April 3 (SeeNews) - The emergency manager of Croatia's Agrokor to meet with the troubled concern's suppliers in Zagreb on Tuesday to discuss the final draft of the debt settlement deal with a view of having it signed by April 10, local media reported.
At 1 am this morning, Fabris Perusko emailed the final draft settlement to Agrokor's suppliers, ahead of the planned meeting in Zagreb starting at 9 am, local broadcaster N1 reported.
The meeting will be closed to the public and no statements to the media are planned to be issued.
Last week, Perusko met with the directors of all of Agrokor's units and presented them with an overview of the settlement. At the time, he set April 10 as the deadline for the deal to be signed.
Agrokor said last month it signed a term sheet with Russia's Sberbank that would result in the withdrawal of the bank's lawsuits against the concern and the recognition of Sberbank’s claims. The agreement saw Agrokor's biggest creditor return to the negotiation table and gain access to settlement talks. Namely, the recognition of Sberbank’s claims will enable the bank to vote in the settlement procedure, which is expected to deliver a sustainable future for Agrokor.
According to local media reports, the concern's local suppliers are not happy that Sberbank is back in the game, and could be planning to boycott the last round of negotiations with creditors agreed for mid week.
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 emergency administration was launched under a new law commonly known as Lex Agrokor.
Under a debt settlement, which in accordance with the law must be signed by creditors by July 10, Agrokor's emergency management is proposing that the creditors become the new owners of the concern, while in return writing off a portion of their claims.