April 12 (SeeNews) - Agrokor's last financial statement is unreliable, therefore the true amount of the debt of Croatia's troubled food and retail concern cannot be specified, the receiver of the company has said.
Three international auditing firms have been invited to examine Agrokor's financial statements and they will present their offers over the next few days, Ramljak said at a news conference late on Tuesday aired by local broadcaster HRT.
The 150 million euro ($159.3 million) loan to Agrokor agreed with the company's six largest creditor banks is expected to be released on Thursday. A portion of the funds will go to suppliers in order to ensure deliveries are resumed, Ramljak said.
As far as Agrokor's units in neighboring countries are concerned, the receiver said that all their obligations have been serviced.
"I can't see any reason why there would be any problems with those companies or with relations between the government and those companies in those countries", Ramljak noted.
On Tuesday, Moody's Investor Services said it has downgraded Agrokor's corporate family rating (CFR) to Caa2 from Caa1 and its probability of default rating (PDR) to Ca-PD from Caa1-PD.
The outlook on the company's ratings remains negative, Moody's said in a statement.
"Our decision to downgrade Agrokor's rating reflects its filing for restructuring under Croatian law, which in our view makes a default highly likely", said Vincent Gusdorf, a vice president -- senior analyst at Moody's. "It also takes into account uncertainties around the restructuring process, as creditors' ability to get their money back hinges on numerous factors that will become apparent over time."
Ramljak declined to comment on the decision, referring to it as an opinion of the rating agency.
On Monday, the government named Ramljak as receiver of Agrokor to lead the restructuring process in Croatia's largest private concern under a new law adopted by the parliament last Thursday and activated a day later. The law, commonly known as 'Lex Agrokor', was drafted by the government in response to financial troubles that emerged recently at the food and retail group.
($=0.941518 euro)