BELGRADE (Serbia), February 6 (SeeNews) – A Serbian court said it ordered the sale of the factory of Serbian confectionery maker Banini in Kikinda, in northern Serbia, to repay the debt to creditors.
The court will start a tender for the sale of the factory on March 21, with an initial price of 15 million euro ($16.1 million) - half of its estimated value, Zrenjanin Commercial Court said in a ruling issued on Friday.
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The tender aims is to find a new owner for the factory in order to repay Banini's 40 million euro debt and restart production activities.
According to local media reports, a dozen companies are interested in the acquisition of the factory, including Serbian biscuit producer Jafa.
Banini's problems began in 2010 when it launched the construction of the factory through a bank loan. Three years later, the company's creditors offered a debt restructuring plan.
On April 26, 2016, the Zrenjanin Commercial Court declared Banini bankrupt acting on a request by French lender Societe Generale, to which the confectionery group owes 15 million euro.
The owner of Banini, Radojko Stanic, was arrested in December on a number of accusations, including diverting company funds to his own bank accounts.
Banini, a former component of Belgrade blue-chip index BELEX15, saw its shares excluded from the Open Market segment on the Belgrade stock market in May 2016.
($ = 0.9312 euro)