LJUBLJANA (Slovenia), January 25 (SeeNews) – Slovenia has offered to pay Croatia 5 million euro ($5.4 million) to settle, out of court, the case over the outstanding debt owed by car parts maker Cimos Group to a Croatian bank, Slovenian media reported.
Cimos owes money to the Croatian agency for deposit insurance and bank resolution (DAB) after almost 15 years ago the company took out a loan from Rijecka banka, which later ceased to exist. DAB, which took over the claims of the failed bank, has lodged a lawsuit demanding compensation from Cimos.
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Following a meeting between the Slovenian minister of economic development and Croatia's minister of state property, Slovenia has offered to pay Croatia 5 million euro in an out-of-court settlement of the case, news portal dnevnik.si reported on Tuesday.
Croatia is expected to respond to the offer by the end of the week. DAB has rejected two previous out-of-court settlement proposals .
For Slovenia, the settlement of the outstanding issue with Croatia is crucial because it has found a buyer for a 92% stake in the ailing Cimos. Namely, Italy's TCH Cogeme, a unit of investment firm Palladio Holding Group, has threatened to withdraw from the sales agreement if the case is not settled soon.
Fears surfaced earlier that if Cimos is ordered to pay back the money it would go bankrupt even before the sale to the Italian buyer is concluded.
In October, Slovenia's bad bank DUTB said Slovenia has sold a 92% stake in Cimos Group to TCH Cogeme for 110 million euro.
DUTB admitted at the time that aside from regulatory approval, the deal also hinges on an agreement with the Croatian agency for deposit insurance and bank resolution due to Cimos' outstanding debt.
The sellers are DUTB with a 47.5% share, the Slovenian government with a 24.26% stake and lenders NLB with 9.44%, Gorenjska Banka with 5.74%, Abanka Vipa with 2.42%, Nova KBM with 2.2% and SID Banka with 0.74%. They gained their shareholding interest in Cimos following a 168 million euro debt-to-equity conversion in 2014.
Privatisation is the last step in a long process towards Cimos' stabilisation, DUTB noted in October.
The Koper-headquartered group manufactures mainly turbo compressor and turbine housings, power train components, chassis and car-body parts. Cimos has a production footprint in four countries across Southeast Europe.
($=0.93 euro)