Theme park with aircraft carrier goes bankrupt

One of Shenzhen's top tourist attractions, Minsk World - which features a decommissioned Russian aircraft carrier - has been declared bankrupt after registering a loss of more than 200 million yuan.

Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court delivered the verdict yesterday and ordered the park's assets handed over to debtors, including the Bank of Construction and seven other mainland banks.

Bank of Construction lawyers filed a bankruptcy suit against the theme park's owner in November after loan repayments were missed. The court heard yesterday that Minsk World had borrowed 800 million yuan since the late 1990s. But its management had not invested on park upgrades and instead loaned the funds to other firms, many of which went under and could not pay their debts.

The court was told yesterday that Minsk World had assets of 600 million yuan, including the warship, valued at 200 million yuan. But bank representatives said 300 million yuan of the assets were bad debts and impossible to recover.

The news sparked fears that the park could be closed and the Russian warship towed away. The 40,000-tonne aircraft carrier was part of Russia's Black Sea fleet before being stripped of weapon systems and sold to Shenzhen businessmen in the late 1990s.

Earlier, a manager at Minsk World insisted that the theme park was profitable. 'We have 2,000 to 3,000 visitors a day, on average. People are coming from all over the world to see it. We are making money,' he said.