Can Agrokor’s extraordinary administration team finally move forward?
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 28th of January, 2018, the army of about 5,700 of Agrokor’s creditors will be divided into five groups, classified according to the proposal of the extraordinary administration led by Ante Ramljak in further steps on the long path to debt settlement.
The Commercial Court issued a ruling on Friday approving Ramljak’s key classification, which is also the starting point for the formation of a permanent creditor’s council. As Agrokor’s unenviable situation is a massive case, and the positions of the involved creditors are very varied to say the least, the latest court settlement will probably be accompanied by numerous appeals within the next couple of weeks. The association of suppliers will only be determined at a meeting due to be held on Wednesday. Parts of the creditor’s view of their division is informally described by “consternation”, arguing that the disputed parts are contrary to the bankruptcy law provisions.
For the time being, however, official and public comments aren’t being engaged in, as opposed to the Minority Shareholders Association, who don’t talk about the creditors’ positions, but are concerned with protecting their own respective interests. As well as dissatisfaction among suppliers, the problematisation of the identified groups is mostly referred to as two: Group B and Group C.
Pointing out that the given ruling is “another proof of an ambitious attempt at the extreme interpretation of Lex Agrokor,” there is a statement by a judge that states that only creditors of established claims were admitted to be members of the creditor’s council, which was admitted by the extraordinary commissioner, and didn’t induce any dispute from any of the other creditors. Ramljak managed to explain the situation, and the court eventually accepted his arguments.
Aside from the aforementioned Group B and Group C, Group A consists of secured creditors, in group D are those whose claims are partially secured, but have not participated in the roll-up arrangement, and in the last group, Group E, are the claims of both large and small suppliers whose claims are not secured.
It’s worth remembering that after the creditors mutually challenged the 10.5 billion kuna in claims filed previously by the extraordinary commissioner, the court imposed a sum of 31 billion kuna in the recent ruling. In all likelihood, the possibility of concluding a settlement as a ”temporary structure” is likely, but for its approval in Agrokor, a two-third majority of all individual claims is required for it to be given the green light.
