Warm words of gratitude from Agrokor’s extraordinary commissioner.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 4th of July, 2018, after Agrokor’s creditor’s settlement was voted through, the company’s extraordinary commissioner, Fabris Peruško, hailed the move as a great success, in a mere fourteen months, the threat of the collapse of Croatia’s biggest company had been resolved. He added that the implementation of the settlement would begin as soon as possible after it becomes legally binding.
Speaking on Wednesday, Peruško stated that this was indeed a great day for Agrokor, and the aim of the extraordinary administration was to reach an agreement that would be approved by most creditors within the deadline prescribed by the law, and that is ”what we have succeeded in doing.”
Agrokor’s creditors’ settlement was voted through with 80.20 percent of the claims, or 27.06 billion kuna, from a massive 33.76 billion kuna in total claims.
The deal was announced on Wednesday at a hearing held in the hall of Zagreb’s Dražen Petrovic Basketball Centre, and Judge Nevenka Siladi Rstić announced that the Commercial Court could issue a ruling on Wednesday that would confirm the legality of the creditor’s settlement. After the announcement of the settlement on the Zagreb Commercial Court’s notices, a deadline of eight days is set, during which appeals can be filed with the High Commercial Court, and upon completion of the appeals process, should there be any, the settlement will become final.
In a statement from Agrokor, Peruško thanked all creditors “who took advantage of the opportunity given to them by the law on the extraordinary administration procedure in companies of systemic importance for the Republic of Croatia, to save a part of the tens of billions of kuna who were loaned to, or invested in Agrokor under its former management.”
He also thanked all of Agrokor’s employees and its companies who, under difficult circumstances, continued to responsibly do their work, he also expressed gratitude to all the other stakeholders who actively participated in this demanding and complex process, and in particular to the members of the temporary creditor’s council “who did everything humanly possible, even with all the losses they’ve suffered, to arrive to a commonly acceptable solution.”
“It’s a huge success to have, in just fourteen months, resolve the threat of the collapse of Croatia’s biggest company, which would have devastating consequences on the economy in Croatia and in the region. Thanks to the rapid and decisive response of the government, the collapse of this large company didn’t spill over into Croatia’s economy.”
He also emphasised that, thanks to the creditors’ responsibility, the company is now getting the chance to face a new future. Speaking on Wednesday, he said that with today’s deeds, Agrokor is entering the final phase of full transfer into the hands of those who were owed money which was not possible to have returned, and that they now take full responsibility as Agrokor’s future owners.”
The extraordinary commissioner also pointed out that the settlement would be put into practice as soon as the settlement becomes legally binding.
“Technically, this is a very demanding process in which we’ve identified more than 70,000 steps. Much of the preparation for this final phase of the procedure which will take several months, has been done,” noted Peruško.
He also pointed out that today, almost all of Agrokor’s operating companies boast good business results that exceed plans and are above expectations.
“We’re especially proud of the fact that we’ve already begun on a major structural change in Agrokor and within all of its companies which are no longer a generator of illiquidity and are poor practices of corporate governance. We’ve started this change and we’ll insist on further quality management and accountability that will surely reflect on all those who are doing business with Agrokor, and have a positive impact on the economy as a whole,” said Peruško in a statement released by Agrokor following the settlement.
From Agrokor itself, around 7,300 pages of settlement texts and accompanying articles represent the settlement by which the creditor’s will deal with the problem that Agrokor’s ex boss, Ivica Todorić, caused by the way in which he conducted business at the seat of the formerly gravely threatened company. At the same time, all of this represents a viable solution to one of the most demanding financial restructuring procedures currently going on.
“I hope that Agrokor will be managed with a better quality and with more accountability than it was under the former majority owner, and that this is the first and last implementation of the law on the extraordinary administration procedure in Croatia,” added the company’s extraordinary commissioner.
Agrokor said in a statement that the extraordinary administration procedure was activated on April the 7th, 2017, when the former CEO of Agrokor, Ivica Todorić, and all the members of the former administration filed a request to the Commercial Court in Zagreb to apply the law on extraordinary administration to the company, due to instability and the threat of bankruptcy caused by the blocking of the accounts belonging to Agrokor and its key companies.
More than 5,700 of Agrokor’s creditors filed nearly 58 billion kuna in claims. The representatives of all of the creditors – from large foreign and domestic creditors to domestic and foreign suppliers, to representatives of small and micro enterprises and OPG’s – were involved in the agonising settlement negotiations.
The first draft of the settlement plan was presented to creditors and the public in December last year, after which, six months of negotiations and consultations with all creditors on the settlement proposal and creditor settlement model (EPM) began.
The basic agreement on all of the key structural elements of the settlement was passed on the 10th of April 2018, and at its session held on June the 19th, 2018, members of the temporary creditor’s council unanimously accepted the motion of settlement between the debtors and the creditors.
The proposal was finally adopted by Agrokor’s creditors on Wednesday.
