It didn’t go any further.
Frederikshavn Harbour, as it is organized today, is doomed.
Frederikshavn Municipality takes over the keys. This is clear in connection with a press conference at Frederikshavn Town Hall.
The takeover will take place on 15 May 2024.
Last year, the Port of Frederikshavn’s turnover was approximately DKK 75 million – holding up once morest a total debt of DKK 1.6 billion. It is now approaching DKK 1.7 billion, says board chairman Karsten Dybvad.
And the port had a deficit, port director Poul Knudsgaard has said, without yet wanting to reveal an exact loss.
The deficit business will therefore now be included in the municipality’s finances.
– There is no light at the end of the tunnel, and it has not been possible to find another lasting solution, says Karsten Dybvad.
– I wouldn’t have taken the job if I knew how bad it was, he adds.
Karsten Dybvad, together with the rest of the board and the management, has explored the possibility of converting Frederikshavn Port into a limited company, but it has not been possible to find anyone who will inject capital into the port due to the large debt and negative liquidity.
The expansion of Frederikshavn Port was predicted to be a great commercial success. Today, the economy cannot save the current organization.
Archive photo: Lars Pauli
The board resigns
Birgit S. Hansen states that the current board of the port is resigning.
The task passes to the city council, which will look at the task on their table. According to the mayor, this means that the debt must be paid. In the short term, the municipality must find DKK 35 million this year, which will be used to pay off the debt.
She describes it as a huge task.
– That task should not mean that we have to save on the children and the disabled and so on, says Birgit S. Hansen, but at the same time states that she does not want to guarantee that it will not happen.
– It would be frivolous of me to guarantee anything, she says.
She also states that she and the municipal director will take over the Ministry of the Interior in order to possibly get some more lenient terms and explore the possibility of rescheduling the loans.
She also wants to know if anyone in Thisted Municipality has any experience that can be used in Frederikshavn.
Hanstholm Harbor has been through the same thing. They were left with a debt of 630 million kroner when the port was transferred to the municipality.
– It’s not a situation I can recommend some mayors and municipalities to get into, and then it’s regarding not running away screaming, but staying on the bridge and showing action. I want to try that, says Birgit S. Hansen.
Birgit S. Hansen guarantees that she will remain mayor until the end.
Later tonight, Frederikshavn City Council will decide whether to have a lawyer’s investigation. Birgit S. Hansen expects that a lawyer’s investigation can make the city councilors wiser and give them some answers.
She wants both the lawyers to look at what has happened, but also at who might be held legally responsible for the mess.
– I think there is a need for it to be mapped out, how it might go so wrong, says Birgit S. Hansen, who also mentions that she herself will be investigated in a legal investigation, just like the former mayor, the former management on the harbor and many more.
Birgit S. Hansen says that she will be surprised if anything comes out that shows that she herself has failed in her role.
The city council unanimously decided on Wednesday evening to initiate a legal investigation. The investigation will uncover why things went wrong with the port in the period 2012-2024.
also read
Revisit the press conference where the port is taken over by the municipality
2024-04-24 15:28:24
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