Tomorrow Decision on Bankruptcy of Kamensko

Tomorrow, a hearing will be held at the Zagreb Commercial Court for the textile factory Kamensko, where it will be decided whether the conditions for initiating bankruptcy proceedings have been met.

Last week, the Commercial Court decided to initiate pre-bankruptcy proceedings and appointed pre-bankruptcy administrator Zdravko Mitak, who is to determine whether the conditions for initiating bankruptcy have been met. The workers of Kamensko, who have not received their salaries for five months, hope for bankruptcy with restructuring as they believe that Kamensko has buyers and a future. They expect that they could then continue working and collect their claims. The strike they started on Wednesday, September 29, continues today, and their stay within the factory premises is further complicated as HEP cut off electricity last week due to debts. “We are now procuring stoves with gas bottles so that at least the on-duty workers at the gate do not freeze. There are also problems in the boiler room; the pumps that push water through the pipes and discharge it outside are not working, so water has started to flow in the basement,” said worker Đurđa Krnjak to Hina.

The workers will also hold a march today from the factory at the Square of the French Republic to Ban Jelačić Square, and the next steps will depend on tomorrow’s hearing. Although the workers have not initiated a bankruptcy request, and thus the parties have not been summoned, they announced the arrival of their representatives as observers. If bankruptcy is initiated at Kamensko d.d., they can expect payment of three minimum wages, which for textile workers amounts to 2,729 kuna gross (approximately 2,100 kuna net) and half the amount of the statutory severance pay, which is calculated for each individual. This payment is under the jurisdiction of the Agency for the Protection of Workers’ Claims in the event of employer bankruptcy, and all other claims go into the bankruptcy estate from which other creditors are also paid, said regional union coordinator of the Textile Union Željko Šegina. As he says, it is questionable how much money will be available to settle all of Kamensko’s debts, as they are estimated at as much as 70 million kuna.

According to the workers’ calculations, the employer owes them about 7.5 million kuna for unpaid wages and transportation allowances, which amounts to between 14,000 and 15,000 kuna per person. The debt to the state for contributions and taxes is about 25 million kuna, which is why the company’s account has been blocked since December last year, but the Management subsequently transferred operations to the subsidiary Kamensko trgovina d.o.o. The workers suspect that the once reputable textile industry is being deliberately destroyed so that the owners can sell the Kamensko building at an attractive location, at the Square of the French Republic. “Part of the companies owned by the current director and his associates registered on September 3 in the land registry over the real estate and land, in the name of alleged loan agreements, all in order to gain the status of secured creditors, i.e., those who are paid first, before the opening of the bankruptcy estate,” explains Šegina, adding that the legality of that registration should be challenged by the future bankruptcy administrator. (H)