The deputy finance minister, Vladimil Podstránsky, announced August 29 that tender preparations had begun for the sale of the state-owned ship builder SLKB, with an information memorandum to be ready in two weeks.
SLKB was formed by a committee of creditors and state representatives last October after the SLK shipyards, its predecessor, went bankrupt. Since then SLKB has run on the proceeds of a state-guaranteed loan of 29.5 million German marks that has been strictly tied to production of new ships and paying wages.