Navantia - Formation
Navantia is Spain's largest naval shipbuilder and one of the largest in the world. The company emerged as the military shipbuilding arm of the IZAR commercial/naval split, as part of the restructure of the IZAR group after it was ordered to pay back subsidies found to be in breach of EU regulations. The Spanish government authorised IZAR to form a new corporate entity in July 2004 after the EU demanded the return of subsidies that had been used to keep IZAR's ailing commercial shipbuilding business afloat. An agreement was signed with the trade unions in December 2004, opening the way to a twin-track solution addressing the respective military and commercial sides of the business.
The new Spanish military shipbuilder, Navantia, was unveiled 2 March 2005 by Pedro Solbes, the Spanish government's second vice-prime minister and economics minister, along with Enrique Martínez Robles, the Chairman of the state holding company Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales (SEPI), and the Chairman of the new company, Juan Pedro Gómez Jaén. The company, specialising in the design, construction and integration of military ships, is owned by SEPI and is the result of the desegregation of Izar's military activities in line with the agreement reached in order to make publicly-owned shipyards viable.
Mr. Solbes' referred in his speech to the creation of this new company as the start of a new future for Spanish shipyards, seeing it as an expression of the framework agreement hammered out in December last year by SEPI, Izar and shipbuilding trade unions that satisfactorily meets the aims the Government had set out to resolve the problems facing state-owned shipyards. The way ahead is paved with permanent dialogue between all parties as it is with rigorous and realistic analysis and proposals aimed at finding a solution. Mr. Martínez Robles firmly underlined the support of SEPI, the company's sole shareholder, for Navantia's industrial plan, insisting that it is a continuation of centuries of experience in absolutely everything relating to the Spanish Navy's ships.
Juan Pedro Gómez Jaén, Navantia's CEO and Chairman, provided a detailed presentation of the new company and of its activities, facilities, technological and productive capabilities and of its presence in national and international markets. The new company's corporate identity was also presented. This will be progressively introduced in all of the company's graphic supports and will be spread into markets where its activities are currently underway. The new name aims to reflect the spirit that is born with this company: Navantia represents advancement, naval activity and modernity.
On 01 June 2005 the European Commission approved, under the terms of the EC Treaty's rules allowing Member States to take measures to protect essential security interests linked to defence industries (Article 296 of the EC Treaty), a reorganisation of the Spanish public military shipyards. Following discussions with the Commission, Spain agreed to a range of measures and commitments in accordance with Article 298 of the EC Treaty that are valid for ten years:
- Navantia's civil sales will not exceed 20% of total sales, as a 3-year moving average
- Navantia will act on the basis of market conditions as regards its civil activities. It will therefore keep separate internal accounts for civil and military activities. For each contract for a new civil ship, a cost calculation will be provided to the Commission. For ship repair, information will be provided annually
- Navantia's civil activities will not benefit from any state aid, except export credits and development aid in line with the shipbuilding state aid framework and OECD criteria.
- the workforce of Navantia, will not exceed 5562 persons.
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