ThyssenKrupp shipyards deal in Greece hits last-minute snag

German group ThyssenKrupp said talks with Greece on the future of its Hellenic Shipyards unit were at a make-or-break stage after the Greek navy backed off from a deal on the country's largest shipyard.
At stake is around 320 mln euros which ThyssenKrupp will get from Greece for six submarines, settling a long-standing dispute over submarine construction and programme upgrades.
It would also close the transfer of ThyssenKrupp's 75.1% stake in Hellenic Shipyards, based in Skaramangas outside Athens, to shipbuilder Abu Dhabi MAR group.
A spokeswoman for ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems said on Friday the company and the Greek navy "initialled" contracts this week that fleshed out a framework agreement reached in March.
"After initialling these contracts, the Hellenic Navy wants to renegotiate them and we do not want to accept this," the spokeswoman said.
"Initialling these contracts was the first step and the second step would have been the signing itself," she said.
She declined comment on details of these contracts, whose signing is the final hurdle for ThyssenKrupp's exit from its civil shipbuilding business.
She said the European Commission days ago cleared the disposal of most of the company's civil shipbuilding operations.
The company has proposed selling 100% of Blohm and Voss Shipyards in Germany and an 80% stake in Blohm & Voss Repair as well as Blohm and Voss Industries, with Abu Dhabi MAR as buyer.
For the Greek government, it would secure jobs for around 1,200 employed at Hellenic Shipyards SA, which is now on the brink of insolvency.