March 31 (SeeNews) - Croatia's food company Belje [ZSE:BLJE-R-A], a member of privately-held and highly indebted concern Agrokor, said on Friday its bank accounts have been blocked.
Belje will resolve the situation as soon as possible and until then it will continue to operate normally, the company said in a filing to the Zagreb bourse without providing further details.
News agency HINA reported on Friday that by 1 p.m. the bank accounts of the Agrokor concern and its companies Ledo, Jamnica, Tisak and PIK Vrbovec have been blocked.
According to HINA, the freezing of the bank accounts suggests that Agrokor's suppliers have launched procedures for the forced collection of debt owed to them by the food and retail chain.
Earlier on Friday, local media reported that Russian banks VTB and Sberbank and Croatia's four largest banks signed a standstill arrangement to prevent the bankruptcy of Agrokor. The deal means that creditors won't forcibly seek payment of money owed to them during the defined period.
Agrokor's financial issues became apparent earlier this year when Moody's downgraded the company's corporate family rating (CFR) to B3 from B2. The company then pulled out of a syndicated loan deal it had struck with several international lenders, which sent the price of its bonds on international markets into a downward spiral.
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