Jurčić: In two weeks, I want a clear picture of open items at Podravka

The Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Podravka, Ljubo Jurčić, stated today that he expects to have a “clear picture of open items” at Podravka in the next two weeks, but he is not sure he will be able to fully clarify the content of those items.

Banks have been invited to state what they have open with Podravka directly or indirectly, suppliers, all interested parties, so in the next two weeks I will have a clear picture of open items, and I am not sure that the content of those items will be fully clarified – is a deposit a deposit, is a transaction exactly as reported, Jurčić said in response to journalists’ questions after participating in the First Symposium on Green Building in Croatia.

“I do not accuse anyone and I do not trust anyone,” Jurčić said, emphasizing that transparency is the most important thing to “flush the rabbits out of the hole.” Jurčić also stated that the consequences of all suspicious transactions at Podravka will be that workers in the future will not have salaries as high as they could, shareholders will not have the value of shares they could, and the state will not have the income it could have if those transactions had not occurred.

This means that the losers are both owners, workers, and local and central government due to the loss of income from business that will be lost as a result, he said. Jurčić does not expect that revenues could increase significantly, but he sees potential in costs that are not related to core business and can be reduced.

This will create space for financial institutions to accept the financial restructuring plan, he emphasized, explaining that this would mean extending obligations that are due next year in large amounts for two, at most three years. In response to a journalist’s question about reports of falsified financial transactions, Jurčić replied that these are transactions whose essence has not been seen. He pointed out that there is a promissory note from FIMA and one bank for which Podravka provided a guarantee, and this has been classified as a risk, amounting to 107 million kuna.

He reminded that it is currently known that SMS owes Podravka 65 million kuna, and given the likely bankruptcy of SMS, it is questionable whether and when this will be collected. Jurčić also warned about the claims of banks against SMS, the debts of that Split company to suppliers, and workers who have not received salaries, estimating that SMS’s debts could rise to around 150 million kuna. He also noted that Podravka’s deposit in OTP Bank, amounting to 46 million kuna, has not been put under control, which should have been withdrawable at first call, but it has not been possible in the past two or three weeks. These are the risks; we said that these are estimated potential risks, as there may still be a little minus, but there may also be a plus somewhere, he said. (H)