Pre-bankruptcy settlement reached for Coning; among creditors is Čačić

At the hearing at the Commercial Court in Varaždin, a pre-bankruptcy settlement was reached for Coning, and former Deputy Prime Minister Radimir Čačić was present as a creditor, currently serving a prison sentence in Valtura for a traffic accident in Hungary that resulted in the deaths of two individuals.

Noting that he cannot comment on the matter, Čačić briefly stated to reporters that he was officially in Varaždin as a creditor to renounce 2.7 million kuna, which he claims he once provided for the salaries of Coning’s employees.

Looking visibly thinner, Čačić appeared at the Commercial Court in Varaždin accompanied by his wife Marija, the CEO of Coning Davorin Prpić, and board member Stjepan Ptiček, and he will return to prison tomorrow, September 6.

At the hearing of the Commercial Court in Varaždin, a decision was made to conclude the pre-bankruptcy settlement for the Varaždin company Coning, confirmed for Hina by Judge Melita Poljanec Bubaš of the Commercial Court.

In a brief statement, she said that the required majority of creditors accepted the pre-bankruptcy settlement.

On July 26, Coning’s creditors accepted the pre-bankruptcy settlement and supported the financial restructuring plan for the company.

In this process, creditors reported claims amounting to 378.7 million kuna, and with 6.7 million kuna owed to employees, Coning’s total debt amounted to 385.4 million kuna.

Coning owed the most to banks, nearly 290 million kuna, and the financial restructuring plan envisages long-term refinancing of this debt, while a reprogramming for a longer period is also planned for 10.4 million kuna of claims reported by the state, public administration, and companies in majority state ownership.

Coning’s debts to suppliers exceeded 70 million kuna, and for this debt, the plan envisaged a write-off of 70% of the debt, with repayment of the remaining 30% over four years.

For the debt to employees, the financial restructuring plan envisaged settlement through the collection of receivables from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and a few days before the acceptance of the pre-bankruptcy settlement, on July 19, the Republic of Croatia and Coning reached a settlement before the Commercial Court in Karlovac in a dispute regarding the renovation of the building for the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (MVPEI). Coning sought 17.5 million kuna and received approximately 8.1 million kuna through the settlement.

Additionally, Čačić also renounced separate settlement of the claim amounting to 2.7 million kuna in the pre-bankruptcy settlement process for Coning, while he remained a secured creditor for the amount of approximately 1.5 million kuna, and his wife Marija renounced her secured right for the full amount of her claim of 1.1 million kuna.

Former Deputy Prime Minister Radimir Čačić was convicted for causing a traffic accident that resulted in two fatalities in Hungary in 2010, and he has been serving his prison sentence since mid-June in an open prison in Valtura.

The Supreme Court rejected Čačić’s appeal in early May against the verdict of the Zagreb County Court, which sentenced him to 22 months in prison, in accordance with the ruling of the Hungarian court, and after serving at least half of his sentence, he may request early release.