Luka Koper, the Slovenian terminal operator accused of adopting unfair commercial practices to gain a major banana contract apparently destined originally for the Port of Trieste in neighbouring north-east Italy, has today refuted the claims.
Speaking to Fruitnet.com, a spokesperson for the company denied the accusations levelled earlier this week by Terminal Frutta Trieste managing director Walter Preprost, who argued Luka Koper had gained an unreasonable advantage thanks to the support he said it received from the Slovenian government.
According to Mr Preprost, a contract to handle some 25,000 tonnes of bananas bound for a Russian customer for sale to markets in eastern Europe was diverted to Slovenia because Luka Koper was able to offer ten days' free storage – something he said no other commercially independent operator would be able to match.
'We cannot comment on this case because it is a purely commercial issue,' said the Luka Koper spokesperson. 'We’ve been cooperating with the relevant customer also previously and statements about days of free warehousing are just speculation. We strongly reject the arguments of unfair competition and our government’s alleged protectionism.'
The spokesperson continued: 'Luka Koper is indeed majority-owned by the Republic of Slovenia, but it does not receive any subsidy from the state budget. On the contrary, besides the fact the company invests itself in port infrastructure, which is in the end a property of the state, it has to pay the concession fee.
'Adriatic ports do cooperate in many areas, but we always made it clear that the aim of this cooperation was to attract as many goods into the Adriatic and the most competitive port will eventually take the business.'
