Decision on Konzum's recapitalization in BiH made, enabling supplier payments

This afternoon, the Agrokor Creditors' Council session concluded. The Creditors' Council made a decision on the payment of old debts for approximately three hundred more small suppliers who were not included in the first round of payments. 

"A decision was also made for the payment of old debts for medium and large suppliers, around 2,500 of them, in the amount of 600 million kuna (around 158 million KM). It was agreed that about 40 percent of their old debts will be covered in this way. A decision was also made on the separation of Konzum and Mercator in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a recapitalization of Konzum in Bosnia and Herzegovina with 15 million euros. This will enable the payment of suppliers in BiH. A decision was also made on the separation of Konzum and Mercator in that country," reported Dijana Kovaček, as published by HRT, reports Patria News Agency.

Ramljak informed journalists that important decisions were made at today's Creditors' Council for both the future of Agrokor and the future business operations of suppliers within the concern's system.

Given that the court in Belgrade rejected Agrokor's request for companies operating within the concern to be transferred under the jurisdiction of lex Agrokor, Ante Ramljak announced an appeal against that decision. The legal possibility for Sberbank to seize Agrokor's assets in Serbia exists, and Agrokor's management will assess all real risks, he said. Ramljak also announced that by the end of September, the exact amount of all claims and Agrokor's debts will be determined.

Ramljak told journalists that Serbia is not yet a member of the European Union, and therefore these are 'their decisions, their decisions'. He believes that such a decision will not encourage other countries to do the same.

The Belgrade court rejected the request of Agrokor's temporary administrator for companies operating within the concern in Serbia to be placed under the jurisdiction of Lex Agrokor, Serbian media reported this morning.

When asked what this could mean for Agrokor's business and its restructuring, given that creditors there might be much harsher than those who accept Lex Agrokor, Ramljak said that he believes all creditors, regardless of where Agrokor's assets are located, will be settled from the total assets that Agrokor has, regardless of which country they are in. "There will be no individual settlements," he stated.

When asked by journalists if this was discussed at the meeting with the Government, Ramljak said it was not, but that the topics discussed were those from the Creditors' Council, which will also include a decision on the payment of old debts to suppliers today.

This afternoon, the session of the Temporary Creditors' Council is being held, and Ramljak will hold a press briefing after the session, where, as announced, he will inform the media in more detail about everything.

The newspaper Politika, whose information was confirmed by the Commercial Court, states that this decision is "just a continuation of the legal saga between Agrokor's management and the Russian Sberbank, to which the concern owes the most, and which has so far been left empty-handed".

"By applying 'lex Agrokor', there are no guarantees that more than a billion euros, which they lent to Todorić, will be returned. That is why the Russians have tried to protect their rights in the past few months before international and regional courts," Politika states.

The newspaper reminds that commercial courts in Belgrade and Zrenjanin have issued temporary injunctions that practically prevent the disposal of property, including a ban on the sale of companies operating in Serbia.
 

The courts have issued temporary injunctions prohibiting the disposal and encumbrance of ownership shares of Agrokor companies in Frikom and Dijamant, as security for Sberbank's claim in the amount of 100 million euros.

"Russian Sberbank has prevented the Croatian state from using these two Serbian companies as collateral when taking out a new loan, as well as from deciding on their potential sale... Sberbank, on the other hand, has ensured that the Croatian concern will return part of the debt to these companies," Politika states.

In early April, the then Serbian Prime Minister, and now President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, announced that the Government and the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) would prepare a plan to ensure that money from companies connected within the Agrokor system does not flow out of Serbia.

 

Povjerenik Ramljak kaže da ga nije iznenadila odluka Srbije da ne poštuje Lex #Agrokor i da neće ugroziti restrukturiranje. @hrtvijesti pic.twitter.com/w4Y9OYEq6C

— Maja Sever (@SeverMaja) August 31, 2017