Germany urges Malaysian owner to help save ailing shipyard
The German government has called on Malaysia-based Genting Group to contribute financially to the rescue of a shipyard it bought five years ago in northern Germany
BERLIN — The German government on Monday called on Malaysia-based Genting Group to contribute financially to the rescue of a shipyard it bought five years ago in northern Germany.
The shipyard, MV Werften, filed for bankruptcy protection Monday after getting into financial difficulties over the construction of a massive cruise liner, German news agency dpa reported.
Germany has said it is willing to discuss providing considerable state aid to the shipyard to prevent it from going under, which would mean a loss of 1,900 jobs in the economically depressed northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
But a spokeswoman for the Economy Ministry made clear that it expects Genting, which is majority-owned by Malaysian billionaire Lim Kok Thay, to contribute to the rescue effort.
“The condition is that an adequate contribution is made on the side of the owners if we’re going to talk about 600 million euros ($678 million) in federal money,” the spokeswoman, Nina Marie Guettler, told reporters in Berlin.
