Sberbank is being careful with new financing, sending a message to Prime Minister Plenković they are not satisfied with the work of the special administration
First Deputy of Management President of Sberbank, Maxim Poletaev, has spoken to the media for the first time and has described his relationship and negotiations with the Todorić family in the past months, before it was discovered the company has problems, stating they lied to him for a long time by presenting incomplete balances, Večernji List reports on May 31, 2017.
The trust has been lost, and it is the basis for the continued support. This is why they are considering a lawsuit against the family. Poletaev held two meetings with Deputy PM Martina Dalić, after which a new law was created. Sberbank is careful with new financing, seeking guarantees that the newly approved funds will be returned, and demanding better cooperation with the special administration and government, which began successfully at a meeting with PM Plenković on Monday.
Herman Gref stated on Friday that Sberbank is unsatisfied with the process in Agrokor. You stated something similar to PM Plenković. How do you rate the meeting? Is there progress in communication?
Communication is very important and I can say we had an open dialogue. I explained our position clearly to the PM. The first objection refers to the professionalism of the team running the process, which is important considering the very strong competition from other retail chains. It is important to have management with experience in that segment in this important period for the company. It seems this not so in Agrokor. I feel that team should enact best practices in the retail segment and thus improve the current situation. The second message to the PM refers to new debt as we want a transparent process. Why does the company need so much money? Our estimate is that Agrokor needs less money for liquidity and needs to find cheaper means of financing than through roll-up. The current roll-up is not acceptable to us as we are exposed by 1.1 billion euro.
You seek better cooperation with only Mr Ramljak or the government as well?
After Lex Agrokor was enacted, the state took responsibility for Agrokor. At this moment responsibility is not only on creditors, but the government as well, which is what I said to Plenković. The restructuring process is just beginning, but from now on we seek more and better communication. This is very important as we want to continue doing business in Croatia.
Do you feel the last loan was not directed enough into company development, which is a guarantee the money will be paid back?
We did not receive clear information how the last 80 million euro was spent.
Are you satisfied with the law on Agrokor or do you feel Agrokor could have been helped in another manner, although that was practically impossible, considering bankruptcy was practically the only option?
This is a decision within your state. I understand your state did not have a similar issue until Agrokor and that it was a shock. We must not forget – until recently, Agrokor was an example of a large and successful regional company. Lex Agrokor was the answer to that problem.
You participated personally in approving the last loan to the old management of 100 million euro in February when trouble was on the horizon?
We did not know the situation was so bad. We saw a report with a debt and EBITDA ratio of 5.5, which is not bad for a company like Agrokor. Ante Todorić came to Moscow and asked for an urgent meeting. I was shocked when I saw how much money Agrokor needs. I asked him why? He said there was a gap, presented the documentation and asked for 100 million euros to pay taxes, salaries and suppliers. Later I spoke to father and son Todorić and said: “Hey, how is this possible… You have 5 billion euro income and you can’t find 40 million euro?” That was very strange. Then I realised we don’t have a true image of the situation of the company. We realised a meeting was necessary with the government.
After the bad experience with the Todorić family, have you lost trust in Croatia?
No way. We love Croatia. I have many friends here and I spend my family vacation in your beautiful land, I love Istria. Croats are very open and welcoming people.
Is the Russian state involved in decision on Agrokor as a majority owner? Are there geopolitical interests here?
51% of ownership belongs to our central bank, 49% are mostly American, British, Canadian and other funds, so we are an international bank. Believe me, there are no political problems regarding Agrokor. This is pure business, as creditors we just want our money back. We have a successful local bank with a full offer of banking services. As for stories of political influence – these are games. When you say you want your money back, they say it is Russian politics. We do not do business like that, and we exist in many markets, successfully. We are a bank and deal with banking, we do not want to take over Agrokor.
It is obvious Mr Todorić is responsible for this situation and you probably expect the state to do something about it?
Yes, he is responsible, very much so, I can see this more clearly as I was more intensely involved in the last loan we gave to Agrokor. We really trusted him. We have existed for 175 years, and we will for another 175, but this situation with the Todorić family will not be forgotten.
