to purchase Uljanik for €12.05 million. The Kuzey Star Shipyard will now officially take over 97.13% of the shares of Brodogradnja 1856.
With the agreement on the transfer of business shares, Morski reports that the moves brings the months-long sales process to a close and opens a new chapter in the revitalisation of Pula’s shipbuilding industry.
The aforementioned Turkish company offered a purchase price for Uljanik of €12.05 million, which is higher than the initially sought €11.08 million. CERP therefore readily accepted Kuzey Star’s binding offer at the beginning of September, while the second received offer from the Luxembourg company Mira Finance Holding was not accepted because the payment of the prescribed guarantee wasn’t recorded in CERP’s account. Given that the buyer is from a country that is not within the EU, before the actual conclusion of the contract, it was also necessary to carry out a foreign investment screening procedure in order to determine whether the investment poses a risk to national security and public order.
the continuation of shipbuilding has been ensured
The key condition of the contract concerns the retention of the core shipbuilding activity, the construction, repair and overhaul of ships and floating objects, across the entire area of the maritime domain under concession. By taking over the company, the Turkish investor obtains the existing shipbuilding infrastructure and concession rights for the use of the maritime domain in the Bay of Pula, but not ownership of the entire land and sea space.
Minister of the Economy Ante Šušnjar emphasised the importance of this decision for this previously less than stable Croatian industry: “By signing this contract, Croatia is approaching the completion of the process of revitalising the shipbuilding industry in the Pula area. Through its decisions the Government has preserved the possibility of continuing shipbuilding in Pula. The further development of Uljanik will depend on the business decisions, investments and contracted work of the new investor.”
experience and existing business ties
The director of Uljanik Brodogradnja 1856, Samir Hadžić, assessed as positive the fact that the new owner comes precisely from the shipbuilding sector. The Kuzey Star group owns shipyards in the Turkish cities of Tuzla and Yalova and has extensive experience in the construction, overhaul, maintenance and conversion of ships, as well as in projects related to the energy sector.
In addition, the Turkish company is already well acquainted with the possibilities of the Pula shipyard. Namely, Kuzey Star and Uljanik are already cooperating on the project to complete Newbuilding (Novogradjna) 526 (a livestock carrier which had a hull that had stood unfinished for years), which gave the Turkish partner direct insight into the available infrastructure and the capacities of the workers. In a series of works, the Pula shipyard maintained production activity also through work on yacht hulls and the completion of a fishing vessel.
Kuzey Star is otherwise already present on the wider Croatian market, work on an additional re-gasification module intended to increase the capacity of the floating LNG terminal in Omišalj was carried out at their shipyard. In the recent period Uljanik Brodogradnja 1856 employed around 230 workers, while together with subcontractors between 250 and 300 people participated in production.
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