April 17 (SeeNews) - Croatia's economy minister Martina Dalic said on Tuesday the crisis management of ailing Agrokor concern is on the right path to wrap up its work by July 10, following which Agrokor will be handed over to its new owners - the creditors.
The preservation of Agrokor's stability in Croatia, which was ensured by the country's law on emergency administration of companies of systemic importance, contributed to the stability of the concern's units in the neighboring countries, Dalic said at a news conference aired by public broadcaster HRT following a meeting with her counterparts from Slovenia, Bosnia, Montenegro and Serbia in Bled, Slovenia.
Slovenia's economy minister Zdravko Pocivalsek said that he sees the light at the end of the tunnel, as the crisis management of Agrokor works on the text of the final settlement. Agrokor is majority shareholder of retailer Mercator in Slovenia.
"We want conditions to be created for Mercator to be restructured," Pocivalsek noted, adding that he believes the creditor banks, which will gain control of the new Agrokor once the settlement agreement is signed, will eventually sell their stakes in the businesses.
Dalic, however, said it is too early to say what will happen.
Bosnia's economy minister, Mirko Sarovic, said the country supports the trend of stabilisation in Agrokor. He explained that Bosnia is now focused on seeing Mercator flourish, after the Slovenian retailer returned to Bosnia in late 2017.
Saroivic said that Agrokor's units have had a hard time in the past year but in the past few months there has been no outflow of workers.
Serbia's Rasim Ljajic noted that the meeting in Slovenia can serve as a good model for settling other outstanding issues among the countries.
Last week, the creditors of Agrokor signed a debt settlement term sheet, which sets a framework for the drafting of the actual text of the settlement based on filed claims and their legal status.
The term sheet includes the corporate structure of the new Agrokor, treatment and form of settlement of pre-petition claims, new debt of the concern and its capital structure, a special arrangement with suppliers on settlement of the border debt and the settlement implementation.
In the next three months the text of the settlement will be finalised and submitted to the Commercial Court of Zagreb before July 10.
Agrokor, which employs some 60,000 people in the region, has been in financial turmoil since January last year.
In April, a process of restructuring of the concern under crisis administration was launched according to a law on managing distressed companies, which are of systemic importance for Croatia's economy, commonly known as Lex Agrokor.
Poslovni Sistem Mercator d.d. is among the biggest companies in SEE. You can download our SEE Top 100 ranking
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