A Serbian court has ruled that the provisions of Croatia’s law will not apply in Serbia.
The Commercial Court in Belgrade has rejected a request by Ante Ramljak, the government-appointed extraordinary commissioner in Agrokor, that companies in Serbia which are owned by the group should be under the jurisdiction of “Lex Agrokor,” reports Jutarnji List on August 31, 2017.
This was a request similar to the one which Ramljak has already submitted in Slovenia, where it has been accepted, and in the United Kingdom, where the court’s decision is still pending. Ramljak wants the courts to recognise the foreign (Croatian) procedure for insolvency, which would prevent any possible attempts by creditors to collect their debts by selling Agrokor’s assets in those countries.
Agrokor says they will study the decision of the court in Belgrade and then decide whether to appeal. “Yesterday, we received a ruling of the first-instance court in Serbia rejecting Agrokor’s request for the recognition of the foreign procedure of the extraordinary administration in Serbia. We have to examine the decision, and we expect we will appeal against it. In the meantime, this decision does not in any way affect the daily operation of Agrokor’s companies in Serbia which are stable,” said Agrokor in a statement.
With the recognition of the insolvency procedure, all creditors would be placed in the same position, because it would have been impossible for any individual creditor to collect their debts from the assets of Agrokor outside Croatia before other creditors, or before the end of the proceedings in Croatia. This primarily refers to Sberbank, which is already trying to collect its debts and initiate court proceedings. In Slovenia, a first-instance court ruled in favour of Agrokor, but appeals against the decision have been filed, and the higher court’s decision is pending.
Extraordinary commissioner for Agrokor Ante Ramljak said today that he was not surprised by the decision of the court in Belgrade. He stated that Serbia was not yet a member of the European Union, and therefore “their decisions are their decisions.” He does not believe that such a decision could encourage other countries to do the same.
Asking what this might mean for Agrokor’s business and its restructuring, given that creditors in Serbia could be much less willing to cooperate than those who have accepted the “Lex Agrokor,” Ramljak said that he believed that all creditors, regardless of where the assets of Agrokor are located, would be paid from the total assets held by Agrokor. “We will not go towards individual settlements”, he said.
Asked whether he discussed the issue during today’s meeting in the government, Ramljak said that they discussed the decision to pay off old debts to suppliers.
Mercator S, Frikom, Dijamant, Mg Mivela, Kikindski Mlin and Nova Sloga are Agrokor-owned companies operating in Serbia.
Translated from Jutarnji List.
